Hemeon, Hernandez go yard on Senior Day win over Sobrato;
Mustangs ready for CCS
Gilroy – It was the perfect time for the Gilroy baseball team to have a perfect week.
It started with a Monday win over North Salinas, got stronger with back-to-back wins over tough Palma and Salinas clubs and capped off with a 19-1 win over Sobrato Friday on Senior Day.
Nothing like making a good impression right before the Central Coast Section playoff seeding meeting, which takes place today.
According to the points calculations of Gilroy head coach Clint Wheeler, the Mustangs should receive an at-large seed high enough to get a first-round home game in the Division I bracket.
“I think we’re looking at a home game for sure,” Wheeler said. “I think we might even get as high as a five seed.”
Based on points earned through competition this season, the coach sees Gilroy in the same neighborhood as two West Catholic Athletic League teams.
“I think it will be a fight (for seeding position) with Valley Christian and St. Francis,” he said. If Wheeler is right, that means Gilroy won’t have to face a powerful WCAL team in the first round for the first time in five years.
Regardless of where the Mustangs (16-10, 12-6 TCAL) land, they showed they are ready to play some of their best baseball during Friday’s convincing win, which solidified a 16-10 overall record for the regular season and a third-place 12-6 mark in league.
“We’re really coming together,” said Gilroy center fielder Josh Sterling, who celebrated Senior Day with fellow seniors Drew Andersen, Chris Hernandez and Jeremy Teschera. “It feels like we’re hitting our peak right now.”
Especially on offense. Both junior Matt Hemeon (third inning) and Hernandez (fourth inning) had three-run home runs Friday.
Gilroy led 4-1 after two and a half innings before exploding for 10 runs against the Bulldogs (2-23, 0-17 TCAL) in the third inning. After junior Ryan Evanger smacked a double to left field, driving home Hernandez (double) from second, and Andersen got on base with a single, Hemeon jumped on a high fast ball and drove it over the fence in left field, clearing the bases. The blast extended Gilroy’s lead to 8-1. Sophomore Kevin Grove (triple) and junior Tyler Osborne (single) each drove in a run to make it 10-1. When Evanger came to the plate for the second time that inning, he hit a big base hit to left field, which drove in Osborne, junior Michael Stevens (reach on error) and Sterling (walk) to make it 13-1. That brought Hemeon back up, whose single drove in Evanger for run No. 14.
In the following inning, Hernandez connected for his home run to center field, which brought in Sterling (double) and junior Jacob Dexter (hit by pitch).
On the mound, Teschera earned the win, going four innings before Hernandez came in for the first half of the fifth.
While Gilroy’s defense is generally solid, Teschera feels continued success at the plate will be key for the Mustangs in the playoffs, which begin next week.
“We have to come out like we have been and we have to come out with our bats,” Teschera said. “Our offense is majority of our game.”
