MORGAN HILL – The Mustangs rallied from three runs down only to
see their comeback attempt derailed in the bottom of the
seventh.
MORGAN HILL – Nobody said ending a slump was easy. The Live Oak baseball team took a step toward doing so Tuesday with a style that was not easy on the eyes.
By defeating Gilroy High School, their Dodger-blue rival to the south, 4-3 in a nonleague exchange Tuesday that was all things Live Oak-GHS, the Acorns overcame a Tri-County Athletic League title contender and, at times, themselves. Live Oak built a 3-0 lead in the first inning at Sarich Field, then watched it evaporate during a mistake-soaked stretch in the fifth and sixth innings. Meanwhile, the Acorns stranded a pair of base runners and lost two more during rundowns between third base and home.
They looked like a different team in the seventh. Live Oak buckled down to retire the Mustangs with eight pitches from closer Nick Robles, and Ken Hall scored pinch-runner Nick Gustafson on a bases-loaded single off Angel Gamboa in the bottom half to win it.
“This definitely feels good,” said Live Oak manager Mark Cummins, whose club had lost three straight and seven of its last nine going in. “We’ve hit a rough spot here, so we’re just trying to stay positive. I like the way we earned it today.”
Johnny Ramirez felt the same way for his Mustangs. They battled back after a frustrating first two innings in which they left four runners on base. Gilroy’s two-run rally in the sixth rewarded a solid start by right-hander Taylor Chris, who struck out eight, walked four, and held the Acorns to three hits in six innings.
All of which factored into a tough loss that resurrected bad playing-day memories for Ramirez.
“I told Mark, they broke our hearts a few times back when I was here in ’86,” the rookie GHS manager said. “When it got heated today, I was just thinking, ‘rivalry renewed.'”
Things got chippy in the sixth. The Mustangs, complete with their outgoing fans who made the trip to Live Oak High School, raised their heckling to a collar-adjusting level. Coupled with a questionable strike zone, that got under the skin of Cummins and Acorns starter Rich Martinez.
After Brent Newton scored on an overthrow, and Matt Elston crossed on a passed ball to tie it, 3-3, Martinez thought he was out of trouble when he threw a close 2-2 pitch to lead-off hitter Jordan Holler for ball 3. Cummins argued the call, and Martinez ripped his pitching helmet off in dismay. He plunked Holler on the next pitch, then Robles (2-0) took over and beaned Chris on a 1-1 offering.
Acorns catcher Cody Van Aken threw out Holler stealing, though, and Martinez threw out Jordan Dexter from third to end the threat.
“We had to stay composed,” said LOHS freshman shortstop Sean Silveira, who had three assists. “We did our best not to let our emotions get in the way of it.”
The pressure was back on Gilroy in the bottom of the seventh. Gamboa (0-1) gloved a come-back grounder to retire Silveira, but then walked three of his next four batters to load the bases for Hall.
“I was really hoping I’d get a chance to hit,” the senior first baseman said.
Hall worked the count to 3-0, but Gamboa battled back to make it 3-2. With Gustafson, Nick Pusateri and Van Aken all running, Hall lined the sixth pitch of the at-bat into shallow center field, and the LOHS dugout emptied.
“Ken really came through when we needed it,” Cummins said.
“I tip my hat to that kid, holy cow,” Ramirez added.
Should the Acorns (7-9) rebound in Mount Hamilton Division play and make it back to the Central Coast Section playoffs, Hall’s hit may go down as their biggest of 2010. Live Oak has two more winnable nonleague games this week before playing a two-game series with last-place Leigh.
“Hopefully, we’ve hit rock bottom, and we’re on our way up,” said Cummins, now in his 24th season at LOHS. “Hopefully, we can make it back to .500 this week and somehow reach the postseason.”
Michael Schreiber, Van Aken and Hall each scored in the first inning as Live Oak nearly batted around the order. Van Aken brought home Schreiber on a single to right, then scored on a fielder’s choice hit by Jakob Conlan. Hall came around when freshman Jalen Salazar reached on an error.
“Taylor’s pretty much our money pitcher, but he’s always the guy who gets bad luck,” Ramirez said. “It seems like he goes out and pitches, and we scrape for runs. Then we’ll pitch another guy and score 10. He loses hard-luck games.”
Chris gave up two hits the rest of the way, “doing whatever he could to keep his team in the game,” he said.
“We just weren’t hitting today,” said first baseman Eric Vegas, one of six Mustangs who recorded a hit. “Their guy was pitching well against us.”
Vegas gave Chris some support by singling him home in the fifth after Chris drew a walk. Vegas was caught trying to reach second, though, as Silveira made a heads-up throw to second away from the play.
Martinez, whose line — 4K, 4BB, 1ER in 5 1-3 innings — was equally impressive, got Neal Dinsmore to fly out to retire the side.
“The calls were on and off, but Richie did a good job today,” Silveira said. “We’re proud of the way he battled.”
The Acorns did their best to provide run support but were cut down by base running errors. They botched a improvised double steal in the second and a squeeze bunt in the fifth.
Live Oak did get two stolen bases by Gustafson and three successful sacrifice bunts by Pusateri.
“We’re just trying to get back to the basics,” Cummins said. “We need our guys to learn from their mistakes. We made quite a few that hurt us.”
Newton stole two bases, and Chris and Bubu Garcia doubled for Gilroy (10-6-1), which picks up TCAL play at home Friday with Game 1 of a two-game set with Alvarez.
Live Oak will host Fremont at 3:30 p.m. today then visit North Salinas on Thursday.
“I like their team,” Ramirez said. “They’re very young, but they fight. They’re going to (be) loaded in a few years. I look forward to playing Live Oak next year, but next year, it’s at my house.”
