Prep baseball: Marin Catholic secures spot in MCAL playoffs

The Marin Catholic High baseball team plays pretty well with its back against the wall.

The Wildcats (12-11, 8-8 MCAL) clawed out of the proverbial corner with two wins this week against Archie Williams – including a 9-4 triumph Thursday in Larkspur – to nail down the No. 5-seed in next week’s MCAL playoffs.

MC, which needed both wins against Archie Williams to avoid postseason elimination, travels to Novato to take on the fourth-place Hornets at 4:30 p.m. Monday in an opening round playoff game.

The Peregrine Falcons (12-11, 8-8), on the other hand, must now battle host San Rafael at 1 p.m. Saturday in a play-in game to determine the sixth and final playoff spot.

“We had all the confidence in the world coming into this one,” said MC catcher Wade Untermann, who was 3 for 3 with a double, a triple and two runs batted in. “We have a lot of young guys on this team and we started the season slowly. But everybody seemed to come together this week.”

The Wildcats trailed 1-0 until the third inning after starting pitcher Carson Davis was nicked for an unearned run in the first.

MC, which left four runners on base in the first two innings, took the lead for good in the third. Wade Untermann started the rally with a one-out walk. Johnny Greco, who was 6 for 8 in the series and 3 for 3 Thursday, followed by blistering a single to right.

Designated hitter Walker Untermann cleaned up the bases with a towering two-run double to center off losing pitcher Wyatt Koenig, who lasted until the sixth inning.

“We were having some trouble with (Koenig’s) off-speed pitch at first,” Wade Unterman said. “It took a couple of innings to adjust, but once we did it was lights out.”

Meanwhile, MC starter Davis settled into a steady rhythm after his first-inning adventure and allowed only three hits and struck out five in his four-inning stint.

“Carson had really good stuff today,” Wade Untermann said. “He used four pitches – a fastball, a curve, a slider and a two-seam fastball – to keep them off balance.”

The Wildcats added three more runs – all unearned – in the fourth after Hunter Valla reached on an infield error to leadoff the inning.

With two outs, Davis was hit by a pitch and Wade Untermann knocked in a run when he lined a double into the left-center field gap. Greco followed with a looping two-run single to right.

Hard-throwing southpaw relief pitcher Cooper Benjamin took over for MC in the fifth. Benjamin’s control was spotty – he walked three batters in two innings — but he also struck out three including AW’s tough-out Henry Hanavan to escape a bases-loaded predicament in the sixth.

“Cooper throws hard and he had good stuff today,” Wade Untermann said. “He’s always been a solid reliever and you know what you’re going to get when he comes in.”

MC broke the game open in the sixth, erupting for six hits and four runs. Wade Untermann delivered the big blow, a run-scoring stand-up triple into the right-center field alley.

“We really didn’t get started with the bats until the third or fourth inning,” Greco said. “But once we got our energy up, we found some rhythm and then just kept it rolling.”

Around the county

• Will Gensler had three hits, including a home run, and two RBIs as Tam closed the MCAL campaign with a 7-2 win against San Marin on Thursday. Eli Solem had two hits and two RBIs for the Red-tailed Hawks (17-7, 12-4), who have a first-round bye in next week’s MCAL playoffs. Tam scored four times in the bottom of the fourth to break the game open. Solem and three relievers combined to hold San Marin to three hits and one earned run. The Mustangs (15-9, 13-3) had already wrapped up the top seed following their win against Tam on Tuesday.
• Redwood scored 12 runs in the third inning after falling into an early hole to wrap up the No. 3 seed with a 16-5 victory against Branson on Thursday. Sam Gersch finished a double shy of the cycle and drove in four runs to pace the Giants (15-8-1, 10-6). Theo Trono and Chase Johnson added three hits each against Branson (8-15, 2-14). Redwood will play Monday and host the winner of Saturday’s play-in game between Archie Williams and San Rafael.
• Julian Oliver hit a three-run home run as Novato defeated Terra Linda 10-0 on Thursday. J.P Harmon, Trevor Cleary, and Ben Cleary had two hits each for Novato (16-8, 10-6), which secured the No. 4 seed and hosts No. 5 Marin Catholic on Monday.