College of Marin qualifies for state with play-in win

Former Novato High standout Jake Tirk pitched a complete game shutting down College of the Sequoias to lead the College of Marin baseball team to a 4-1 win in a State play-in game Tuesday.

Tirk allowed five hits, one run and struck out eight for the No. 17 seed Mariners (25-16), who advance to the first round for a bestof-three series against No. 1 Ohlone — winners of 36 consecutive games.

The 2022 Mariners have been hitting home runs all season — setting a program record — and added two more on Tuesday. Trent Free and Jacob Campbell both hit solo shots. Joey Taddie had two hits while Benny Nazario and Riley Cronin had the other RBIs.

The series against Ohlone begins at 2 p.m. Friday in Fremont. Game 2 is set for 11 a.m. on Saturday with Game 3 to follow, if necessary.

Prep baseball

Kent Goodman hit a tworun double in the sixth inning to cap a come-from-behind, 3-2 victory for Redwood against Branson. Cole McGowan had a pair of hits for the Giants (16-7, 11-4), who wrapped up a spot in next week's MCAL playoffs with the victory. William Ashley hit a two-run home run for the Bulls in the top of the fourth inning.

• Cole Chamberlain had four hits and drove in six runs as San Marin kept its MCAL playoff hopes alive following a 9-4 win over another playoff hopeful in Novato. Chamberlain homered as San Marin (14-8-1, 8-7) built a big, early lead. Evan Black drove in three runs for Novato (13-10, 8-7), who scored four runs in the sixth inning to make it interesting before Chamberlain doubled in two more runs in the top of the seventh.

• Tam scored 10 runs in the first two innings then held off a spirited San Rafael comeback for a 15-9 victory. The Red-tailed Hawks clinched the No. 2 seed in the MCAL playoffs with the win. Hoffman Joachim paced the Hawks with four hits, two RBIs and two runs. Max Hattenbach drove in three runs for the Bulldogs.

Prep softball

San Rafael scored four insurance runs in the top of the seventh and ended up needing some of them as San Marin scored three in the bottom of the inning. The Bulldogs had built enough of a cushion to secure a 6-3 victory.

Thomara Drummer, Imogen Cordoba and Angel Amesa had three hits apiece for for the Bulldogs (194, 10-3). Drummer cruised through six innings, striking out five, before running into trouble in the seventh. Kelsey McNair got the last three outs for San Rafael.

Maddy Penick hit a a two-run double for San Marin (7-10, 6-7), which fell one game behind Tam for the last MCAL playoff spot with one game to play.

Although Tam swept San Marin this season, a playin game would be needed should they finished tied for fourth. Both teams will be underdogs on paper in the final game as Tam faces San Rafael and San Marin faces Redwood on Wednesday.

College softball

San Anselmo's Sona Halajian, a former standout for then-Drake High, Marin Catholic's Annabel Teperson and San Marin's Alexis Bishop are all enjoying standout seasons for Cal this year.

Halajian ranks second on the team with a .361 batting average to go along with 11 homers (2nd) and a teamhigh 39 RBIs. As a pitcher, Halajian has a 17-7 record with a 3.78 earned-run average in 22 starts.

Teperson has a teamleading 3.52 ERA while pitching 63.2 innings. Bishop ranks fourth on the team, batting .288 to go with five home runs and 23 RBIs.

• Former Redwood standout Morgen Baker-Celis was named to the South Atlantic Conference's all-tournament team. Baker-Celis pitches for NCAA D-II Carson Newman University (Tenn.), which made it to the title game on April 30, falling to Lincoln Memorial. Baker-Celis earned wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals to push her season record to 7-1 before taking the loss in the final.

Prep basketball

San Domenico announced the hiring of former Branson School standout Tyler Gaffaney as the school's new director of basketball. Gaffaney will run the K-12 program and coach the boys varsity team.

Gaffaney was an allMCAL first team selection for Branson in 2009 and 2010. He played at Claremont Mudd Scripps then played professionally in Spain for two seasons.

Gaffaney had five years of coaching experience, having spent three seasons at Wesleyan College (Conn.) then was an assistant coach at Cal State East Bay from 2020-22.

“We are super excited to have landed Tyler,” athletic director Jeff Skaggs said. “He will be a game changer for us as a coach and leader. He is a terrific young man from a great family whom (girls basketball coach Mike Fulton) and I have known since he was ten years old.”