MC CONTINUES ITS POSTSEASON RUN - Marin Independent Journal

PREP BASEBALL

MC CONTINUES ITS POSTSEASON RUN

Wildcats fall behind early, score four in 4th to make Division III title game

Wade Untermann (16) of Marin Catholic celebrates after scoring in the bottom of the fourth inning during their North Coast Section Division III semifinal against Northgate in Kentfield on Tuesday. PHOTOS BY SHERRY LAVARS — MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL

Johnny Greco (8) of Marin Catholic hits a 2-run double in the bottom of the fourth inning during the North Coast Section Division III semifinal against Northgate in Kentfield on Tuesday. Marin Catholic came from behind to defeat Northgate 4-3.

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By Tim Menicutch

IJ correspondent

Marin Catholic High senior pitcher Carson Davis could be forgiven for experiencing a bit of the jitters in the opening inning Tuesday against visiting Northgate (Walnut Creek).

After all, Davis had never pitched in a game of such magnitude.

But after spotting the Broncos a two-run lead in the first inning of the North Coast Section Division III baseball semifinal contest, Davis settled into his role as an ace starting pitcher for the Wildcats.

Davis surrendered only one more run in his 6.2 innings of work as Marin Catholic posted an exciting 4-3 come-from-behind victory on a brilliant blue early evening in Kentfield.

Marin Catholic (16-12) vies for the title against No. 1-seed California of San Ramon (15-11) Friday or Saturday at Diablo Valley College.

“I couldn’t find a rhythm in that first inning. Maybe I was just a little too amped up,” said Davis, who allowed only two more walks after issuing three base on balls in the first. “But after that, my teammates picked me up and then I settled in.”

MC’s harrowing first inning nearly turned into a disaster.

Along with the three Davis walks, the Wildcats committed an infield error in the inning.

“I think Carson was moving a little too fast and so was the team all around in the top of the first,” MC coach Jesse Foppert said. “But once they all settled in, they were a lot better.”

A couple of outstanding defensive plays, however, kept the damage to a minimum as the Broncos left the bases loaded.

After Northgate had already taken a 1-0 lead in the first, the Broncos had a runner on second with no outs,

But a leaping grab of a hot liner by senior second baseman Jude Baker turned into a quick two outs when Baker fired to shortstop Johnny Greco at second for the double play.

Still, the trouble brewed,

A single sandwiched by two walks loaded the bases.

Northgate shortstop Luke Dress stepped up and rifled a hard grounder toward right field.

But Baker had other ideas.

The athletic second baseman dove headlong to grab the grounder and only missed throwing the batter out by a step at first as the Broncos tacked on a second run.

Baker, however, did save one run as Davis induced Connor Witel into a pop out to end the inning.

“We showed that we’re playing for each other,” Davis said. “It’s like Johnny (Greco) said in the dugout, if one guy makes a mistake another guy’s got your back.”

Northgate starting pitcher Max Carlos kind of backed the Wildcats into a corner.

Carlos was flawless for the first three innings, retiring all nine batters he faced.

But MC center fielder Luke Martin jumped on Carlos’ second pitch of the fourth inning and pounded a double into the left-field corner to end the perfect game and the no-hitter with one swing.

Davis followed by blistering a single to right field and MC ended the shutout when Martin scored from third on a Northgate infield error.

Greco, a sophomore who has been delivering clutch hits all postseason, stepped up and gave MC a 3-2 lead when he drove a 1-2 fastball into the left-center field gap for a two-run double.

“That was a huge hit for him,” Foppert said. “And a great way to respond after his error in the first inning.”

Two batters later, James Stocker — who was also impressive defensively at third base — hit a chopper to shortstop to score Greco from third for what turned out to be the winning run.

The Broncos (18-8) kept things interesting by scoring a solo run in the fifth.

Davis retired six of the final eight hitters he faced before a two-out walk in the seventh ended his outing.

Flame thrower Cooper Mitchell, the probable starting pitcher in the section final, needed five pitchers to close it out when he induced Dress to hit a routine ground ball to Baker at second for the final out.