Kelseyville baseball drops 11-4 decision to Marin Catholic in North Coast Section playoffs
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KENTFIELD >> Kelseyville wanted a section title more than anything else given the talent the varsity baseball team has rolled out onto the field the last three seasons, but the North Coast Section baseball gods kept putting huge roadblocks, the latest being the Marin Catholic Wildcats, 11-3 winners over the Knights Friday evening in Kentfield.
It’s the third straight year the Knights (19-5) have made it as far as the sectional quarterfinals only to have their season end there. They lost to an up-and-coming Justin-Siena team in 2023, lost to the same school a year ago as the Braves went on to win the section title and earn NorCal runner-up honors, and this year they fell victim to Marin Catholic, a team with a history of baseball success in recent seasons.
The biggest difference this year for the Knights, who lost in the Division 4 playoffs the last two seasons, was being moved up into Division 3 as part of the section’s new competitive equity seeding system, and as the 14th seed no less despite a 13-1 league campaign that produced a third straight North Central League I championship and an 18-4 regular-season record.
The Knights were even denied a first-round home game, being forced to hit the road against another league champion, Del Norte, in a first-round game Tuesday that they dominated 12-1.
With ace Brock Barrick pitching Kelseyville to victory against Del Norte, Kelseyville head coach Billy Shaul went with Carson White against Marin Catholic, and the Wildcats scored five first-inning runs with plenty of help from the Kelseyville defense, which committed a season-worst six errors.
White lasted just one inning and was replaced by JD Smart. Kelseyville used four pitchers in all before it was over. Marin Catholic never looked back after building a 9-0 lead through the first two innings, including a home run by Johnny Greco (2-for-5, four RBIs).
The senior-dominated Knights scored single runs in the third and fifth plus two more in the sixth, but the Wildcats were never in any serious trouble.
Veterans Gene Holdenried (2-for-3, RBI), Reme Strong (2-for-4, RBI) and Kyle Watkins (2-for-4) led the Knights at the plate while White and Tyler Bryant added hits. Brock Barrick, one of the team’s four-year varsity veterans, went 0-for-3 with a RBI in his final high school game. As a pitcher for the Knights, Barrick went 8-0 this season and 28-4 for his career.
Kelseyville had a 42-game league winning streak snapped by Clear Lake earlier this month. The Knights went 43-1 in league play the last three seasons.
NOTES: Kelseyville just missed hitting for the league championship cycle this season, winning an outright league championship in football, finishing one game behind co-champions Middletown and St. Helena in basketball, the result of a forfeit loss late in the season, and winning the outright baseball title.
