This article has been excerpted from Marin Independent Journal, you can find the full story here: College baseball: Big bats powering Marin's run at title 

College of Marin outfielder Lucas Schaefer stared down a stiff breeze blowing in from left field and dared it to make a difference.

Mother Nature was no match for Schaefers’s big bat.

Schaefer blasted a pair of home runs – into the wind – and the Mariners erupted for a baker’s dozen of runs Tuesday, clobbering Mendocino 13-3 to stay very much in the Bay Valley Conference baseball pennant race.

College of Marin (17-15, 10-3 Bay Valley), which has not won a BVC title since 2018, stayed tied atop the standings with Los Medanos as the regular season winds down to its final three weeks.

“We’re in it,” Schaefer said. “We’ve got the hitting. If our starting pitching comes through in the final weeks we’ve got a shot to win the title.”

Schaefer’s two bombs, his seventh and eighth of the season, put him one ahead of shortstop Jacob Campbell for the team lead and tied him for the home run lead in the conference.

“I was down in the bullpen for his first homer and knew he had enough of it but it was just a matter of it staying fair,” COM coach Steve Berringer said. “The second one, he really put a charge into it. He has that kind of power.”

Schaefer said he closed his hips a bit in batting practice the previous day and the new ploy paid immediate dividends.

Schaefer hit solo shots in both the fifth and sixth innings.

“The first one I thought was going out even with the wind,” Schaefer said. “But the second one, I wasn’t so sure. I hit a couple like that in batting practice and the wind knocked them down. But actually, I think the second one went farther than the first.”

 Story By: Tim Menicutch