Eighth-inning error allows go-ahead run to score in GHS
softball’s 2-1 loss to Lady Vikings
GILROY – Freshman Yolanda Esquivel made an immediate impact for the struggling Lady Mustang softball squad, as the second baseman led off Thursday’s home game with a double to right field.
Esquivel then came around to score, moving to second on a junior shortstop Kayla Aldridge’s swinging sacrifice bunt and coming home on senior catcher Bria DeLorenzo’s single, for Gilroy’s first run in three games.
“I’ve actually been working on my hitting lately. I went out to the batting cages after practice,” said Esquivel, who finished 2-for-4 with a single in the sixth inning.
The lead-off hit was just what the Lady Mustangs needed after suffering an embarrassing 10-0 mercy-rule loss to Notre Dame two days earlier. But the early spark still was not enough to snap a seven-game league losing streak, as two fielding errors cost Gilroy in a 2-1 eight-inning loss to North Salinas.
“I say this loss (hurts more) because the girls played with a lot of heart and the game still didn’t end up going our way,” Esquivel said. “We played aggressive like we talked about it practice.”
The Lady Vikings (3-6 in T-CAL, 10-10 overall) scored one run in the first inning when Jesse Boyle’s single scored teammate Rachelle Morales, who reached on an error by sophomore hurler Sarah Villar.
Gilroy broke out of its hitting slump right away, getting the run back in the bottom of the inning, but could not overcome another fielding error in the eighth that allowed the winning run to score.
With two outs and a runner on second, Lady Viking Ashley Eiseman sent a fly ball into left field. Junior outfielder Christina Hernandez had a beat on it, coming in for the shallow shot, but the ball bounced off her glove and hit the grass.
“It’s so heartbreaking to loss a game this way on two really routine plays,” said head coach Julie Berggren, whose squad fell to 1-8 in league and 8-14 overall. “I hope they don’t hang their heads too much. They should be proud we scored and played relatively solid defense.”
The Lady Mustangs threatened in their final at-bats, as freshman Erin Magill got on base when her sharp grounder went through the legs of North Salinas first baseman Liz Flemicky. Teammate Sarah Griffis replaced Magill on the base path after she was hit in the elbow diving back to first on a pick-off attempt.
Hernandez tried to redeem herself at the plate, but could not lay down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runner, fouling back strike three. Aldridge then struck out to end the game.
“This team never gives up. We fight until it’s over and there’s not a lot of teams that are like that,” Esquivel said. “We may not pull through for the win, but we fight until it’s over.”
Gilroy, which still has six games remaining, must boost its record to .500 or above to continue its string of six straight post-season appearances. Up next, the Lady Mustangs will head to Community Park in Morgan Hill to battle Live Oak at 6 p.m.
“We did a lot of good things today. Playing close games is the way it’s supposed to be around here,” Berggren said. “I’d rather coach a game we lose 2-1 than a game we lose 10-0.”
