20 Wins Not Enough: Mustangs Want More in Baseball Playoffs

It doesn’t matter that the baseball team won a remarkable 14 games in a row this season. Or that it won 20 games in the regular season for the first time in school history.

Heck, it doesn’t even matter that the Mustangs handled Friday’s opponent handily when they last met in April.

San Marin coach and his club is well aware: A loss to the Pirates in the Marin County Athletic League Playoffs semifinals at Albert Park in San Rafael and the Mustangs’ hopes for a league title will be dashed.

“In the playoffs, you know you’re playing a quality opponent,” the coach said of Friday’s 7:30 p.m. foe. “Drake certainly is that. We have our work cut out for us.”

And definitely vice versa.

The Pirates dealt San Marin a 6-2 thumping in the second game of the MCAL season March 8.

Since then, the Mustangs have been all but unbeatable en route to a 20-4 overall mark – including a 6-1 triumph in the April 8 rematch -- and a bye in the first round of the playoffs.

“That first game was our worst game of the season,” Whitburn assured. “Nerves were definitely a factor.

“After that, we’ve had games where our pitching has carried us, our hitting has carried us, our defense has carried us. That’s the bottom line. We have to go out there and pitch well, play defense and hit. If we do those teams, we’ll be just fine. If we don’t, we’ll be in trouble.”

Because his team will not have played in eight days come game time, Whitburn has his choice of pitchers Friday. He said he’ll go with , with in relief (if necessary), setting up for Saturday’s finals should the Mustangs get there.

Drake is coming off an impressive 6-0 win over Tam on Wednesday in the quarterfinals. Whitburn isn’t sure which team has the advantage – the one that’s well rested, or the one with the momentum.

“When the game is determined (Friday) night, I guess we’ll see what works best,” he said. “I’ve been in both spots. I like our spot. All our pitching is ready to go.”