The celebration will have to wait. With a chance to clinch at
least a share of its first league title since 1991, Gilroy saw a
promising first inning turn into a disaster Tuesday and the end
result was a 10-3 loss to Salinas at Washington Middle School.
Salinas – The celebration will have to wait.
With a chance to clinch at least a share of its first league title since 1991, Gilroy saw a promising first inning turn into a disaster Tuesday and the end result was a 10-3 loss to Salinas at Washington Middle School. The loss creates a three-way tie for first place in the Tri-County Athletic League between Gilroy, San Benito and Salinas entering the final day of play Thursday.
“I think we’ll be able to put this game behind us,” Mustangs coach Clint Wheeler said. “We put a lot of emphasis on this game but we still have another big game ahead of us.”
Gilroy (21-11, 8-3 TCAL) hosts Alisal at 4pm Thursday in the regular-season finale. A win would guarantee at least a co-championship. If San Benito, which beat Alvarez 12-1 Tuesday, were to lose to North Salinas and Salinas lose to Palma, the Mustangs would grab the outright title.
The Mustangs seemed to have the Cowboys (23-7, 8-3) on the ropes in the first inning. Salinas starter JoJo Hernandez walked leadoff hitter Danny Contreras and he moved to first on a throwing error. A groundout by Michael Stevens moved him to third, and he scored on a wild pitch. Kevin Grove was hit by a pitch and Jacob Dexter walked, but Hernandez escaped trouble by inducing a 6-4-3 double play.
The Cowboys immediately took advantage in the bottom of the inning. Philip Incaviglia led off with a single, and Gabe Arcoleo added a one-out single. Hernandez singled home the first run, and Chris Pacheco followed with an infield single to load the bases.
Nick White then hit a fly ball to right that the wind pushed toward the foul line. Grove chased after it and got to the ball, but couldn’t make the play as two runs scored. Adam Souza provided the finishing touch on the five-run inning with a two-run double.
“I wasn’t too worried about the five-spot,” Wheeler said. “I was worried about how we reacted to it. It took a lot of wind out of our sails. I was shocked about (our reaction) and upset about it.”
Gilroy got a run back in the second when Lukas Fortino walked and scored on a double by Charlie Duffy, but three runs by Salinas in the fourth put the game out of reach.
Contreras delivered Gilroy’s final run when he bunted for a single, moved to second on a ground out, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on an error. He finished the day 1-for-3 with two runs scored.
The Mustangs immediately have to put their focus on Thursday’s game against Alisal, a team who handed Gilroy its most disappointing defeat the first time the teams met. Wheeler is confident the team won’t look past the Trojans this time around.
“(The previous loss) will definitely make sure that we don’t overlook them this time,” Wheeler said. “That’ll help us bounce back from this.”
Note: A win Thursday would give Gilroy its first league baseball title in 16 years, when the Mustangs won the Monterey Bay League. They also took home MBL titles in 1989 – with Wheeler a player on that team – and 1986.
Gilroy 110 010 0 – 3 4 4
Salinas 500 320 x – 10 12 4
Dexter, Salter (4) and Fortino. Hernandez, Corvello (6) and White. WP – Hernandez, LP – Dexter.
2B – Duffy (Gil), Souza (Sal).
