Sports briefs: Four Marin teams advance to NorCal playoffs

All four Marin baseball and softball teams that competed for section titles this week were given the opportunity to continue their quests for postseason titles when the NorCal brackets were unveiled on Sunday.

The Redwood High baseball team leads the way as the highest-seeded Marin squad in either tournament and the only one that received a home game. The No. 3 Giants (26-4) host No. 6 Carmel (23-6) at 4 p.m. on Tuesday in the NorCal Division II quarterfinals.

The semifinals are all set for Thursday with the championships all taking place on Saturday.

Redwood is coming off of a 1-0 loss against Cardinal Newman in the North Coast Section D-II championship game on Saturday. A Redwood win Tuesday opens up the possibility of an all-Marin semifinal in NorCals if No. 7 seed San Marin can spring a upset against No. 2 St. Ignatius.

The Mustangs (22-8), who defeated Campolindo to win the NCS D-III title on Saturday, will make the trek down to Pacifica to face the Wildcats (20-10) at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Fairmont Field.

The freshly crowned NCS D-V champions from The Branson School are also set to compete in NorCals as the No. 7 seed in the D-IV bracket. The Bulls (12-15) will travel to Sacramento to face No. 2 Bradshaw Christian (29-1) at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

The Pride has won 13 consecutive games and has outscored opponents 316-42 this season.

Marin’s only softball team left in the mix is San Rafael. The Bulldogs (23-4) check in as the No. 6 seed in the D-III bracket and travel to face No. 3 Dixon (20-4) at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

If San Rafael advances to the semifinals, it could set up a rematch of Friday’s NCS D-III championship game against Cardinal Newman — the No. 2 seed in NorCals. The Cardinals defeated the Bulldogs on Friday 7-0 after the game went scoreless for the first five innings.

College lacrosse

Northwestern University — with Mill Valley sisters Samantha and Madison Smith on the roster — fell 14-13 against Boston College in the NCAA Championship Game on Sunday.

Northwestern (18-3) scored six consecutive goals to get off to a flying start, holding Boston College (20-3) scoreless for the first 20 minutes in the process. The Eagles outscored Northwestern 6-2 in the second quarter and trailed 8-6 at the half.

Boston College took its first lead of the game with just under 10 minutes to play and was able to hold on from there.

Both Smith sisters were former standouts at Tam High. Samantha Smith was an all-MCAL first-team selection for the Red-tailed Hawks in 2019. Madison Smith earned the league’s player of the year honors in 2023.

Baseball

The San Rafael Pacifics scored 17 runs on 17 hits as they cruised to their fourth consecutive victory to open the season, a 17-7 home win against the Vallejo Seaweed on Saturday night.

Jayson Summers picked up the win, allowing seven runs over five innings of work while striking out seven batters. Xavier Selway led the way at the plate with three hits.

San Rafael (4-0) travels to face the Dublin Leprechauns at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.