San Marin Goes for NCS Baseball Title vs. Acalanes

The baseball team has practiced bunting all season for no apparent reason.

After all, the offensively potent Mustangs can swing the bats with the best of them.

But Wednesday in the semifinals of the North Coast Section Division 3 Championships, the importance of all that smallball work finally became obvious.

San Marin bunted twice in its matchup with Sonoma Valley and it helped produce two runs, exactly the difference in its 5-3 home win.

“We tell the kids all year long,” San Marin coach explained. “You better know how to bunt. When you get to this point in the season, you have to manufacture runs. The games are much tougher to play.

“Both times we bunted in the game, it helped us score runs. When the kids see that happen, they see how important it is, so they keep working on it.”

All the hard work has resulted in a shot at the NCS championship Saturday at St. Mary’s College in Moraga at 1 p.m., when the top-seeded Mustangs will meet third-seeded Acalanes of Lafayette. (Keep an eye on this link regarding a possibly rainout or makeup game).

The Dons, who earlier in the tournament had thumped Drake 9-1, advanced by virtue of an 11-8 semifinal triumph over Miramonte of Orinda, a game scouted by San Marin junior varsity coach Jamie Battuone.

“We did not know anything about them before that game,” Whitburn admitted. “What we know now, based on that game, is they are a real aggressive team on the bases. They try to make something happen on just about every pitch.”

Whitburn had expected to encounter second-seeded Miramonte, which he labeled “maybe the best team we played all year.”

But he noted, “It’s nice to play another team we haven’t faced before. It’s a little more fun.”

It’ll be the Mustangs’ third game of the week, which presents pitching problems. Staff ace , who recorded a complete-game victory over Moreau Catholic on Tuesday, by rule cannot pitch more than three innings in the finals.

Whitburn said it’s possible and , both of whom saw action in the win over Sonoma Valley, will also pitch in the finals.

The San Marin offense, meanwhile, hopes to piece together the type of complete game it used to plate five runs Wednesday.

(sacrifice fly), (sacrifice fly) and (infield out) all drove in runs in that game without getting hits, and a fourth run scored on a wild throw following a bunt.

Similar offensive efficiency could result in the school’s fifth NCS baseball title Saturday.

“Even though the program has won four NCS titles, these kids haven’t. So for the kids, it’s a huge moment,” Whitburn assured. “The memory would last for them for life if they accomplish something like this.

“It should be fun. You get to play for a championship. That doesn’t happen every day. If you take the right approach, it can be a good experience.”