Prep softball: Drummer dominant as San Rafael tops Marin Catholic

The San Rafael High softball team may have started the league season with four consecutive losses but the Bulldogs are trending up as they hit the halfway point with a 3-0 victory against Marin Catholic on Monday.

The blueprint for San Rafael (6-8, 3-4 MCAL) is simple – pitcher Thomara Drummer strikes out a bunch of hitters, leadoff hitter Sophia Everett and Drummer get on base, and someone drives them in a couple of times.

On Monday, Drummer was unhittable until the seventh inning and struck out 15 hitters. Everett had a hit, two walks, three steals, and scored twice following RBI singles by No. 3 hitter Gabby Rodriguez.

“When (Rodriguez) was gone, me and T [Drummer] would get on base but it was a struggle to get us all around back to home so having her here is spectacular,” Everett said. “It’s everything we imagined and more. We knew that as soon as we got her back something would click. We’d start playing good again and get runs in.”

Everett led off the game with a walk then stole second base. MC freshman pitcher Malliah Foster retired Drummer but Rodriguez came up and looped a pitch into left field to give San Rafael a quick 1-0 lead.

“I was just looking for something to hit – whatever pitch it was – something in my area,” Rodriguez said. “I fought off the first one then I saw the second pitch and I was like ‘Yeah, that’s my pitch’ and I hit it and it went in the hole.”

Drummer hit the first batter she saw with a pitch but quickly settled into a dominant groove – at one point striking out six consecutive batters spanning the first through third innings.

“We just had spring break and I got a week off,” Drummer said. “Not pitching for a while helps me rest and restart and my pitches were working today.”

Drummer said she could tell during warmups that all of her pitches were working.

“There’s definitely off days and good days,” Drummer said. “I can feel it in my arm, either yep or nope, but today was definitely yep.”

Drummer continued to mow batters down and Foster kept pace with her through five innings as the score remained 1-0.

Foster — who allowed four hits and had 11 strikeouts in the game — finally ran into trouble in the top of the sixth. Everett led off with a bunt single and promptly stole second. MC coach Dave Albini intentionally walked Drummer with no outs to get to Rodriguez, who battled Foster into a full count before lacing a single into left field for a 2-0 lead.

“I had two strikes on me so I was just fighting off any close pitch and luckily it was inside, I believe,” Rodriguez said. “Honestly, I was really early on that pitch and I got it on the end of the barrel but I was lucky enough to get it down the line.”

Freshman Kennedy Parker followed with a sacrifice bunt to stake the Bulldogs to a 3-0 lead. That was more than enough for Drummer, who retired the side in order in the bottom of the sixth.

“I needed those reassurance runs,” Drummer said. “Those are crucial because MC is a very good hitting team and anything can happen with one run.”

Anna Held led off the bottom of the seventh with a single into center field for MC (9-4, 4-3), breaking up Drummer’s no-hitter in the process.

Bella Ferrity hit a ball right back to Drummer, who took the out at second base. Drummer closed the game out with back-to-back swinging strikeouts to seal San Rafael’s third consecutive MCAL victory.

“We might have started 0-4 but I know we’re going to make our way back,” Everett said.

San Rafael won the regular-season title last year with a 12-2 record. The Bulldogs are tied for fifth-place with Tam through seven games and sit one game behind MC for fourth place.

Around the county

• Gia Meyers had four hits – missing just a double for the cycle – drove in four runs and scored four times as league-leading Redwood posted an 18-5 victory against Terra Linda on Monday. Stella Belluomini, Elle McElreath, and Ashley Ball all had three hits apiece for Redwood (10-6, 6-1). Ball and Belluomini had three RBIs each. Sofia Gonzalez drove in two runs for TL (8-5, 2-5).
• Paige Murphy tossed a complete game, allowing four hits and striking out 12 as Archie Williams defeated Tam 8-1 on Monday. Murphy had three hits for the Peregrine Falcons (11-4, 5-2) while Kennedy Dunsing had two hits and an RBI. Ava Lee pitched six innings with six hits and eight strikeouts for Tam (8-4, 3-4).
• Lauren Fong tripled twice and drove in four runs to lead San Marin past Novato 7-5 on Monday. Fong also singled and scored twice for the Mustangs (10-5, 5-2), who stretched their MCAL winning streak to four games. Novato (4-12, 0-7) made a game out of it after trailing 7-1 in the top of the fourth. Giana Flores had two RBIs for Novato.