Burnes leads Marin Catholic to title
Brad Burnes has delivered some big hits throughout the season, but none bigger than his walkoff home run Friday night that clinched the MCAL baseball championship for Marin Catholic.
Marin Catholic and Redwood have had some great games in their rivalry over the years, but Friday's league championship was one for the books. WIth the moon hanging big and bright over Albert Park, Burnes punctuated a Wildcats' comeback with his eighth-inning comet for a 3-2 victory over Redwood.
“It feels amazing,” Burnes said as he and his teammates celebrated with the MCAL pennant. “I'm glad to be in the game in that position exactly where I needed to be.”
Burnes was the first batter to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning and sent the third pitch he saw rocketing over the left-field wall for his eighth homer of the season, and second of the game.
“Burnes had some big hits today, and he delivered for us,” Marin Catholic coach Jesse Foppert said.
The rivals split their two-game season series this year. They hadn't met in the postseason since 2017, when Marin Catholic defeated Redwood in the MCAL championship and then in the first round of the North Coast Section playoffs.
“A lot of these kids haven't been to the playoffs, they haven't played under the lights,” Redwood coach Mike Firenzi said. “This has been a great season for both teams.”
Both squads can now turn their attention to the NCS playoffs for the first time since before anyone had heard of COVID-19. The tournament was cancelled the past two seasons. The seeds will be announced Sunday.
“I think we have a team that can go deep in NCS,” Firenzi said. “I think Marin baseball will be well-represented with the talent on these two teams and around the league.”
Redwood scored twice in the first inning and nursed that lead