Prep baseball: Crum tosses gem to lead Marin Catholic past Tam
For an 11th-grader making his third varsity pitching start, Marin Catholic High’s Colt Crum was the picture of poise Friday in an early season MCAL showdown against first-place Tam.
In fact, Crum was nearly the picture of perfection.
The wiry right-hander fired a one-hitter and retired 14 of the first 15 batters he faced in a nearly flawless complete-game outing as the Wildcats snapped a two-game losing streak with an 8-0 victory against the Red-tailed Hawks in Kentfield.
The Marin Catholic victory avenged a 17-7 shellacking administered by Tam on Tuesday.
“Everything that could go wrong did go wrong in that game,” Crum said. “So this was the revenge game. My job was to come out and show (Tam) what’s up.”
Crum, who lives in Mill Valley and played youth ball with most of the current players on the Tam roster, struck out five and walked two (both in the final inning).
“Colt did a great job against all the guys he grew up playing with,” Marin Catholic coach Jesse Foppert said. “He had a couple of 2-0 and 3-0 counts early in the game but got back into it (to record outs). Those are huge momentum builders,”
Crum, relying almost exclusively on a sneaky-quick fastball and a hard curve, retired the first seven he faced after the Wildcats erupted for a five-run first against Tam fireballer Eli Solem.
“I had a six-pitch inning in the first and then my team came up and scored five runs in the bottom half of the inning,” Crum said. “That first inning pretty much set the tone for the game.”
The contest might well have turned into a classic pitcher’s duel if not for a two-out dropped third strike in the bottom of the first which led to a baserunner when the catcher’s throw pulled the first baseman off the bag to load the bases and keep the inning alive for the Wildcats.
MC center fielder Luke Martin made the Hawks pay four pitches later when he roped a 1-2 fastball into the left field corner for a two-run double.
Solem walked the next two batters and again an MC batter came up with a clutch two-out hit. This time third baseman James Stocker rifled a two-run single to center and the Wildcats were largely in charge with a 5-0 lead.
“Obviously, we got a little gift with that dropped third strike,” Foppert said. “But to have a pitcher of (Solem’s) quality have to throw a 40-pitch first, that’s a win for us,”
Meanwhile, the Tam bats were stymied by Crum, who did not allow a baserunner beyond second the entire game. Crum’s bid for a no-hitter ended in the fifth when Ryan Simon blistered a two-out single to center.
MC cleanup hitter Carson Davis, who was 3 for 4, iced the victory when his towering fly to left hit the yellow line atop the fence for a two-run homer in the fifth.
The only hitch in the road for Crum came in the seventh when he walked two batters. But with two outs, Crum induced a roller to shortstop and Hunter Valla gunned down the runner by a half-step at first base to end the game.
“That win starts with Colt pounding the strike zone,” Foppert said. “He had command of two pitches and got ahead of the batters most of the game.”
Around the county
- Aedan Bardoul homered twice and drove in six runs as San Rafael pounded Terra Linda, 20-2, on Friday. Bardoul was 4 for 6, with a pair of doubles to accent his big day. The Bulldogs’ Cruz Wexler also hit a homer and a double and had three RBIs. Gio Brovelli and Colby Jackson were both 3 for 5 with a pair of doubles for San Rafael. The Trojans’ Augie Hamann, Oliver Doxon, Kaan Black and Thomas Martinez each managed a hit as San Rafael pitchers Wexler and Floyd Greene combined to keep the Trojans in check.
- Archie Williams scored in the bottom of the eighth inning for a 4-3 victory over Redwood on Friday. Jake Barnes homered for the Peregrine Falcons, and August Block was 2-for-4 with a double. The Giants got a homer from Miles Harrison, who was 3-for-4.
- San Marin scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 3-2 victory over rival Novato to cap a two-game sweep this week in the intracity showdown. Cash Campbell broke out for the Hornets, with a 3-for-4 day.