GILROY—Gilroy’s Liezl Clark had been in a slump and struggling at the plate. She was off her mental game, Mustangs coach Julie Berggren said, but on Tuesday, Clark showed why she deserves her lead-off spot.
The sophomore catcher was near perfect at the plate, going 3 for 4 with three RBIs and two runs scored, which helped lift the Mustangs to a 6-5 win over their crosstown rival Cougars at Christopher High.
“All week during practice we’ve been practicing situational hitting. That was just going through my mind ‘it’s just like practice; it’s just like practice’,” Clark said.
Though the Mustangs had their errors—seven in the game to be exact—timely hitting and a knockout performance from Lauren Castro in the circle helped keep them in the game.
Castro tossed seven stellar innings, allowing only one earned run on three hits while striking out seven and hitting a batter.
Christopher coach Julian Santiago said his team tried to play small ball against Castro, but they didn’t anticipate her to move out of the circle the way she did to get easy outs.
“It was a well played game on both side. Their pitcher brought it,” the Cougar coach said. “We tried to execute against her; she played her position well.”
Gilroy drew first blood, scoring in the top of the first when Maddy Cox singled to centerfield to send the speedy Clark home from second. Cox went 3 for 4 with a double and RBI.
The score proved vital in this one-run contest and it’s something the Mustangs have struggled to achieve all season. They have only scored in the first inning in four games this year.
The Cougars answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning, however, capitalizing off three Gilroy errors. Mackenzie Holt reached on a error at first to start the inning and scored on a passed ball that also allowed enough time for Michaela Decker to reach second off her bunt.
A single from Pati Soria scored Decker and Soria came home as Gilroy made a miscue at shortstop what should’ve been an easy fly ball from Nikki Villanueva. The scores put Christopher ahead 3-1.
Soria led the Cougars, going 2 for 2 with a run.
With two outs, Castro hit Decker in the bottom of the third and the ding proved costly. Back-to-back errors allowed her to score and put Christopher ahead 4-1.
The Mustangs were down, but not out.
Alexis Conlon singled to start the fourth. A Maria Sandoval walk and a sacrifice bunt from Nicole Dan put runners on second and third for Gilroy. The dangerous Clark hit a hard line drive to left-centerfield to score both and get her team within one at 4-3.
Conlon finished 2 for 4 with a run.
Back-to-back singles from Sandoval and Dan and a sacrifice bunt from Adrianna Lujan put Gilroy in the same situation in the top of the sixth. Clark was clutch once again, hitting a single up the right field line to score Sandoval and tie the game at 4-all. An error put Makenna Weiler on and loaded the bases for Castro—and she took advantage of her situation.
The Mustangs ace doubled to score both Dan and Clark and regain the lead for Gilroy, 6-4.
“That’s the story for this team: they don’t give up,” Berggren said. “Yeah we make errors, and they’re unfortunate and a lot of times they cost us runs, but we keep fighting back and we keep working hard. The intensity level for us today was amazing.”
The Cougars did not go away quietly, however.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Karli Martinez hit a blooper to left field that was bobbled. A passed ball at third gave her more than enough time to round the bases for Christopher’s final score.
“(I told them) just to fight—that’s the way we try to play,” Santiago said. “We never keep our heads down and we’re in every game. We were up; we couldn’t shut them down. Their hitters came through in clutch spots and we just wanted to chip away back at the lead.”
Christopher (7-7 overall, 2-3 in league) will play in the Steinbeck Softball Tournament Saturday in Salinas.
Gilroy (8-13, 2-4) will host North Salinas at 4:30 p.m. April 23.
