Sports briefs: Lee’s grand slam lifts Marin Catholic to crucial win
Jayden Lee had three hits, including a grand slam, as Marin Catholic boosted its MCAL playoff hopes considerably with a 7-0 win against Tam on Tuesday.
Lee’s slam came in the top of the fourth and gave MC (11-11, 9-6) a 4-0 lead. Lee had five RBIs and scored two runs. Liam Smith pitched five innings and limited the Red-tailed Hawks (11-11, 8-7) to three hits.
The win vaults MC into a fourth-place tie with Archie Williams but the Wildcats hold the edge thanks to a season sweep. Tam sits one game behind both teams but got swept by Archie Williams and would lose out in the event of a three-way tiebreaker having already lost to MC and Archie Williams three times. MC and Tam close the season against each other on Thursday.
- Sean McGrath pitched a complete-game one-hitter as San Marin locked up a playoff spot following a 7-1 win against Novato on Tuesday. McGrath had eight strikeouts and allowed one earned run. Tyler Keehn paced the Mustangs (16-7, 11-4) offensively with two hits and three RBIs. Anthony Scheppler also had two hits. Novato (14-9, 10-5) slipped to third place but clinched a playoff spot anyway due to season sweeps against both Archie Williams and Marin Catholic.
- Jack Gurley pitched a complete-game shutout as Redwood handed Archie Williams a 2-0 loss on Tuesday. Gurley gave up four hits and struck out seven for the Giants (19-3, 13-2). Theo Trono had two hits and Gavin Soper had an RBI. Leo Hendricks pitched six innings allowing six hits and to earned runs for Archie Williams (11-10, 9-6), which dropped to fifth in the standings with one game to play. Archie Williams closes against Redwood on Thursday.
- Marcos Tolliver struck out 11 hitters in five innings as San Rafael secured a 7-2 win against Terra Linda Tuesday. Tolliver limited TL (1-20, 1-14) to three hits and one earned run. Quinn Madden had two hits, two runs and an RBI for the Bulldogs (6-16, 4-11), who scored three times in the second and three times in the sixth.
College baseball
College of Marin hits the road to open the NorCal playoffs for a three-game series against Lassen on Friday. The Mariners (26-14) were picked as the No. 16 seed against No. 9 Lassen (25-13).
The Mariners were led by former Tam High standout Matteo Bellisimo who had a team-high 14 homers and 56 RBIs while finishing second with a .370 batting average. Former Novato High standout Derek Bartram hit .321 with 11 homers and 37 RBIs.
Game 1 is set for 3 p.m. on Friday. Game 2 starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday with a Game 3, if necessary, to follow.
Boys lacrosse
Cole Simon scored five goals as Terra Linda won its first-round matchup against San Marin 10-6 in the North Coast Section Division II playoffs on Tuesday. Cole Greene scored twice for the No. 9 Trojans (8-6), who advance to face No. 1 Justin-Siena (15-4) on the road at 7 p.m. Thursday.
- Logan Chapman scored four goals as No. 5 Marin Academy blanked No. 12 Clayton Valley Charter, 15-0, at San Rafael High’s Miller Field in Tuesday’s NCS D-I opening round. Nate Felsenthal broke through with three goals and two assists, and Henry Wooster and Fischer Burke each had two goals and two assists. Fineas DeGooyer, Thomas Winship, Blake Weaver and Ben Dutro rounded out the scoring. The Wildcats defense kept Clayton Valley at bay in front of goalkeeper Hayden Walz, who needed to make just two saves for the shutout. Marin Academy will travel to Danville to play No. 4 Monte Vista on Thursday.
- No. 7 Tam has a playoff rematch with No. 2 Redwood on Thursday in the NCS D-I quarterfinals. The Red-tailed Hawks advanced with a first-round 8-1 victory over No. 10 Berkeley on Tuesday. Redwood, which had a first-round bye Tuesday, beat Tam, 16-9, in the MCAL semifinals, and 13-3 in the regular season.
- No. 10 Novato upset No. 7 Cardinal Newman, 14-4, in Tuesday’s NCS D-II First round.
Girls lacrosse
Top-seeded San Marin got its title quest off to a flying start after posting a 20-0 win against No. 16 Bay on Tuesday. The Mustangs (14-5) are set to face No. 8 University in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
- Branson, the No. 7 seed in D-II, advanced to the quarterfinals with a 17-4 win against No. 10 Lick-Wilmerding on Tuesday. The Bulls (13-4) face the winner of the late game between No. 2 Campolindo and No. 15 Casa Grande on Thursday.
- Marin Catholic rolled to a 19-0 win against No. 14 Rancho Cotate in the first round of the D-I playoffs. The Wildcats (15-4) host either No. 6 Monte Vista or No. 11 Berkeley on Thursday.
- No. 11 Archie Williams, making its first NCS D-II appearance since 2014, lost in Napa against No. 6 Justin-Siena, 21-10, Tuesday.
- No. 12 Novato fell to No. 5 Amador Valley, 15-5, in a NCS D-I matchup on Tuesday.
Boys tennis
San Domenico’s Toby Sadzeck, the No. 2 seed in the BCL West playoffs, fell 6-0, 6-1 in the semifinals against No. 3 seed Karam Dhawan of University. Sadzeck defeated Marin Academy’s Sebastian Lema in the round of 16 and Bay’s Jack Turnbull on Monday.
Prep softball
San Marin defeated Terra Linda 10-0 in the late game on Monday night. The result pulled the Mustangs (11-9, 9-4) into a third-place tie with Archie Williams and moved them one game behind second-place Redwood. San Marin closes the regular season on Wednesday with a game against Redwood in Larkspur.
Prep badminton
San Domenico wrapped up the regular-season league title following a 7-2 victory against University. The Bay Area Conference singles and doubles tournament starts on Thursday.