The recent rainy weather didn’t just leave behind a shaggy
outfield and patches of mud. It left some rust on the Gilroy
softball team’s bats, too.
Gilroy – The recent rainy weather didn’t just leave behind a shaggy outfield and patches of mud.
It left some rust on the Gilroy softball team’s bats, too.
Against Tri-County Athletic League rival Salinas Thursday, the Mustangs were able to muster just four hits. Salinas, however, belted out 11 hits en route to a 4-0 shutout of the Mustangs. The loss was Gilroy’s second-straight.
Last week, Gilroy (6-3, 2-2 TCAL) went hitless against league-leader Notre Dame.
And yet another week of rain and practicing in the gym instead of on the field didn’t help rectify those hitting issues.
“Oh, yeah,” said Gilroy second baseman Lauryn Chris when asked if the rain has affected the team. “It’s been so tough. Getting a grounder off the gym floor is a lot different than getting one off the ground. We’re less focused. We’re not seeing the live pitching. I think that also has to do with the hitting slump.”
The Mustangs were better at the plate against the Cowboys, but not as good as they needed to be.
“We can’t figure it out,” said Gilroy head coach Catherine Hallada. “At this point, I’m telling the girls they need to change something.”
By the end of the first inning, the Mustangs were already in a hole. The Cowboys (8-2, 2-1 TCAL) scored two runs in their first at-bat – one of which was the result of a double from Kim Morris – and led 2-0 after the first.
Gilroy never quite recovered from the early blows, which Hallada said has been a recent problem for the team.
“(The girls) have a lot of cohesiveness. But because they’re so close, when one bad thing happens, they all go down,” the coach said. “And when a good thing happens, no one really jumps on top of it.”
Gilroy, which got a hit apiece from junior Patty Olvera, sophomore Brittany Balanesi, sophomore Angelica Galindo and freshman Jasmine Perez, struggled to hit to hit to the holes. Meanwhile, Salinas seemed to hit them all. Chelsea Williams and Courtney Curtis both went 3-for-4 for the Cowboys.
“(Salinas) had some good hits,” Hallada said. “I also felt they had a lot of lucky hits.”
The Cowboys loaded the bases on two base hits and a walk to push a run across in the sixth to extend their lead to 3-0. Olvera took over on the mound for starting pitcher Sarah Villar to get the Mustangs out of the inning. Villar picked up the loss, her second of the season.
In the top of the seventh, Salinas scored its final run of the game on a two-out RBI single.
Hallada hopes the Mustangs will bust out of their hitting funk at this weekend’s Steinbeck Classic, which begins today in Salinas.
“Hopefully we’ll get the games in this weekend and we’ll get on a roll and start having fun,” the coach said.
