GHS baseball team shut out by freshman starter in 4-0 loss to
Viks.
GILROY – One game after playing near perfect ball against Palma and notching its first T-CAL win, the Gilroy High baseball team fell into a Monday slumber and suffered a 4-0 home loss to North Salinas as a result.
“We were flat. We just came out flat and not ready to play,” said skipper Clint Wheeler, shaking his head after handing North Salinas its first league win this season. “When you’re struggling like we are and you’re playing another team that is struggling, you’ve got to come out just frothing at the mouth.”
The Mustangs (1-6 in T-CAL) barely had a pulse – managing only three hits off Vikings’ freshman starter Chris Carma, who went the distance for a complete-game shutout.
“He mixed up his speeds. Anyone who mixes speeds like that is a little difficult to hit. But we had 15 fly-outs,” Wheeler said. “We just did not come out determined to win. It’s frustrating to watch…”
Gilroy starter Peter Mickartz kept his ball club in the mix – cruising through the first five frames and recording five strikeouts. But the Mustang sticks could not generate any offense and the wheels eventually came off in the top of the sixth inning.
“We gave it to them,” said Wheeler, whose squad committed three errors in the decisive sixth. “I thought we turned the corner on Saturday, but we took a huge step back today.”
The Vikings scored all four runs in the sixth as Mickartz left the game with no outs and runners on the corners in favor of senior left-hander Todd Gimenez – who then walked the bases loaded. Still scoreless though, North Salinas sent a shot back to the mound that deflected off the glove of Gimenez and into left field – allowing two runs to cross the plate.
After Gimenez got the next two batters to pop out, junior catcher Ben Hemeon’s errant throw to third on a steal attempt gave North Salinas a third run and then senior third baseman Ruben Chavez’s errant throw to first on a grounder let the fourth run of the inning score.
It was only one inning earlier in the bottom of the fifth that the Mustangs got their first two batters on base with back-to-back singles from senior second baseman Eric Gonzalez and Hemeon – who hustled down the line and was rewarded when the throw pulled the North Salinas first baseman off the bag.
With the clean-up hitter, Gimenez, up next, Coach Wheeler decided to let him swing away. But Gimenez popped out to shallow center and then the No. 5 man, senior John Kirkish, grounded to first for a fielder’s choice. Sophomore shortstop Jordan Newton worked a base-on-balls to load the bases, but Derrick Fellows’ line shot was gloved by the shortstop to end the threat.
“I could have bunted by the book. I was thinking we needed to bust the game open. I let my guys swing away and they popped up,” Wheeler said. “You kick yourself afterwards, but if they hit the ball in the gap, you’re a genius.”
Gilroy – which will play at North Salinas on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. – put only one more runner on base after that on a Ruben Chavez single up the middle in the sixth inning. Otherwise, the change of speeds thrown by Carma worked masterfully against the Mustang hitters.
“We didn’t compete today. I don’t care if you’re a bunch of 10-year-olds playing against 17-year-olds, you still have to compete… You can always bring your heart (into a game). We must have left our hearts somewhere else,” Wheeler said. “We’re going to find the guys on this team who really want to play.”
