History on Drake's Side in NCS Matchup With Tam

Here’s the great thing about inconsistency: when things are going poorly, you can feel pretty good better times are just around the corner.

That’s exactly what Tam High baseball coach Mike Terry is hoping when his club lines up against Marin County Athletic League nemesis in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division III tournament Wednesday at 5 p.m. in San Anselmo.

The teams met three times in MCAL play and the Red-tailed Hawks scored a grand total of one run, losing 1-0 at home, 3-1 at Drake and 6-0 in the playoffs.

Needless to say, Terry wasn’t thrilled to hear his 11th-seeded club would be paired once again with the sixth-seeded Pirates. And he’s guessing Drake coach probably feels the same way.

“I think both teams were looking forward to playing someone else,” Terry said. “I told the guys: ‘If you’re not excited to play Drake, then win the game and we’ll play someone else.’ And who knows? Maybe they look past us and we capitalize on that.”

Farb recognizes a letdown is very much a possibility for his team, which made an impressive run to the MCAL finals and then . But it's not the opponent he fears is the source of this emotional downturn.

"When you consider all the emotion we put into getting to the championship game and then playing in the championship game and the way that game went ... this is a big step for us," he said. "But we think we’re up for the challenge."

One thing that surely will be different about the fourth encounter will be the bats. The MCAL voted to allow metal bats in NCS play, and in fact voted unanimously to approve their reappearance in league games next season.

Terry is hoping that can help turn things around for his club.

“We can get on base. We can steal bases. But we have trouble getting that big hit,” he observed. “Hopefully with the metal bats, that could make a difference.”

Of course, the bats might not make a difference against good pitching, and Drake certainly has plenty of that. , and all pitched well last week in the Pirates' bid for the MCAL title.

Another problem the Hawks have encountered this season has been . Whenever Tam has gotten baserunners, they've been unable to get their running game in gear against Drake's strong-armed catcher.

With those four potential roadblocks still standing in his team's way, it's no wonder Tam's Terry is banking on something as obscure as inconsistency.

“We’re a Jekyll & Hyde team,” Terry analyzed. “Seeing that we’re coming off a bad game (the 6-0 shellacking in the playoffs), I’m think it’s time for a good game. We did play well against Justin-Siena in the play-in game (a 5-0 win) before we played Drake.”

The Pirates have positive NCS experience on their side. Despite using wood bats against non-Marin foes that were allowed to use metal, they made the semifinals last season by winning their first two games.

"The teams in the NCS are in the tournament to win the section. We just take the attitude that we don’t care who we play," Farb insisted. "We have four games to win to win the championship. Whoever is in front of us, that’s the team we have to go out and beat."

The winner will advance to a second-round matchup later in the week against either third-seeded Acalanes of Lafayette or 14th-seeded John F. Kennedy of Fremont.