Baseball players understand being
”
in the zone.
”
It’s the time when the ball looks like it’s the size of a
grapefruit and you feel you can hit any pitch you see.
Baseball players understand being “in the zone.”
It’s the time when the ball looks like it’s the size of a grapefruit and you feel you can hit any pitch you see.
That’s the way it’s been for Tyler Osborne for the past two weeks. The Gilroy senior continued his torrid hitting Thursday as the Mustangs won twice in the Peninsula Easter Classic.
Osborne went 3 for 3 with a home run, double, three runs scored and three RBIs in the opener as Gilroy used two big innings to pound Monte Vista Christian 14-4 in a game halted after five innings because of the mercy rule. He then went 4 for 5 with three more RBIs as GHS came from behind to outscore Robert Louis Stevenson 13-10.
Despite going 4-1 in the tournament, Gilroy finished fifth. Because of run differential, the Mustangs were placed in the loser’s bracket which meant they had to play five games in four days. It didn’t affect their hitting as Gilroy extended its current hot streak to 10 wins in the last 11 games.
Against MVC, GHS (17-9) made things easy for winning pitcher Jacob Dexter by scoring nine runs in the second inning and five in the third against a team it had defeated in 10 innings only 18 hours earlier.
“We knew it would be tough for our pitchers,” GHS coach Clint Wheeler said. “To win in five was big for us. We were tired and sore and yet we battled through it.”
Osborne hit his seventh homer of the season and doubled in the second inning, and Michael Stevens had a two-run single to stake Gilroy to a 9-0 lead. Stevens finished with three RBIs, Lukas Fortino had two runs and two RBIs, Dexter homered and Matt Hemeon continued to wield a hot bat with a double and two hits.
Gilroy jumped on RLS for a 4-1 lead in the second. But the Pirates scored seven in the third to put the Mustangs on their heels.
GHS chipped away until a three-run fifth inning put the Mustangs ahead for good. Kevin Grove started things in the fifth with a one-out single. Osborne singled, Fortino had a two-run single and the third run scored on an error as Gilroy moved in front 11-9.
“It was our fifth game of the week,” Wheeler said. “We knew it was going to be tough pitching. We talked about how we had to swing our way out of it which we did.”
Osborne and Fortino went 4 for 5 to pace a 22-hit attack. Stevens, Grove, Hemeon and Charlie Duffy each collected three hits. Stevens got the win in relief, but three pitchers were roughed up for 15 hits, four of which went for extra bases.
“I’m definitely happy with the way we played after that first inning of the first game (when two errors led to seven unearned runs in a loss to Fremont),” Wheeler said. “It wasn’t the toughest competition, but to play that many games back-to-back was a test for any team.”
The Mustangs now get a four-day break before resuming their Tri-County Athletic League schedule at 4pm Tuesday at Alisal.
MVC 000 22 – 4 4 3
Gilroy 095 0x – 14 8 1
Nadeau, Clayton (2), Moyano (3) and McClung; Dexter and Fortino. L-Nadeau. 2B-Osborne, Hemeon, Felix. HR-Osborne, Dexter.
RLS 017 100 1 – 10 15 5
Gilroy 042 232 x – 13 22 1
Carl, Treadwell (6) and Gleason; Salter, Lafuente (3), Stevens (5) and Fortino. W-Stevens. L-Carl. 2B-RLS, Gleason, Pepe, Carl, Davi; GIL, Grove, Dexter, Fortino.
