Gavin Soper (9) of Redwood is chased by his teammates on the field as they celebrate after Soper delivered a base hit in extra innings with a man on base to give Redwood a 6-5 win over San Marin at the MCAL baseball final at Albert Park in San Rafael, Calif. on Friday, May 10, 2024. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Redwood starting pitcher Rex Solle (6) throws against San Marin at the MCAL baseball final at Albert Park in San Rafael, Calif. on Friday, May 10, 2024. No. 1 Redwood defeated No. 2 San Marin 6-5 for the title. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
San Marin starting pitcher Sean McGrath (12) throws against Redwood at the MCAL baseball final at Albert Park in San Rafael, Calif. on Friday, May 10, 2024. No. 1 Redwood defeated No. 2 San Marin 6-5 for the title. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Jack Moseley (13) of Redwood heads to the dugout after scoring against San Marin at the MCAL baseball final at Albert Park in San Rafael, Calif. on Friday, May 10, 2024. No. 1 Redwood defeated No. 2 San Marin 6-5 for the title. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Gavin Soper (9) of Redwood Redwood waits to bat after teammate Kaelin Christman (8) scored on a wild San Marin pitch at the MCAL baseball final at Albert Park in San Rafael, Calif. on Friday, May 10, 2024. No. 1 Redwood defeated No. 2 San Marin 6-5 for the title. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Matthew Knauer (14) of Redwood gestures to his dugout from second base after hitting a double as San Marin first baseman Tyler Keehn runs over to over the base at the MCAL baseball final at Albert Park in San Rafael, Calif. on Friday, May 10, 2024. No. 1 Redwood defeated No. 2 San Marin 6-5 for the title. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
San Marin starting pitcher Sean McGrath (12) is greeted by teammates Cole Chamberlain (3) and Anthony Scheppler (7) after hitting a 2-run home run against Redwood at the MCAL baseball final at Albert Park in San Rafael, Calif. on Friday, May 10, 2024. No. 1 Redwood defeated No. 2 San Marin 6-5 for the title. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
San Marin first baseman Tyler Keehn (8) is pulled off the base to catch a ball thrown up the line as Theo Trono (4) of Redwood reaches first base at the MCAL baseball final at Albert Park in San Rafael, Calif. on Friday, May 10, 2024. No. 1 Redwood defeated No. 2 San Marin 6-5 for the title. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
The San Marin dugout celebrates after teammate Jake Simpson (6) scores on a redwood balk by Redwood reliever Chas Veley (5) at the MCAL baseball final at Albert Park in San Rafael, Calif. on Friday, May 10, 2024. No. 1 Redwood defeated No. 2 San Marin 6-5 for the title. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
TJ Beck (16) of Redwood jumps as he is greeted by teammates after scoring to give the Giants a 5-4 lead against San Marin in the sixth inning at the MCAL baseball final at Albert Park in San Rafael, Calif. on Friday, May 10, 2024. No. 1 Redwood defeated No. 2 San Marin 6-5 for the title. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
San Marin relief pitcher Tanner O'Keefe (14) throws against Redwood at the MCAL baseball final at Albert Park in San Rafael, Calif. on Friday, May 10, 2024. No. 1 Redwood defeated No. 2 San Marin 6-5 for the title. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Matthew Baldino (15) of San Marin is tagged out trying to steal second base by of by Redwood shortstop Lucas Ghio (3) at the MCAL baseball final at Albert Park in San Rafael, Calif. on Friday, May 10, 2024. No. 1 Redwood defeated No. 2 San Marin 6-5 in extra innings for the title. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
San Marin second baseman Hugh Brady tags out Matthew Knauer (14) of Redwood on a steal attempt at the MCAL baseball final at Albert Park in San Rafael, Calif. on Friday, May 10, 2024. No. 1 Redwood defeated No. 2 San Marin 6-5 for the title. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Redwood relief pitcher Matthew Knauer (14) throws against San Marin with a runner on base at the MCAL baseball final at Albert Park in San Rafael, Calif. on Friday, May 10, 2024. No. 1 Redwood defeated No. 2 San Marin 6-5 for the title. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Joey Cipollina of San Marin rips a base hit against Redwood at the MCAL baseball final at Albert Park in San Rafael, Calif. on Friday, May 10, 2024. No. 1 Redwood defeated No. 2 San Marin 6-5 for the title. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Nobody could blame San Marin High for wanting to avoid Redwood’s leadoff batter and disruptor Theo Trono with the MCAL baseball championship on the line in the bottom of the eighth inning Friday night.
With two outs and runners on second and third, San Marin chose to intentionally walk Trono and load the bases, bringing Gavin Soper to the plate
What the Mustangs weren’t expecting was the ferocity that Soper – hitless on the night – brought to the plate.
Soper rifled a first-pitch fastball into the right-center field gap, driving in Lucas Ghio from third with the winning run as the Giants came from behind and finally slayed San Marin 6-5 on a warm, still night in front of an overflow crowd at Albert Park in San Rafael.
Redwood survived a crazy game and celebrated its MCAL title since 2018 — although the Giants had to wait one extra inning after it appeared they had wrapped up the win in the seventh.
Redwood (23-3) lead 5-4 with two outs in the top of the seventh when sure-handed Rex Solle fielded a one-hopper at third base and fired across the diamond for an apparent easy out.
So assured the game was finished, a throng of Redwood students rushed the field in celebration.
But the first base umpire was waving his arms. San Marin’s baserunners held their ground at second and third.
Much discussion ensued and finally the umpire’s ruling that the Redwood first baseman had pulled his foot off the bag before the out was confirmed.
The fans were ushered off the field, and a couple of pitches later, San Marin’s Cole Chamberlain scored the tying run on a wild pitch.
“We’re all still a little confused about that play,” said Redwood starting pitcher Solle, who allowed only one hit in his five-inning stint – but three runs.
That was the other crazy thing about the game.
San Marin’s Sean McGrath powered a Solle delivery over the left-field fence for a two-run homer after Chamberlain walked in the first inning.
“It was a changeup that I left mid to up in the zone,” Solle said. “He does damage with that kind of pitch.”
Amazingly enough, McGrath’s homer was the only hit in eight innings for the Mustangs.
“If somebody had told me at 4 o’clock this afternoon that San Marin would have only one hit and we’d go eight innings, I’d have said they were crazy,” Redwood coach Mike Firenzi said.
The insanity did not stop there.
There was also a San Marin run scored on two balks in the sixth.
Redwood’s two-run rally in the bottom of the sixth, which briefly pushed the Giants ahead 5-4, featured an error, a hit batter, a wild pitch and finally a run-scoring single hit by Trono.
The teams also combined for six errors.
“It wasn’t the cleanest game ever,” said Trono, who was on base four of five plate appearances. “But everybody contributes to this team. It was a total team effort today. We found a way to win.”
Which brings the story full circle back to the winning run in the bottom of the eighth, which was preceded by a 12-pitch shutout inning by reliever Matthew Knauer in the top of the inning.
With one out, Ghio drew a five-pitch walk to start the winning rally. Chase Johnson singled down the left-field line and TJ Beck bunted both runners up a base to set up the intentional walk to Trono and the walkoff Soper single.
“We’ve been working all season on hunting first-pitch fastballs,” Soper said. “I got a fastball on the inside part of the plate on the first pitch in my previous at-bat. This time I was ready and really attacked the pitch.”
Soper, who was mobbed by his teammates and the returning marauding fans after his game-winning hit, was almost at a loss for words in the initial aftermath of his heroics.
“This is just amazing,” Soper finally said. “This is what we’ve been working for all year. Winning the MCAL pennant was our number one goal.”
Solle could not have been happier for his teammate.
“I’ve been playing with Gavin since we were eight years old,” Solle said. “We’ve been dreaming about winning something like this for all these years. I had 100 percent faith Gavin was going to come through.”
San Marin starting pitcher McGrath did not allow a baserunner beyond first until the fourth inning when doubles by Solle, Knauer and a run-scoring single by Ghio accounted for Redwood’s first runs of the game.
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