Larson, Huffman Lead Tam Baseball Blitz on Redwood in MCAL Playoffs

In its first round Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) baseball playoff game Tuesday, Tam High’s squad faced highly touted Redwood High pitcher Cal Becker, whose fastball clocks in the low 90s.

When Becker, who is heading to UC-Berkeley in the fall on a full baseball scholarship, mowed down the Red-tailed Hawks through the first three innings, Tam coach Mike Terry preached something that doesn’t always come easy to teenage boys: patience.

The Hawks delivered, drawing a leadoff walk and a single to start the bottom of the 4th inning. A passed ball put two runners in scoring position and Mac Huffman drove them both home with a single, giving the Hawks a commanding lead from which they never looked back.

“It was a really good win,” Terry said. “Facing a tough pitcher like that we knew we had to be patient and we knew that if we kept at him, eventually we would break through. We wanted to put pressure on their defense by stealing some bases and we did that.”

Starting pitcher Kit Larson threw five scoreless innings, giving up just two hits and striking out five hitters.

For Redwood, “the wheels started coming off in the fifth inning, Terry said, as timely hitting, stolen bases and the Giants’ throwing errors pushed the lead out.

Tam heads to a semifinal matchup with Justin-Siena, with whom the Hawks battled for first place in MCAL for most of the season before last week’s loss pushed then down  to third place.

“We made a few mistakes in our ballgames with them this season but we know we match up well,” Terry said. “We excited and looking forward to it.”

The 411: Tam High takes on Justin-Siena in an MCAL semifinal playoff game on Friday at Albert Park in San Rafael at 7:30 p.m.