It could have been called a comedy of errors had the loss not
been achieved in such a deflating manner.
Before the Gilroy Mustangs were able to record the second out of
the first inning Wednesday at Valley Christian, the club had
already committed five errors and spotted the Warriors six runs. A
little over an hour later, Gilroy’s season was over as the first
round Central Coast Section playoff game was called in the fifth
inning by a score of 15-2.
It could have been called a comedy of errors had the loss not been achieved in such a deflating manner.
Before the Gilroy Mustangs were able to record the second out of the first inning Wednesday at Valley Christian, the club had already committed five errors and spotted the Warriors six runs. A little over an hour later, Gilroy’s season was over as the first round Central Coast Section playoff game was called in the fifth inning by a score of 15-2.
The defeat was the fourth time Valley Christian has ended the Mustangs’ season in five years.
Committing seven errors total in the game, Gilroy hardly gave itself a chance by allowing the Warriors seven runs in the first inning, one in the second, six in the third and one more in the fourth. Valley’s bats had pop, finding gaps in the outfield and hitting solid line drives to compile 14 hits, but mistakes made a win for the Mustangs all but impossible.
“Obviously, when you’re playing a great program, you can’t give them anything,” Gilroy coach Clint Wheeler said. “I don’t know if there is a whole lot you could do different [sic].”
Sophomore pitcher Taylor Chris took the loss, pitching 2/3 innings before James Lafuente came on in relief. Michael Hartman pitched the fourth inning for Gilroy.
Valley’s Jonathan Hughes got the win, pitching four scoreless frames with four strikeouts.
“We were concerned [coming into the game], we wanted to make sure we gave Gilroy the respect they deserve,” Valley coach John Diatte said. “Clint always does a great job with them.”
Three players that could have been great contributors for Gilroy were Clayton Eslik, David Garcia and Christian Lam. The three, who all live in Gilroy but attend the private school in San Jose, combined for six hits, four RBI and seven runs.
“They’re great players and they’re great kids,” Diatte said. “They work hard for us.”
The Mustangs did show some fight in the fifth-inning in an effort to resist the 10-run mercy rule, scoring two runs on a Kevin Grove single up the middle that plated Michael Hartman and Danny Contreras. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late.
“We pretty much put ourselves in a hole,” Grove said. “A few things didn’t go our way, a bad hop here and there.”
Part of the bad hops could have been due to playing on the AstroTurf of Valley’s home field, which Wheeler noted, “is fast and puts you in a different spot.”
But the manager then added that the errors “were routine plays.”
The No. 3-seed Warriors (27-6) will now face Menlo Atherton, which defeated Santa Teresa 4-3 in their first round game Wednesday, Saturday at 1 p.m. at PAL Stadium in San Jose.
The Mustangs, seeded 14 in the tournament, finish the season with a 12-18 record. Wheeler is hopeful his young squad will take notice of how this season ended, and understand what will be required to become a winner next year.
“I think you gotta learn (from this) as an individual and as a team,” Wheeler said. “We have a lot of work to do over the summer to get to where we want to be.”
For Grove, one of five seniors playing their last game as Mustangs, being able to overcome several lengthy losing streaks, injuries and roster changes over the course of the season made the CCS appearance something to take pride in.
“It was a tough season for us all around, so just making the playoffs was an accomplishment,” he said.
Gilroy 0 0 0 0 2 – 2 6 7
VC 7 1 6 1 x – 15 14 1
