Gilroy
– On the scale of sporting frustration, one-run losses rank
pretty near the top.
One-run losses in February? Not quite so bad.
Gilroy – On the scale of sporting frustration, one-run losses rank pretty near the top.
One-run losses in February? Not quite so bad.
The Gilroy boys’ baseball team took away a tough lesson from Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Aragon Dons in the first game of their Los Gatos Tourney schedule, but they took away a few things to be proud of as well.
“We talk about it all the time here that good teams win those one-run games,” said Gilroy head coach Clint Wheeler. “And we just didn’t do enough at the plate to do that.”
The bright side – and even a tough loss has a bright side this early in the season – is that starter Carlos Garcia pitched three strong innings after surrendering runs in each of the first two frames. Joe Cano came on for the sixth, getting out of jam with runners on second and third and then tossing another scoreless inning in the seventh.
“(Cano) pitched his way out of it in the sixth, definitely a good thing to see this early in the year,” said Wheeler.
The defense was sharp behind both pitchers, turning a pretty double play in the fifth with Aragon threatening to open up their lead.
“We pitched well and played decent defense,” said Wheeler, “but our approach at the plate was just not there today.”
Dons starter Steve Kalush and three relievers held Gilroy to four hits, but they didn’t master every Mustang hitter. Three-year varsity catcher Chris Hernandez was 2-for-3 and scored Gilroy’s only run in the bottom of the fourth. Designated hitter Jared Gamm collected two hits. The all-league defensive back continued to carry the torch for Mustang football stars on the diamond – in last week’s rainout against Watsonville, starting quarterback Peter Mickartz blasted a three-run homer.
Marc Handalian led the charge for Aragon, hitting a solo shot that put the Dons up for good in the second.
Gilroy next plays at San Mateo on Thursday at 3pm.
