Gilroy High senior catcher Chris Hernandez and the Watsonville
Aggies are headed to the World Series.
The Babe Ruth World Series, that is.
Watsonville – Gilroy High senior catcher Chris Hernandez and the Watsonville Aggies are headed to the World Series.
The Babe Ruth World Series, that is.
After storming through their bracket in the Babe Ruth regional in Watsonville, the Aggies faced San Gabriel Valley in Tuesday’s two-game championship series. On the line was the right to travel to Newark, Ohio for the Babe Ruth World Series, where teams of 16 to 19-year-olds from around the country will compete for the national title.
Hernandez, the lone Gilroy representative on the Aggies, is joined by Live Oak’s Dave Newton and recent Hollister graduates Jason Sims, Justin Patton and Eric Diaz on the championship baseball travel team.
On Tuesday, the Aggies dropped the first game of the series, losing to San Gabriel Valley 6-0. The second game was a must-win, and Watsonville came through – battling back from a 4-3 deficit in the sixth before pulling out the 7-4 win and the championship.
“Hernandez is a good solid catcher behind the plate, a good hitter and a good teammate,” said Aggies coach Gary Bertone of his All-TCAL Second Team catcher, who splits playing time with Santa Cruz High’s Pete Feurtado.
“We’ll need everybody to be at their best next week,” Bertone added. “It’ll be the best of the best in Ohio.”
The Babe Ruth World Series kicks off on Aug. 12.
In Tuesday’s first game, it was evident early on that the Aggies were going to have their hands full with San Gabriel starting pitcher Alex Christ.
Watsonville starter Newton looked sharp in the top of the first, retiring San Gabriel’s first three in order. But in the second, San Gabriel broke through with a flurry of scoring to put the Aggies into a tough spot.
A one-out, two-run single by Justin Fellhauer got the score to 2-0 before Brandon McQuaid sacrificed Fellhauer across for a 3-0 San Gabriel advantage.
Christ was up next and he sent a liner to center that saw Newton get the hook and Sims come on in relief.
San Gabriel would score another two runs in the second before the Watsonville defense finally recorded the third out.
Christ shut the Aggies down in order in the bottom of the second, followed by a solid frame from Sims on the mound.
But the Aggies simply struggled to make anything happen when they managed to get runners into scoring position. In the fourth, Michael Vega led with a liner to the fence in left, good enough for a double. Diaz was up next and his sacrifice grounder towards first allowed Vega to take third. But with two outs, the next Watsonville batter struck out, leaving Vega stranded at third.
The fifth inning saw the Aggies in prime scoring position with two on and one out. But once again, the San Gabriel defense was able to get out of the inning before any runs could be plated.
The sixth actually saw Watsonville load the bases with one out, only to have Christ and the San Gabriel defense turn a double play to kill the threat again.
Christ would earn the complete game shutout with the 6-0 win. More importantly, San Gabriel forced a second game to determine who would be going to Ohio.
For much of the second game, it was anybody’s contest.
The Aggies were down 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth. But a burst of scoring saw the team put up four runs in the frame to take the lead, which they would hold onto the rest of the way, taking the win 7-4.
Newton’s bases-loaded triple in that crucial sixth inning was the difference maker. Diaz contributed a pair of doubles for a total of two RBI’s and was named to the All-Tournament team.
