Gilroy’s baseball team got a gut check Saturday. After falling
to Los Gatos 9-8 in a morning game the Mustangs could have easily
won, they had to hustle back to Gilroy to face Monte Vista
Christian in the afternoon.
Gilroy’s baseball team got a gut check Saturday.
After falling to Los Gatos 9-8 in a morning game the Mustangs could have easily won, they had to hustle back to Gilroy to face Monte Vista Christian in the afternoon.
Utilizing a freshman starting pitcher and a sophomore at shortstop, the Mustangs emerged with a 12-9 win to complete a grueling five-game week.
“I’m pleased with that we were able to go to Los Gatos and after taking a tough loss, we were able to come back here and play again,” GHS coach Clint Wheeler said. “I learned a lot about the team.”
Offensively, the Mustangs had no problem scoring runs in both games. Against Los Gatos, Gilroy was one out away from victory when an error led to two unearned runs and extra innings. A walk and a hit batter led to the Wildcats winning in the bottom of the ninth.
In defeat, Michael Stevens had a big game with two hits, three RBI and four stolen bases. The Mustangs led 3-0 after getting three shutout innings from starter Jacob Dexter. They led 8-6 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Los Gatos had the bases loaded and a ground ball was thrown away, leading to the game-tying run.
“We had that game,” Wheeler said. “We haven’t figured out how to finish teams and put them away. I thought we had a lot of opportunities to win it but they gave us a lot of those opportunities (by issuing 11 walks). We weren’t in a taking mood.”
An eight-run second inning gave Gilroy a 10-4 lead against Monte Vista Christian but it became a battle when MVC, which had 16 hits in the game, scored four times in the fourth.
Nevertheless, Wheeler was pleased with the outing of freshman Taylor Chris.
Kevin Grove led the offense, reaching base four times. Grove homered and was 2 for 2 with three RBI. Orlando Felix also had two hits. Sophomore Derek Engen excelled defensively at shortstop for GHS and Stevens pitched a scoreless seventh inning to get the save.
“It was our fifth game in a week and it was tough for us,” Wheeler said. “But I like the way we battled.”
Gilroy continues the Carmel Invitational with a second-round game today at Aptos.
