4 days Ago
Redwood’s pitcher Stella Belluomini catches an Archie Williams line drive on Wednesday April 3, 2025 in San Anselmo, Calif. (Frankie Frost/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)Redwood’s Stella Belluomini singles, bringing Kait Christensen home to score against Archie Williams on Wednesday April 3, 2025 in San Anselmo, Calif. (Frankie Frost/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)Archie Williams’ Parker Conrad is thrown out at first as Redwood’s Hailey Carlton stretches for the ball on Wednesday April 3, 2025 in San Anselmo, Calif.
(Frankie Frost/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)Archie Williams Lila James and Chase Unger throw out Redwood’s Ashley Ball at second on Wednesday April 3, 2025 in San Anselmo, Calif. (Frankie Frost/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)Redwood coach Emily Atkinson holds daughter Adelina during a game with Archie Williams on Wednesday April 3, 2025 in San Anselmo, Calif. (Frankie Frost/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)Show Caption1 of 5Redwood’s pitcher Stella Belluomini catches an Archie Williams line drive on Wednesday April 3, 2025 in San Anselmo, Calif.
(Frankie Frost/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)ExpandRedwood ace Stella Belluomini was perfect for five innings and many of the Giants’ hitters were close to that standard as the trend of the top teams in the MCAL mercy ruling each other continued on Wednesday.Belluomini faced the minimum number of batters – 15 up, 15 down – for a stat line that mirrored the final score as the Giants rolled past Archie Williams 15-0 in five innings.“It feels really good,” Belluomini said of her first perfect game.
“I’m really excited because lately I’ve been a little shaky so I’m really glad that I’ve been able to come back and dominate in a game. Archie, they have some good hitters, so it’s fun to especially get out the top of the lineup. That’s when you know you have your momentum rolling.
”The top of Redwood’s lineup was also rolling as Ava Brown went 4 for 5 with four runs scored. Brown led off the first, third, fourth, and fifth innings and came back for a second at-bat in the fifth.Ashley Ball, Elle McElreath, and Kait Christensen – the Nos.
2 through 4 hitters, respectively – all had three hits. McElreath, Christensen, and No. 5 hitter Gia Meyers all drove in three runs apiece.
“In practice Monday we focused on what we would see today,” Redwood coach Emily Atkinson said. “We know (Archie Williams ace Paige Murphy) can bring it with her rise ball and her changeup and so we prepared. My girls love hitting off of me because I’m kind of the perfect bullpen pitcher, practice pitcher.
I think that helps in building their confidence that I can throw it a little bit, move it, and make them think it’s like some of these girls.”Brown got a hit all four times she led off an inning. McElreath and Christensen had back-to-back doubles to give Redwood (9-6, 5-1 MCAL) a 2-0 lead.
“I was seeing (Murphy) really well and I knew she was going to throw me a changeup,” Brown said. I knew it was going to come at some point because I’d been seeing that really well so I was thinking hit the changeup the whole time.”Brown led off the third with a single, Ball reached on a single, then McElreath and Christensen had RBI singles for a 4-0 lead.
“My mentality is usually ‘Yes, yes, yes, no.’ McElreath said. “It’s yes until I see that changeup, and then a few of them you could see I swung at a changeup and I had to adjust.
On my second hit, I was able to adjust to that. I was seeing her well. She was throwing great but just seeing it out of the hand and making sure I got a good hit.
”Meyers reached on an error as the lead grew to 5-0 then Belluomini drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. Murphy retired the next three batters to minimize the damage but by that point Redwood’s hitters were brimming with confidence.The Giants tacked on five runs in the top of the fourth to put the mercy rule on the table, then scored five more times in the fifth off Isla Fisk.
At that point the only drama remaining was whether Belluomini would remain perfect. She struck out two more hitters – bringing her total to nine – in the bottom of the fifth.“It was beautiful, honestly,” McElreath said of Belluomini’s performance.
“She did amazingly well. She had a lot of confidence up there. I love seeing her pitch well.
I’ve known her since I was little and seeing her throw such an amazing game – especially the first one of the season, first one of her career – that was truly great to see.”The consensus top three teams in the MCAL – Redwood, Archie Williams (9-4, 4-2), and San Marin (7-3, 4-2) – have all played each other once now and all three games have been blowouts. San Marin shut out Redwood 10-0 last week and blanked Archie Williams 10-0 on Tuesday.
“My team last week we just collectively had a bad day I think,” Atkinson said of the San Marin result. “You hope just one or two people have a bad day, not your entire lineup. It sometimes happens where it’s just not your day and San Marin has been lucky to be on the end of that with two of the teams.
It just shows you this year that it’s anyone’s ball game. Terra Linda beating San Marin early, SM beating us and Archie – the league is going to be interesting going into the second half.”Around the countyThomara Drummer struck out 17 batters to lead San Rafael to a 10-0 victory over Novato on Wednesday.
Drummer held the Hornets to just three hits. Meanwhile, she was 3 for 5 at the plate, with two RBIs and two runs scored for the Bulldogs (4-8, 1-4 MCAL). Sophia Everett was 4 for 5, including a double and a homer, with two RBIs and four runs.
Novato senior Claire Hannan had a pair of hits for the Hornets (3-11, 0-6), and freshman Isabelle Rykov had a single.Marin Catholic pounded out nine runs in the bottom of the first inning, and rolled to a 23-1 victory in five innings against Terra Linda (8-3, 2-3) on Wednesday. The Wildcats (6-3, 3-2) had 13 hits and drew 13 walks against the Trojans.
Lyla Gonzalez was 3 for 4 with a double, four RBIs and two runs scored for the Wildcats. Anna Held doubled and tripled to drive in six runs, and scored once. Morgan Carlson also drove in four runs.
Lauren Fong hit a bases-clearing triple to send San Marin on its way to a 5-1 win against Tam on Wednesday night. The Mustangs (6-3, 4-2) loaded the bases on a trio of walks in the bottom of the third inning to set the table for Fong. Leah Cronin added a two-run single in the fourth.
Tayrn Ellinthorpe held Tam to four hits with five strikeouts in seven innings of work. Zoe Pletcher had two hits for Tam (7-2, 3-2)..
