Prep softball: Redwood holds off late charge by Marin Catholic

Gia Meyers gave the Redwood High softball team a lift with her bat in the bottom of the first inning, then made a game-saving diving catch in the top of the seventh as the Giants held on for a dramatic 4-3 victory at home against Marin Catholic on Wednesday.

MC, which had already scored two runs and knocked starting pitcher Stella Belluomini out of the game in the top of the seventh, had the bases loaded and was looking for more. Vivian Partain lined a ball into center field that looked like trouble right off the bat but Meyers came rushing in and ended the game by catching the ball about a foot off the ground.

“I kind of knew it was going to come to me,” Meyers said. “I just had a sense. Then I was just going to run and do whatever I could to catch that. Tight game, I just knew I had to do whatever I could to get it.”

The victory – combined with San Rafael’s extra-inning win over San Marin, lifts the Giants (6-3, 4-0 MCAL) into sole possession of first place.

“This was a big one because they are our rival and then it’s just a big game overall, with rankings and everything to keep us in first and get us a momentum boost for the next games coming up like San Rafael,” Meyers said.

Meyers singled in the first inning to score Ava Brown, who had reached on a double, and give Redwood a 1-0 lead. Ashley Ball delivered a clutch two-out, two-run single later in the frame after fouling off several tough pitches from MC’s Selena Peña.

For most of the game, it appeared that 3-0 cushion would be all Belluomini would need. Prior to Meyers’ late-game heroics, Redwood’s defense made several other big plays in the middle innings to keep MC off the scoreboard.

Freshman catcher Kait Christensen had a big third inning, throwing a runner out at second base for the first out then picking off another runner at third base for the final out.

(Christensen) definitely had a great arm as a catcher and when someone gets an error to get that runner on or I walk someone or something happens like that, it’s really nice to know that your catcher and your players have your back when you struggle. It’s always nice for them to pick you up after that.”

Two innings later, it was Maizy Crawford’s turn to make a crucial inning-ending play. MC’s Bella Ferrity hit a two-out single with the bases loaded to pull MC within 3-1. Peña then hit a ball to Elle McElreath at short, who threw to first to try to get the third out. Crawford, who plays at first base, made an impressive stretch while doing the splits to ensure the Giants got out of the inning.

“She does that all the time,” Belluomini said. “When the ball gets hit to Elle and it’s a close play, Maizy really puts her whole body out there to get us that out.”

Christensen and Crawford combined to give Redwood a critical insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Christensen hit a single to deep center then Crawford laced a double down the left-line line all the way to the fence to extend the lead to 4-1.

“It was very good because we needed that extra run to secure the win and I think Maizy always performs well under pressure. We knew we had those runners on just to even tap the ball, because’ she’s so powerful, it rolled all the way to the fence and we got to score Kait.”

MC (3-2-1, 2-2) put together an impressive rally in the seventh. Lucy Gonzalez drew a leadoff walk which knocked Belluomini out of the game. Izzy Larson singled to put two on for Morgan Carlson at the top of the order.

Carlson smashed a double to the base of the wall in centerfield – her third hit of the game – to pull MC within 4-2. Grace Bellinger hit an RBI groundout to pull MC within 4-3 with one out.

Addy Dunn induced a pop to short for the second out but then walked Peña and hit Anna Held with a pitch to reload the bases.

Meyers then recorded the final out of the game to secure the win for Belluomini and the Giants.

“(Meyers) flies around, you always see her put 100% effort into the ball,” Belluomini said. “You can see there, even our coach when I was in the dugout, she was like ‘Gia’s got that. Gia’s got that,’ and I knew she had that, too, because she’s just that player that gets those clutch catches.”