After being down 4-0 after four innings, the Redwood Giants’ baseball made a late push to beat the Branson Bulls, 5-4, in extra innings. Taking the glory was Rory Minty, hitting a ground ball that scored Sam Gersch to conclude an incredible Senior Night.
Branson got ahead of Redwood early on, scoring two runs in the top of the first. After leadoff hitter Noam AuYeung lined out to short, Cooper Tenney and William Ashley both got on with a walk and error. Kaden Gustafson brought home the two on a two-run single to make it 2-0.
Starting on the bump for the Bulls was Wilson Wendt, getting a 1-2-3 first inning with all pop-outs.
Minty followed that up with a 1-2-3 frame of his own, featuring a sliding grab in foul ground by Wyatt Turkington and a strikeout of Tom Lardner.
Wendt picked up where he left off, downing the Giants in four batters (an error) with two popouts and a groundout.
At the top of the order again, AuYeung hit a single for Branson. Minty wasn’t fazed, mowing down the following three batters with two popouts.
Redwood made some progress, registering its first hit of the day with a single to center field by Jack Moseley. That would be all the Giants would get in the bottom of the third, seeing Wendt forcing two pop-outs and a groundout.
The Bulls struck again in the fourth, starting with a leadoff double to left field by Gustafson. Morris Jacoby got aboard on an error at third. Advancing to third later was Gustafson, who would score with Jacoby on an error at second base. The mistake gave Branson a 4-0 lead.
In Wendt’s last full inning, he made quick work of the Giants in four batters (first baseman off the bag).
Minty had one of his best innings in the fifth, finishing the side in four batters. After giving up a single, he responded with three consecutive crucial outs before the Giants’ offense struck.
Redwood got two runs on the board in the bottom half, coming from sacrifices. Gersch lead off with a walk, which was followed up by Danil Wells getting hit. Now, with two men on, a steal by Gersch put the Giants in a position to score. Theo Trono hit a ground ball to short, scoring Gersch. Back at the top of the order, Moseley hit a single to left field that put Wells at third. Minty laid down a perfect bunt, scoring Wells.
Although Minty gave up a double to Lardner, he struck out two in a quick inning with another excellent response to adversity. Trono made a highlight play, too, robbing Branson of a single with a running play to catch a line drive.
The Giants added another run in the sixth, seeing Gersch come up big. Redwood posed danger early with a man on second with one away after a double from Mathew Knauer and an advancing bunt from Soper. Then, Gersch singled to score Knauer. The Giants almost tied the game but stranded Gersch on third.
In Minty’s last inning, he got another 1-2-3 of Branson.
Down 4-3, the bottom of the seventh was Redwood’s last chance to tie the game. It started out interestingly, with Ashley making an incredible grab on a line drive at his ankles to put away Redwood for the first out. Minty walked, and Jack Corvi (pinch runner) stole second. Solle then hit a single to left field, which resulted in a play at the plate that Corvi won. With one away and a man on first, the Giants still had a chance to walk it off. Coughlan walked, proposing a real threat to the Bulls. Unfortunately for the Giants, Branson got a double play with an interference call at second to end the inning.
In extra innings, Redwood elected to end Minty’s outing, putting Chas Veley on the bump. Veley did well, as he struck out one batter, got a double play and forced a popout.
After crawling back to tie the game, the Giants now had the chance to walk it off in extras. Soper started things roughly with a leadoff strikeout, but Gersch walked next. On a weird play, With the bases loaded Back, Moseley hit a single to load the bases. Walking it off was Minty, hitting a ground ball that brought home the game-winning run.
The win put Redwood at 12-3, holding second place in the Marin County Athletic League and securing a top two seed in next week’s league playoffs. The regular season finale is set for 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Branson.
