With a 5-4 win over West Chico Sunday, Gilroy’s Girls’ Minors
(9-10) All-Star softball team is now 3-0 in the Northern California
Championship and headed to Wednesday’s championship game.
Temperatures soared over 100 degrees for Gilroy’s 2pm game, but
the All-Stars were able to survive the heat. Sarah Spindell pitched
the entire game for Gilroy, striking out six and giving up only two
hits.
Manteca – With a 5-4 win over West Chico Sunday, Gilroy’s Girls’ Minors (9-10) All-Star softball team is now 3-0 in the Northern California Championship and headed to Wednesday’s championship game.
Temperatures soared over 100 degrees for Gilroy’s 2pm game, but the All-Stars were able to survive the heat. Sarah Spindell pitched the entire game for Gilroy, striking out six and giving up only two hits.
Chico jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but Gilroy answered in the bottom of the first by getting two runs of their own on consecutive hits by Celeste Jimenez, Kaylana Mah and Spindell. The same three batters all singled again in the second and were driven in by hits from Angelica Carillo and Ashley Williams to put Gilroy up 5-2.
Chico put runs across in the third and sixth, but with two outs and runners on second and third in the top of the sixth, Spindell struck out the final batter to secure the win.
Gilroy opened the tournament on Friday night with a 6-1 win over Morada Little League of Stockton. Kaylana Mah pitched the entire game for Gilroy, striking out seven and allowing only three hits. Alex Zamaripa (2 hits) and Amber Gamboa (triple) led Gilroy’s offensive attack. On Saturday, Gilroy beat Martinez Little League 12-0 in four innings. Celeste Martinez struck out seven and gave up just three hits in four innings pitched. Mah and Spindell had 2 hits each to lead the offense.
Gilroy’s Minors won the Northern California Championship in 2003 but lost the championship game by one run last year in Eureka. The 2005 team hopes to bring the title back to Gilroy and get that chance in the title game on Wednesday night in Manteca at 5:30pm.
Girls’ Majors heating up
Gilroy’s Girls’ Majors All-Stars are also off to a quick start in the Northern California Championship. After winning the Section 5 title last week by outscoring their opponents 31-6, they moved on to Sunnyvale to face the top Little League softball teams in the Northern California Division. At stake is a trip to the Western Region tournament in Washington, where state champions will meet to determine who represents the West in the Little League Softball World Series.
On Friday night, In their first game in the NorCals, Gilroy squared off against Cosumnes Little League of Sacramento and won 10-0 in four Innings. Gilroy showed its pitching depth by sending four different pitchers to the mound, none of whom allowed a hit in the game.
Gilroy’s four hurlers were Danielle Kinoshita, Samantha Parraz, Alyssa Castro and Stephanie Rodriguez.
At the plate, Melanie Morelos led the attack, going 2-2 and knocking in two runs. Lindsay Holt, Alissa Castro, Michelle Sosa, and Brenna Oniell also collected hits in the game.
On Saturday, Gilroy faced Anderson Little League from Shasta County and pulled out a 5-3 victory in seven innings. Anderson’s pitcher started off quickly, striking out three of the first four Gilroy batters she faced. But Gilroy’s Danielle Kinoshita was able to keep Anderson off balance all day, allowing only one earned run in seven innings while striking out nine batters.
Gilroy took a 2-0 lead in the second inning when Lindsay Holt, Danielle Kinoshita and Marisa Gamboa all singled. Gilroy picked up another run in the third without a hit, when Castro walked to lead off the inning, Sosa bunted her over to third, and she then scored on a passed ball.
Anderson picked up a run in the fourth to make the score 3-1, and then tied it in the bottom of the sixth on defensive mistakes made by Gilroy.
With the game sent to extra innings, Gilroy bounced back and scored two runs in the top of the seventh. With one out, Castro led off with a double. Sosa followed with a single as Castro rounded third to score for the go-ahead run. Sosa scored later on a passed ball to give Gilroy a two-run cushion. Kinoshita then came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh, sending Anderson’s batters down 1-2-3, recording a strikeout for the final out.
In its first four All Star games, Gilroy’s offense has been led by Melanie Morelos, Alissa Castro, Lindsay Holt and Michelle Sosa, who are all batting over .400. Kinoshita has been Gilroy’s ace on the mound, pitching 12 innings and ringing up 20 strikeouts while allowing only two earned runs.
Gilroy was set to face All City Softball Little League from Manteca Monday night at Washington Park in Sunnyvale in a matchup of two 2-0 teams. The winner advances to the championship game.
