Prep baseball: Redwood strikes first, advances to section final

Redwood High baseball coach Mike Firenzi figured the best course of action for Wednesday’s North Coast Section Division II semifinal playoff game against speedy Ukiah was to strike first.

“Our goal coming in was to jump on them early,” Firenzi said. “We wanted to put three or four runs up and nullify that speed. They can run. We knew that.”

The Giants (26-3) followed the recipe to success without a hitch, scoring five runs in the first and coasting to a 9-2 victory against the visiting Wildcats (17-8) on a wind-swept afternoon in Larkspur.

The No. 2 Giants take on top-seed Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) for the NCS title Saturday at 1 p.m. at Sonoma State.

“We played it exactly to plan,” said Redwood designated hitter Sam Gersch, who was 3 for 3 and drove in three runs, including a pivotal two-run single in the first. “We wanted to throw the first punch and keep throwing them the whole game.”

The actual first punch was thrown by pesky sophomore Theo Trono, who laced a double into left field to open Redwood’s home half of the first.

Gavin Soper followed with a walk and Rex Solle loaded the bases when he was hit by a pitch. Gersch stepped up and knocked a single past the drawn-in Ukiah infield for the first two runs. Jack Moseley kept the hit parade going when he lined a single to left, driving in another run.

With the bases loaded and one out, catcher Ethan Ferry was also hit by a pitch to force in another run, and Lucas Ghio polished off the rally with a run-scoring sacrifice fly to deep center field.

“At the beginning of the season we knew what kind of team we had,” Gersch said. “We’ve played well all year, and even when we haven’t, we’ve found a way to win most games. Now we’re just trying to catch that 2015 team.”

Gersch was referring to the last Redwood team to win an NCS title. Coincidentally, that team posted a 27-3 record, which the Giants would equal with a victory Saturday.

Redwood’s rapid-fire five-run lead put starting and winning pitcher Chas Veley into an immediate comfort zone.

Veley pitched four shutout innings, scattering five hits before exiting the game in the fifth.

“I was throwing the fastball for strikes and I was able to keep them off balance with the changeup,” Veley said. “For the most part I was getting outs to start the innings and getting into two-out situations quickly.”

As has become a trademark for the Giants, great defense again played into the victory.

Ukiah cleanup batter Kessler Koch opened the fourth with a looping single to center and Canyon Loflin walked.

But Veley worked out of the jam with some fancy glovework on his part, snagging a hard hopper high above his head and turning it into a 1-6-3 double play. He snuffed out the potential uprising when he whiffed Kenny Lopez on a crafty off-speed pitch.

“It wasn’t easy out there for Chas today but he got the job done,” Firenzi said. “Our goal was to get three innings out of him – anything more and we’d be ecstatic. And we got four out of him.”

Redwood added some cushion with runs in both the second and third innings.

Gersch came up big again in the third with a run-scoring double. He later scored on a wild pitch.

In the third, freshman first baseman Chase Johnson drilled a first-pitch fastball over the right fielder’s head for a leadoff double. He scored on Trono’s sacrifice fly to right.

Firenzi called on Matthew Knauer in the fifth after the Wildcats reached on an error and a single to chase Veley. Both runners eventually scored unearned runs before Knauer worked out of the danger with no more damage.

Knauer survived a runners on the corners situation in the sixth and notched the save with an interesting seventh that included three singles and three strikeouts. He fanned Lopez with the bases loaded to end the game.