A game pitting former Little League teammates now playing for
crosstown schools tilted heavily toward the big sister as the
Gilroy High softball team peppered the field with 12 hits and
capitalized on six uncharacteristic errors to cool down Christopher
High 12-0 in five innings Thursday afternoon.
A game pitting former Little League teammates now playing for crosstown schools tilted heavily toward the big sister as the Gilroy High softball team peppered the field with 12 hits and capitalized on six uncharacteristic errors to cool down Christopher High 12-0 in five innings Thursday afternoon.
“We made more errors in one inning than we have made in two or three games,” CHS manager Larry Nabzeska said. “We made mistakes we shouldn’t have made.”
Sarah Lorraine Lira pitched four innings to get the win in the circle for the Mustangs, yielding three hits and striking out three. Holly Lam relieved Lira in the bottom of the fifth.
Lira’s counterpart, Aly Olvera, remained tough despite the defensive woes, and of the 12 runs, only five were earned.
“I was really pleased with the way we hit the ball today,” GHS manager Julie Berggren said. “It was good to get really good swings on a pitcher that’s decent. Aly throws the ball well and we haven’t been hitting this well against good pitching, so it was really nice to see.”
A laser beam triple to the left-field fence by Casey Lester to lead off the game set the tone for the Mustangs, who came out swinging.
Though Lester would run herself into an out trying to take home on a passed ball, Gilroy managed to produce a 2-0 lead with a RBI sacrifice fly off Lira’s bat and a blistered RBI double to the fence by Dani Hemeon.
The Cougars (11-5-1) worked a pair of two-out walks in their half of the first, but the threat fizzled.
Michelle Sosa singled in Lindsay Holt, who led off the second with a single, for a 3-0 lead before blowing things open with a 5-spot – all with two outs – in the top of the third.
The flurry, though aided by five CHS errors, included a solid two-run double from Sosa.
“They just jumped on everything that was their’s,” Berggren said.
Kristen Dennis poked her first of two singles on the afternoon to begin the third frame but was tossed out by Elaina Vasquez at third trying to advance on an Olvera shot to right field.
Both Olvera and Lira breezed through the order in the fourth before the Mustangs put the game out of reach for good with five more tallies in the fifth.
The first four batters of the inning – Celeste Mendoza, single, Sosa, double, Lester, walk and Stephanie Rodriguez, single – all scored in the inning which was capped by a Lira RBI fielder’s choice.
“No doubt they are a better team than us,” Nabzeska said. “But we just played a poor game. Can’t dwell on it. It’s gone.”
Kaslin Ettema had the Cougars’ other hit in the game.
NOTE: Gilroy’s Melanie Morelos and Stephanie Rodriguez signed their letters of intent Wednesday. Morelos will play for the University of Hawaii-Hilo while Rodriguez is headed to William Jessup. More on this story in Tuesday’s Dispatch.
