Tapia’s no-hitter, big bats lift Gilroy 11-year-old Stars to
10-0 opening win over San Juan
SANTA CRUZ – The 11-year-old Gilroy Little League All-Stars made their presence felt right away in the District 39 Tournament – opening with a 10-0 shutout over the San Juan All-Stars at Harvey West Field in Santa Cruz.
The local majors squad were led by pitcher Ryan Tapia’s no-hit performance as the starting ace struck out six and walked only one. With San Juan kept at bay, Gilroy cracked away with its bats – forcing the 10-run mercy rule in the fourth frame.
The All-Stars’ offense was paced by Patrick Shields (2-for-3, 2 RBIs) as well as strong effort off the bench from teammates Matt Elston (1-for-1, 2 RBIs, run scored), Randy Guerrero (1-for-1, 2 RBIs, run scored), and Juan Delgado (1-for-1, RBI, run scored).
In addition, the hard-hitting Gilroy offense received solid swings via Logan Sweeney (2-for-2, RBI, two runs scored), Mike Aldridge (single), Mitch Wright (run scored), Nick Robinson (run scored), Ben Vega (single), and Tapia helping his own cause (1-for-2, single, walk).
While the majors’ bats were hot, Cory Snider and Josh Raney provided solid defense to assist Tapia in his no-hit bid. The majors – who played again over the holiday weekend (results will be published later this week) – are managed by Scott Aldridge along with coaches Mel Shields and Ronnie Mack.
After Tapia retired San Juan in order for the first two innings, the All-Stars went to work with the lumber – scoring three runs in the bottom half of the second frame to jump out to a 3-0 lead.
Tapia started the rally with a single to center and was then pinch-run for by speedster Delgado – who went on to steal second and third base to move into scoring position. Sweeney broke the scoreless tie with an RBI single and the came around to score when Robinson’s hard grounder to short forced an errant throw to first base. Up next, Vega laid down a perfect bunt single to advance Robinson to third base. Following a strike-out, Sanchez came up big – singling up the middle to score Robinson.
The garlic stars went right back to work in the third inning – hammering the San Juan pitchers for seven more runs to extend to a 10-0 advantage. After Shields led off with a sharp single to center, then stole second and advanced to third on a past ball, he hustled home on a wild pitch.
The inning kept on for Gilroy as Tapai walked – but was later forced out at second base on Sweeney’s lazy fly ball that fell in at short right field. Wright followed with a grounder to short – but the infielder’s throw pulled the first baseman off the bag with Wright safe at first. An opportunistic Sweeney rounded second and hustled ahead of the throw to third. On the throw, Wright scrambled into second base. Delgado then smacked a rocket to center – scoring Sweeney. Delgado and Wright both moved up a base on another past ball.
Following a strike-out, Guerrero rifled a solid line drive for a single to center – scoring both Delgado and Wright for a seven-run lead. Guerrero advanced to second on the throw to the plate and then came around to score on Elston’s first-pitch single up the middle. Aldridge continued the surge with a single to put runners on first and second base. Shields, in his second at-bat of the inning, followed with a first-pitch single to drive home two more runs.
Once San Juan finally got out of the third, Tapia retired the side – giving up his only walk of the game and forcing the umpire to call the game due to the 10-run mercy rule.
