Prep softball: San Rafael falls to Salesian in pitchers’ duel

San Rafael High’s Thomara Drummer and Salesian College Prep’s DeAmor Coleman were locked in a classic pitchers’ duel during their North Coast Section Division IV quarterfinal game at San Rafael on Friday.

Drummer struck out a career-high 18 hitters en route to closing the game with six shutout innings but Salesian got off a couple of good swings in the first inning and that proved to be enough in the Pride’s 2-1 victory.

“After that [first inning], she was dominant,” San Rafael coach Thomas Drummer said. “She’s a strike thrower. She throws a lot of strikes and sometimes good hitters will get a hold of them.”

Coleman led off for Salesian (17-6) by hitting a home run into left-center field on the second pitch of the game. Drummer induced a groundout to third base, where freshman Kennedy Parker made a good snag and throw to first to get the runner on a close play.

Drummer got the first of her strikeouts for the second out but then clean-up hitter Matea Gaddies hit another home run over the left-field wall for a 2-0 lead.

“It’s hard to hit a home run in the afternoon here because of the wind coming in but she got enough of it,” Thomas Drummer said.

After a relatively shaky start, Drummer set the tone for the rest of her afternoon by registering her second strikeout of the inning.

San Rafael (12-13) immediately got one run back in the bottom of the frame. Leadoff hitter Sophia Everett drew a walk and went to second on a wild pitch. Gabby Rodriguez singled to drive Everett in but the Bulldogs stranded Rodriguez as the tying run at third base.

Salesian had a hitter reach on an error in the second inning then Coleman hit an infield single to lead off the third inning. Drummer struck out the side in both innings and didn’t allow another baserunner the rest of the way.

San Rafael stranded a pair of runners in the bottom of the second then didn’t have another baserunner until Drummer led off the top of the sixth inning with a looping single into center field.

The Bulldogs hit into a double play to end the threat and went into the bottom of the seventh needing a rally to keep their season – and the high school careers of their top two players in Drummer and Everett – alive.

Cherise Castagne gave San Rafael a lifeline with a leadoff single into center field then stole second base. Coleman got the Bulldogs to pop to center field, strike out, and hit a groundout to third from there to close out the game.

Drummer allowed three hits and two earned runs in seven innings. Coleman allowed four hits and one earned run.

Drummer’s strikeout tally put her season total at 297. As a hitter, Drummer remarkably struck out just once the entire season. Even more remarkably, Drummer had more strikeouts as a pitcher on Friday (18) than she had as a batter in her entire four-year varsity career (11).

“(Thomara) had her best hitting year,” Thomas Drummer said. “She batted near .550, I think. She just puts the ball in play and only struck out one time.”

Drummer, who is committed to Southern Oregon, and Everett (committed to Cal) were the centerpieces of a four-year resurgence for the San Rafael softball program. The duo led the Bulldogs to a section title in 2022 and an MCAL regular-season title in 2024.

“For them, our program all four years we were in the playoffs,” Thomas Drummer said. “We were in NCS. … They got us there. Those two, they continually produced.”

That streak was in serious jeopardy this season as the Bulldogs were missing a number of key players and got off to a slow start. San Rafael needed to win its last six regular-season games in a row to qualify for NCS and did so, taking down Albany, Tam, Terra Linda, Novato, Sonoma Valley, and Marin Catholic.

Around the county

• San Marin’s seventh-inning rally effort was not enough to dig out of their hole in Friday’s 11-4 loss to top-seeded Liberty in the NCS D-I quarterfinals. Senior Lauren Fong homered and drove in three runs for the No. 9 Mustangs (19-7). Samantha Whitlock, Arianna Mendoza and Leah Cronin each had a base hit for the Mustangs, who scored twice in the second and seventh innings. San Marin pitcher Taylor Testa allowed 10 hits and six earned runs, with two walks and a strikeout.
• No. 10 Archie Williams High (19-9) managed five hits against host Carondelet, the second seed, but couldn’t string together enough offense to break up the shutout in Friday’s 7-0 loss in the NCS D-II quarterfinals.
• Tam High broke up the shutout with a two-run rally in the bottom of the seventh, but couldn’t overcome No. 5 Pinole Valley in Friday’s 3-2 loss in the NCS D-IV quarterfinals. Eden Clark had two hits and an RBI at the plate, and went four innings on the mound, striking out 10 batters and walking one, while allowing just two runs on two hits. Zoe Phletcher and Annica Harris each had two hits for the fourth-seeded Red-tailed Hawks. Christa Sasso and Harris scored for the Hawks. The full game story can be found online at marinij.com and will run in in Sunday’s print edition.
• No. 3 Tomales High rallied with an eight-run sixth inning for a 12-9 home win over No. 6 Redwood Christian to advance to the NCS D-VI semifinals. The Braves (15-4) will face the winner of Saturday’s quarterfinal matchup between No. 2 St. Vincent de Paul and No. 7 Hoopa Valley.