GHS softball squad suffers 2-1 road loss to Hollister in
10th
HOLLISTER – After tossing her seventh scoreless inning of Tuesday’s extra-inning thriller against rival Hollister, senior ace Jennifer Olvera sat in the visitor’s dugout hoping her teammates could break up the 1-1 tie score before she stepped back on the hill in the bottom of the ninth.
Olvera nearly got her wish as junior catcher Bria DeLorenzo led off with base hit to left field and then junior third baseman Cherise Martinez beat out her perfectly placed bunt down the first-base line to put two runners on. The Lady Mustangs got even closer to meeting Olvera’s demands when senior first baseman Jenna Daugherty sacrifice-bunted the runners over to second and third.
But Gilroy could not drive in the go-ahead run as senior second baseman Dallas Hernandez popped out to first and sophomore shortstop Kayla Aldridge grounded out to second to prematurely end yet another threatening inning.
Olvera still had some gas left in her tank – sitting down the host Lady Haybalers in order in the bottom half of the ninth for her eighth shutout inning.
With a runner placed on second base to start the 10th frame (via the International Run Rule), the Lady Mustangs once again stranded the runner at third – receiving only a sacrifice bunt from freshman leftfielder Kristen Campos before the next two batters went down in order.
One final time, Olvera climbed on the hill with a Lady Haybaler starting at second base. But this time, Hollister got the job done – sacrificing the runner to third and driving her home on a Nashia Alvarez’ pinch-hit single to hand the Lady Mustangs a disheartening 2-1 loss.
“Sometimes it does (get tired). Today, it was getting there,” said Olvera, as she packed away her equipment and started to leave San Benito High. “I was hoping we scored in the previous inning.”
The loss dropped Gilroy’s T-CAL record below .500 at 5-6 (13-11 overall) and put the pressure on for an upset in either today’s rain make-up road game against North Salinas and flame-thrower Monica Abbott or Thursday’s home game against first-place Notre Dame. Both games are scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
“It’s gonna be a tough week,” said Olvera, knowing her squad has yet to beat either North Salinas or Notre Dame in two meetings against each this season. “As long as we play like this, we have a chance to win.”
The hard-to-swallow defeat also overshadowed an incredible relay play by Gilroy in the eighth inning. Campos, in left field, chased down a long shot over her head and made an accurate throw to the cut-off in short left field. Aldridge then made a blistering throw to Martinez at third to nail the Hollister runner and erase a scoring chance with a runner on third and no outs.
“We practice that every day,” said head coach Julie Berggren during her post-game interview. “We couldn’t have done it any better.”
The Lady Mustangs immediately retaliated to Hollister’s first run in the bottom of the fourth on Sandoval’s clutch two-out RBI single to center in the top of the fifth.
“I’ve been working on it a practice, just needed to pick up the intensity,” said Sandoval, who was the only Gilroy batter to have a multiple-hit game.
But the failed scoring chances later in the game are the ones that prevented Gilroy from taking the lead and winning in regulation. The Lady Mustang bats made contact all game long – striking out only three times after two whiffs in the first frame.
“So many chances today,” Berggren said. “They executed and we didn’t.”
In all, Gilroy left seven runners stranded on base in the 11-inning loss.
“I think the fact that we are such rivals makes it an even more intense game,” said Berggren, following Gilroy’s second straight extra-innings T-CAL loss to Hollister.
