The varsity baseball team faced off against the Marin Catholic Wildcats (MC) in the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) semifinals Tuesday, May 10. The Wildcats headed into the game as the number one seed with an MCAL record of 13-3, and the Falcons entered the game as the four seed with an MCAL record of 10-6. 

The game took place at Bishop Daly Field on the Marin Catholic campus. Senior pitcher Cal Amborn started on the mound for the Falcons. Senior Kody Perry was on the hill for the Wildcats.

Perry was able to set AWHS down in the top of the first off a groundout,

popout, and strikeout swinging. Cal struggled in the first inning off of two straight infield hits. After a groundout, MC had runners on second and third. A single by Perry past first baseman Ben Nash resulted in MC taking a 2-0 lead.

“Cal gets a lot of weak contact, and sometimes that’s hard to defend. They didn’t barrel a single ball for the whole game, and scored three runs. 2 of them were unearned, one big mistake,” said AWHS varsity baseball coach Taber Watson.

The Falcons were sat down in the top of the second without putting up much of a fight, and the Wildcats extended their lead in the second inning by scoring another run off an infield hit.

Both pitchers kept the opposition quiet for the rest of the game. Perry threw a no-hitter into the fifth inning where junior left fielder Ryan Smith-Stewart got the Falcons’ first hit with a single over the third baseman’s head.

“We have struggled to hit all year, and sometimes that bites us,” Watson said. “Today we didn’t hit that well.”

The game stayed at 3-0 heading into the seventh inning, where the Falcons got their last chance at the plate. Senior shortstop Jonas Salk led off the top of the seventh reaching first off a hit by pitch. Cal then followed it up with a single between the first and second basemen. After Cal’s comeback, Perry set the Falcons down in order, and achieved a complete-game shutout.

For all 14 of the AWHS seniors, this was the final MCAL game of their careers. It was an emotional scene from many of the seniors after the game, with long hugs and sentimental tears.

“This group of seniors has been super special,” Cal said. “It’s rare to have such a large class, and I think we’re all going to remember the great moments from this season for a long time.

MC will face off against Redwood High School in the MCAL Championship game on Friday, May 13 at Albert Park. AWHS will continue their playoff run with their first North Coast Section (NCS) playoff game taking place on Tuesday, May 17.