Gilroy won another close game on Saturday to advance in the
9-10-year-old All-Star tournament. Gilroy plays at 5:30pm today at
Pinto Lake Park in Watsonville.
9-10-Year-old All-Stars
Gilroy National 13, San Lorenzo Valley 10
Gilroy won another close game on Saturday to advance in the 9-10-year-old All-Star tournament. Gilroy plays at 5:30pm today at Pinto Lake Park in Watsonville.
SLV started off the scoring with a run in the top of the first, but Gilroy broke out to a 7-1 lead, scoring seven runs in the bottom of the second.
SLV scored three in the third, one in the fourth then went ahead in fifth inning after scoring five runs. Gilroy came right back in the bottom of the fifth, scoring six runs to regain the lead at 13-10. SLV went down 1-2-3 in the sixth.
Gilroy hit the ball well, pounding out 14 singles and one double. Justin Hale was 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Jonathon Holliday, Jordan Fernandez, Phillip Cid-Castro and Aaron Whitehouse all had two hits.
Brendan Reimer had a bases-clearing hit. Zachary Loo and Makio Duyao also contributed with one hit each.
Christian Alonzo had the hit of the game with his fourth-inning double that he hit to deep right-center.
Whitehouse pitched four innings, allowing seven hits and striking out three. Brendan Reimer pitched two innings allowing three hits and striking out three.
The defense made several good plays including a nice double play that ended the fourth inning. SLV had runners on first and third with one out.
A ball was hit to pitcher Whitehouse, who made a quick throw to Makio Duyao playing first to get the second out. The runner on third took off to score on the throw to first, but Duyao alertly threw home to catcher Jordan Fernandez who caught the throw and applied the tag as the runner slid into home. The play ended the inning and prevented the run from scoring.
Another nice play was made in the sixth when Whitehouse came charging in on a fly ball to shallow right, making a diving catch.
Gilroy lost 10-9 to Watsonville on July 2 to drop into the loser’s bracket. After falling behind 6-1, Gilroy rallied to close within 6-5. Watsonville scored four more runs in the fourth inning. Gilroy answered with four runs in the sixth, but it was not enough as runners were left at second and third base.
Hale led the 12-hit Gilroy performance, going 3-for-3. Holliday and Reimer went 2-for-3 with a single and a double each. Loo had two singles.
Gilroy American 12, Watsonville 8
The Gilroy boy’s 9-10-year-old American League All-Stars defeated host Watsonville Saturday in the District 39 All-Star Tournament. After losing to Capitola Soquel 12-2 in the opener, Gilroy bounced back in its second game, jumping out to 5-0 lead against Watsonville in the top of the first inning.
Eddie Garcia was the catalyst in the lead-off spot, reaching base three times with two hits.
Gilroy built up a 12-2 lead behind the offensive power of Richie Rios (1-for-1 with a double), Josh Wheat (2-for-3 with a double) and Joshua Boykin (3-for-4 with a double). Mark Kinoshita pitched a great game for Gilroy, keeping Watsonville off balance with his off-speed pitches. Kinoshita pitched 3 1/3 innings, gave up two runs and struck out four. The American League All-Stars play against Scott’s Valley in their next game.
8-9-Year-old All-Stars
SLV 13, Gilroy American 3
The Gilroy American eight- and nine-year-old Little League All Stars ended their tournament run on Saturday at Gilroy Sports Complex with a 13-3 loss to San Lorenzo Valley.
Gilroy American’s pitcher Anthony Fortino started the game throwing hard, striking out three batters in the first inning, but in between strikeouts the SLV hitters were able to connect for some opposite-field hits to build a 3-0 lead.
Gilroy tried to answer back in the bottom of the first when shortstop Mike Sosa (2-3, double) led off the inning with a hit to right field, but was later picked off at first base when he stretched his lead too far. Gilroy then got two runners on base when second baseman Anthony Silva walked and catcher Patrick Hsu reached on an error, but the final two batters in the inning popped out and grounded out leave Gilroy with no runs o show for its efforts.
Fortino recorded three more strikeouts in the second, but gave up a run on two walks and a single. Gilroy didn’t score in the bottom of the second. SLV had a big inning in the third and stretched the lead to 8-0 with four more runs on two hits, two walks and an error.
Gilroy answered in the bottom of the third when first baseman Matt Jensema led the inning off with a walk, followed by a double by Sosa. Silva then reached on an error, scoring Jensema and Sosa. Silva later scored on a bases loaded walk to Fortino (1-2, walk), making the score 8-3 after three innings.
SLV put the game away in the top of the fifth, however, when the team scored five more runs on three walks, three hits and an error.
Gilroy’s leading pitcher was Fortino, who pitched two innings, walked four, gave up four hits and struck out six batters. Fortino was also one of the offensive leaders, getting one of Gilroy’s three hits while Sosa had the other two.
