Oliver drives home 13 runs for Novato - Marin Independent Journal

PREPS OF THE WEEK

Oliver drives home 13 runs for Novato

Novato’s Julian Oliver scores against San Marin during their MCAL game in Novato on March 18. SHERRY LAVARS — MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL

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By Ian Ross

iross@marinij.com

There’s plenty at stake as the MCAL baseball season heads into its final two weeks, with just one loss separating seventh place from third place. To that end, Novato got exactly what it needed with a pair of wins against Branson fueled by a red-hot week at the plate from Julian Oliver.

The two teams who can safely say they are going to make the league playoffs — San Marin and Tam — both picked up sweeps last week.

Softball continues to be unpredictable with what could still end up being a four-team battle for first place. Archie Williams moved into a tie for first with a win against San Rafael last week. Tam, currently in fifth, did its part to tighten up the race by taking down third-place Redwood.

Elsewhere, the girls lacrosse team from Redwood and the girls swimming team from Tam were among those that capped unbeaten league campaigns last week.

Julian Oliver, Novato baseball >> The shortstop put up one of the most eye-popping stat lines of the season last Tuesday against Branson and didn’t slow down much from there en route to driving in 13 runs over three games. Oliver did most of his damage in Novato’s 12-2 victory against the Bulls, with three hits, seven RBIs, and two runs scored — highlighted by a two-run homer in the sixth to cap the scoring. Oliver drove in four more runs on two doubles in a 7-3 victory against Branson on Thursday, then hit his second home run of the week in a 5-3 win over Pinole Valley on Saturday.

August Block, Archie Williams baseball >> Block hit a double and a home run and was credited with four RBIs as Archie Williams emerged with a 9-7 victory against San Rafael on Tuesday. Block started with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first to put the Peregrine Falcons ahead 2-1. Block then broke a 6-6 tie in the bottom of the ninth with a two-run double. A third runner came around to score due to an error on the play, boosting Archie Williams’ lead to 9-6. San Rafael bounced back to win the second game 2-1 as both teams remain in the thick of the playoff chase.

Matthew Baldino, San Marin baseball >> The Mustangs’ catcher had a home run among his two hits on Tuesday, driving in three runs and scoring twice in an 11-2 victory against Terra Linda. Baldino drove in two more runs as San Marin completed the sweep with a 7-5 victory on Friday.

Eli Solem, Tam baseball >> Solem delivered on the mound and at the plate to help Tam sweep Redwood last week. Solem pitched on Friday, going 6.2 innings with two hits and an earned run while striking out nine in a 5-1 victory. Solem had two RBIs in the series opener, a 6-3 Tam victory on Tuesday.

Eden Clark and Elisa Cobb, Tam softball >> Clark turned in one of the best pitching performances of her MCAL career, shutting out Redwood for seven innings while allowing four hits against 12 strikeouts on Wednesday. Clark also delivered the biggest hit of the game, an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth, as Tam pulled out a 1-0 upset win. Cobb provided a pair of big hits in Tam’s 7-4 victory against Novato on Monday, driving in a team-high three runs and scoring once.

Claire Hannan and Allie Tubach, Novato softball >> Hannan was masterful inside the circle and Tubach drove in three runs with a bases-loaded triple to lead Novato to its first MCAL win of the season, a 7-3 victory against Terra Linda on Wednesday. Tubach’s triple gave the Hornets a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Hannan took over from there, limiting TL to one hit over seven innings. Only one of TL’s three runs were earned.

Kennedy Dunsing and Paige Murphy, Archie Williams softball >> Both players had five hits over the course of the week as the Peregrine Falcons picked up a pair of wins, 5-4 against San Rafael on Wednesday and 7-1 against Rancho Cotate on Friday. Dunsing had three hits against San Rafael and two against Rancho Cotate while Murphy had two against the Bulldogs and three against Rancho Cotate. As usual, Murphy pitched both games, limiting Rancho Cotate to six hits and an unearned run with 11 strikeouts in seven innings. Murphy also pitched her way out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning against San Rafael to preserve Archie Williams’ 5-4 lead at the time.

Phoebe Miller and Lucy Miller, Redwood girls lacrosse >> Redwood capped an unbeaten run through the league with a 15-8 win against San Marin on Thursday. Phoebe Miller scored five goals, assisted another, and had two draw controls. Lucy Miller had three goals and four assists for the Giants, who enter this week’s MCAL playoffs as the top seed.

Addison Everage and Annika Hakes, Tam girls swimming >> Everage and Hakes were both double winners as the Red-tailed Hawks capped an undefeated league campaign with a 121-65 victory against Redwood on Friday. Everage won both the 200 individual medley and the 100 back while Hakes won the 100 fly and the 100 breast. Additionally, Hakes submitted a pair of North Coast Section consideration times in both of her individual events. The Red-tailed Hawks will look to continue their strong season at the MCAL championships, which take place Friday and Saturday at Redwood. Tam finished second to Redwood last season.

Annie Carmona, Terra Linda girls track >> The TL senior beat out a field of 32 runners to win the 800 meters at the Clash of the Titans, hosted by Skyline high on Saturday. Carmona posted a personal record of 2 minutes, 19.38 seconds, outpacing the field by almost 5 seconds. Carmona placed third at the MCAL Championships last year in the event with a time of 2:25.98.

Witt Bulger, Tam boys tennis >> Bulger picked up a pair of victories last week as Tam went 1-1 to finish as the fifth seed. Bulger began the week with a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles against Fin Donnelly of Archie Williams. Bulger than took down the defending MCAL player of the year, Redwood’s Julian Zhang, 6-3, 3-6, 10-6, to secure Tam’s lone win of the contest.

Jay Nagpal, Branson boys golf >> Nagpal aced the eighth hole at Meadow Club on senior day as Branson posted the low-score of 198 in a tri-meet with Redwood (199) and Archie Williams (209). Nagpal tied for a team-best round of 36 with Jack Hilleboe. Branson is qualified for the MCAL golf tournament which is set to start at 8 a.m. Thursday at StoneTree.

Beckman Watrous, Redwood boys golf >> Watrous took medalists honors twice last week with a pair of 35s at Meadow Club. Watrous was the low scorer against Novato on Tuesday then pulled off the feat again on Thursday against Branson and Archie Williams. Redwood is also qualified for the MCAL golf tournament this Thursday at StoneTree.