The Gilroy girls Majors storied season came to a head on Monday
night when the local All-Stars fell to Gladstone, Mich., 6-1 at the
Little League Softball World Series at Alpenrose Field in Portland,
Ore.
Portland, Ore. – The Gilroy girls Majors storied season came to a head on Monday night when the local All-Stars fell to Gladstone, Mich., 6-1 at the Little League Softball World Series at Alpenrose Field in Portland, Ore.
Manager Dusty Lester said the team had to win on Monday to advance to the semifinals. Instead, Gilroy will play for fifth- and sixth-place on Wednesday at 1pm. They’ll find out who their opponent is today.
On Monday, all six of Gladstone’s runs were unearned, five in the first inning off three errors and three walks by Gilroy.
“They didn’t hit the ball out of the infield,” Lester added. “I told the girls it wasn’t meant to be for us. I honestly believe that today, the better team did not win.”
Gilroy, who out-hit Gladstone 6-3, responded with one run of their own in the bottom half of the first inning. Casey Lester led off with a single and then moved to second on a fielder’s choice groundout by Randi Rogers. A passed ball pushed Lester to third, and she later scored on a fielder’s choice groundout from Kaylana Mah.
“We were hitting the ball hard, but right at people,” Coach Lester said. “It’s tough. I feel pretty bad … I felt in my heart that we were going to win this game.”
Gladstone’s sixth run, which came in the third inning, was also unearned.
In the fourth, the Gilroy girls flashed some handy glovework and pulled off a 6-3-5 double play. With a runner on second, shortstop Lester fielded a ground ball to get the runner out at first base, while first basemen Shawnte Garcia threw across the field to third basemen Ashlee Williams to get the runner from second base.
On the mound, Lester started the game and was relieved by Mah, who threw five innings for Gilroy. Said Lester of Mah, “She did a real good job of holding them.”
“The girls battled hard,” Coach Lester said. “They never gave up. But the breaks just didn’t go our way. There’s not much we can do about it.”
This was the third straight year Gilroy has qualified for the LLSWS, and the squad went undefeated at the Western Regional, a feat that no other Gilroy team has accomplished, Lester said.
“A lot of people didn’t think we’d get this far,” the coach added.
On Saturday, Gilroy defeated Ramstein, Germany 9-0 behind 12 hits from Gilroy.
Lester, Celeste Mendoza and Alexandra Olvera combined to throw a one-hitter.
“We were able to play some of the girls that haven’t played as much, more time (on the field),” Lester said about the game against Germany.
Gilroy will play again on Wednesday in the fifth- and sixth-place game.
