Tamalpais High School competed against San Marin High School in the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) championship, coming out victorious, with a final score of 8-4, on Friday, May 12. 

The game was played at College of Marin’s baseball field, Alumni Stadium. The Hawks started the game with senior captain Tyler Buxton on the mound, pitching four out of six innings. Tam led the game 4-1 from the first inning, up until midway through the fourth, when the Mustangs scored three runs off of a double. 

“We were never really worried about this game, to be honest, aside from the pressure that comes with the title of ‘MCAL championship’ it felt just like a regular game,” Buxton said. 

Prior to playoffs, the Hawks had come up short to the Mustangs, losing 5-3. 

“Even though we had lost to them during regular season, we knew that they were beatable. Every team in the league was beatable honestly, it was more just about how we approached the game ourselves,” Buxton said.

After four innings of pitching from Buxton, the Hawks made an additional two pitching changes before putting in closing senior Miles Gensler, who was able to seal the game, with five strikeouts over an inning and a half. Gensler was pulled from left field midway through the fifth inning, with only one out and bases loaded. He was able to strikeout the next two batters, and finished the game with a shutout sixth inning.

“I honestly wasn’t nervous at all, I really wanted to pitch,” Gensler said. “I knew that if they got barrel on any of my pitches my team had my back, and our team’s chemistry is so strong that we could get through anything.”

The Hawks were able to pull away in the fifth and sixth innings after a double from senior Carson Frame knocked in two runs, San Marin seemed to have completely lost their momentum. Their pitcher then continued to walk runners in, amounting the final score to 8-4. 

“It was great, I wish I could relive that day,” senior Colin Lam said, “The nerves were high coming into it, but the energy in the dugout before the game started was positive. As soon as the game started, I had a feeling that we knew it was ours. It was awesome.”