Parker Conrad picked a pretty good moment to hit her first home run of the season.

Conrad blasted a pitch just fair and over the wall in left field to account for most of the scoring as the Archie Williams softball team secured a 5-1 home win against San Rafael in the first round of the MCAL playoffs on Monday.

“It was a tight game at that point and I definitely wanted to make sure I could move the runners and kind of get the game going,” Conrad said. “I think I had two strikes so I was trying to sit on the pitch, really watch the pitch go by and shorten up my swing. I saw that one and it was kind of dropping a little so I thought that one was the one and it just hit right on my barrel so it felt good.”

Conrad’s third-inning blast turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead. Conrad later drove in Archie Williams’ fourth run by slicing a single into right field in the fifth inning.

The victory sends the No. 4 Peregrine Falcons (18-7) into Tuesday’s 6:30 p.m. semifinal against No. 1 San Marin (16-6). No. 3 Marin Catholic (15-6) faces No. 2 Redwood (15-9) at 4:30 p.m. in Larkspur in the other semifinal.

San Marin swept the season series against Archie Williams, winning 10-0 on April 1 then 8-4 on April 30.

“The first time at San Marin we didn’t have good luck and they shut us down 10-0,” Archie Williams coach Joe Bell said. “The second time around they still had our number but we hit off them a lot better. I believe we’re a better team now. We’ve adjusted a lot.”Ana Flandermeyer got the Peregrine Falcons’ big inning started on Monday with a hard single into center field to lead off the bottom of the third. Chase Unger sacrificed pinch runner Katie Murphy over to second. San Rafael opted to walk leadoff hitter Paige Murphy intentionally with one out, setting the stage for Conrad’s big moment.

“As I turned second, I realized it had actually gone over (the fence),” Conrad said. “It felt so good. It was kind of like this feeling where you almost dream about it, putting the team ahead.”

Once she was handed a two-run advantage, Archie Williams pitcher Paige Murphy was more than capable of protecting it. San Rafael got on the board in the first inning after a walk by Sophia Everett and an RBI single by Gabby Rodriguez. Paige Murphy limited the damage from there, allowing just three hits over seven innings while striking out seven.

“Just staying confident in myself and letting my defense work and letting them put the ball in play,” Murphy said of her game plan. “That’s what I’m going to do — pitch to weak contact and let my defense work. I did that today and my defense did a great job behind me.”

Paige Murphy avoided even a hint of trouble until San Rafael pitcher Thomara Drummer led off the top of the sixth with a double to deep center field. Paige Murphy retired the final six hitters she faced in order after that.

Conrad went 2 for 3 at the plate with 4 RBIs and two runs scored. Kennedy Dunsing added two hits for Archie Williams and Lila James had an RBI on a sac fly in the sixth to cap the scoring.

San Rafael is expected to qualify for next week’s North Coast Section playoffs but this loss marked the end of the MCAL careers of two of the league’s most decorated players in Everett and Drummer.

Drummer was the MCAL’s pitcher of the year last season and Everett is a two-time IJ player of the year. The duo led San Rafael to a NCS Division III title as freshmen in 2022 and an MCAL regular-season title in 2024. Everett is committed to Cal and Drummer is committed to Southern Oregon.

Around the county

Morgan Carlson hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning to give Marin Catholic the cushion it needed in a 3-0 victory against No. 6 Tam at Novato High on Monday.

Carlson’s homer made the score 3-0 after Lana Wihlborg drove in the first run with a single in the second inning.

Starting pitcher Malliah Foster went all seven innings, limiting Tam to three hits while striking out 10. Foster ran into a bit of trouble in the seventh inning, loading the bases with two outs before inducing a fly out to end the game.

Eden Clark had two hits to pace the Red-tailed Hawks (12-9) offensively. Clark also pitched six innings, allowing five hits and two earned runs while striking out seven.