The second the Lady Mustangs made their final out in a 5-2
quarterfinal loss to top-seed Carlmont in Saturday’s CCS Division I
Playoffs gaping holes popped up for next year’s Gilroy High
line-up.
The second the Lady Mustangs made their final out in a 5-2 quarterfinal loss to top-seed Carlmont in Saturday’s CCS Division I Playoffs gaping holes popped up for next year’s Gilroy High line-up.
Five key seniors played in their last game – opening five starting spots for underclassmen to fill come next spring and severely testing the depth of the Gilroy Unified Schools farm system at the junior varsity and frosh levels.
For the last two seasons, senior ace Jennifer Olvera started on the hill nearly every game for Gilroy – dominating opposing batters and always giving her team a chance to win. Olvera also batted lead-off for most of the season – igniting most rallies and coming up with clutch base hits.
Olvera, who received an athletic scholarship to play at Vanguard University, will be the most sorely missed Lady Mustang since high school softball demands a top-notch pitcher for success. The cagey right-hander had to wait her turn though – backing up former ace Andrea Bunten (Canisius College) while starting at shortstop as a sophomore on varsity.
Now it is time for another hurler like talented sophomore Christina Hernandez or standout freshman Sarah Villar to take her spot. Hernandez was a reserve on the varsity roster all season, getting some action on the hill, while Villar started non-league action with varsity before moving down to junior varsity and becoming the everyday starter.
Just as hard to replace will be the Lady Mustangs’ power corners – first baseman Jenna Daugherty and third baseman Cherise Martinez. It will be strange not to see ‘Jedi’ patrolling one corner and ‘Reese’ the other as they did for the past three varsity seasons.
Daugherty and Martinez also bolstered the heart of the Gilroy High batting order – usually in the two and three holes – and put fear into opposing pitchers. The two big bats gave Gilroy much-needed power in the line-up as well as steady gloves in the infield.
Freshman phenom Liz Ines – who started in leftfield before sitting out the ladder part of the season with an injury – is expected to move into the infield at third base. Next year should be Ines’ time to shine like she did with the Gilroy Hotshots Club Team and early on for the Lady Mustangs.
The junior varsity squad will have to provide a fill-in at first base – and, after talking with JV coach Dave Villar during Saturday’s game, there is plenty of talent moving on up.
Another hole in the Lady Mustang infield opened up at second base – where senior Dallas Hernandez was a mainstay this past season. Hernandez – who will play next fall at UC-San Diego – played only one year at GHS, but she was an integral part of the team’s success.
Rumor has it that former starter Michelle Gonzalez – who sat out her sophomore season for reasons unbeknownst to me – will return to the Lady Mustangs next year and go back to second base.
The only returnees on the infield diamond will be sophomore shortstop Kayla Aldridge – a first-year transfer from Notre Dame – and junior catcher Bria DeLorenzo – who will have to step into the leadership role as well as mold a young pitcher into Gilroy’s ace.
The fifth graduating senior is centerfielder Laura Hennessee – the two-sports athlete who covered a lot of outfield grass for the Lady Mustangs. The sure-handed fielder may not have batted, but she showed how important her position was by making a pair of critical grabs in Gilroy’s 2-0 first-round win over Oak Grove.
The Lady Mustangs were dangerously close this season to missing the playoffs for the first time in six years – but they pulled off a slim 1-0 win over rival Live Oak to finish 14-14 overall. The long tradition of Gilroy softball success will be tested. However, there are no rebuilding years on the GHS diamond – just retooling with more talented ball players ready to make their own marks.
