Three Gilroy All-Stars still in running for District 39
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District 39 Tournaments
8-/9-year-old American
The 8/9 Gilroy American All-Stars continued its winning ways Thursday at Live Oak Field in Santa Cruz. The team made the most of sparse hitting and pulled out a 2-1 win over Aptos.
Gilroy will face the only other undefeated team, Santa Cruz, Monday at 5:30pm.
Only three Gilroy players – Marc Anthony Torres, Isaac Morris and Dillon Day – came up with base hits Thursday, but it was enough for the win.
Trailing 1-0, Gilroy mounted a comeback in the fourth inning. Morris hit a lead-off double to start things off and Brendan Reimer followed with a walk. Day got a hit to drive home pinch runner Aaron Whitehouse and tie the score at 1-1. Reimer then took advantage of a wild pitch and stole home from third for the go-ahead run.
“It was a nail-biter,” said manager Vic Vanni. “There were a couple plays at the plate.”
Justin Hale was the starting pitcher and went five innings, allowing no earned runs. Reimer, who also made two spectacular catches in center field including one to end an inning with the bases loaded, closed out the final inning on the mound, striking out two and forcing a groundout.
“Brendan was the guy today,” Vanni said.
8-/9-year-old National
The 8/9 National team was eliminated from all-star play Wednesday in a 13-3 loss to Salsipuedes at Live Oak Park in Santa Cruz.
Minors National
The Gilroy Minors National team’s all-star run came to an end Wednesday with an 8-7 loss to San Lorenzo Valley.
Heading into the final inning, Gilroy led 7-4. But with one out, San Lorenzo rallied for four runs to win.
Brian Ranson (3-for-4, double, 2 singles, 2 runs scored, 2 RBI), Raynaldo Lara (2-for-4, 2 singles) and Ronnie Reed (2-for-2, 1 run scored) led Gilroy at the plate. Lara also caught two tough high fly balls in the outfield. Brendan Holler pitched all six innings for the National team.
Minors American
The Gilroy Minors American team closed out all-star play in eighth place with a 1-2 record.
The American all-stars bounced back from a 16-4 opening-round loss to Aptos with a 10-5 win over the Santa Cruz National team. But the Gilroy team suffered a 4-3 elimination loss to the Santa Cruz American all-stars Tuesday.
In the win over Santa Cruz National, pitcher Tommy Cox pitched five solid innings before Travis Hill closed out the game. Cox, who also had a couple of key hits, was awarded the game ball.
Alex Vega, Jalynd Gallardo, Hill and Ryan Fredricks anchored the team’s offense. On defense, Gilroy received solid play from Joshua Boykin, Brian Delgado, Marcus Delgado and Brendan Wilson.
“It was an overall team effort that did it for us,” said manager David Gallardo.
In Tuesday’s loss, Gilroy and the Santa Cruz American team were knotted at 3-3 before Santa Cruz scored the game-winning run in the seventh inning.
Pitcher Jalynd Gallardo had a no-hitter going into the fourth inning. Cox, Fredricks and Adam Gonzalez had hits for the Gilroy all-stars. Brenan Wilson and Sal Hernandez provided solid defense.
11-year-olds
After two one-run wins in the District 39 tournament, the Gilroy 11-year-old all-star team is in the final four.
On Tuesday, Gilroy defeated the Santa Cruz National team 5-4 on heroic last-inning efforts. In the final inning, Jordon Jimenez and Daniel Martinez hit singles before moving ahead to second and third. That brought up Kevin Willard (3 hits), who put down a bunt and brought home pinch runner Alex Maroudas from third for the winning run.
In the third inning, Marcus Medina provided Gilroy with a two-run double. The win puts the Gilroy team in a matchup with the only other undefeated team in the tournament, Scotts Valley. The two teams will meet Saturday at 9:30am at Pinto Lake in Watsonville for a spot in the championship game.
In Gilroy’s first game of the tournament on July 7, Travis Franco hit a home run to lift the team to a 4-3 win over the Santa Cruz American team.
With the count full, Franco belted a homer over the center field wall in the top of the sixth inning to put Gilroy ahead 4-3. The all-stars played solid defense in the bottom of the final inning to seal the win.
“That was the clincher right there,” said manager Ruben Reyes of Franco’s big hit.
Franco also had a double in the game.
Rudy Maquinales was another key player in the win for Gilroy. The pitcher threw a complete game, striking out nine. He was also 4-for-4 at the plate. Johnathan Lester (2 hits), Medina (2 hits) and Willard (1 hit) also powered Gilroy’s offense. Defensively, catcher Austin Guerrero had three assists at home plate.
