Villar homers in softball win over Vikings, JV gymnastics wins
league
They barely made it, but the Mustangs are going to the Central Coast Section boys’ golf championships as a team.
Gilroy, which finished second to last at the Tri-County Athletic League finals Monday, received the fifth of five at-large bids to the section tournament at the CCS meeting Thursday night.
“It’s exciting,” said Gilroy head coach Kari Williams. “I think we were deserving.”
Fifteen teams – including Palma and San Benito from the TCAL – received automatic bids. The Mustangs beat TCAL champ Palma at the TCAL midseason tournament, which Williams believes helped her team get the nod to CCS.
Archbishop Mitty, Sacred Heart, Saratoga, Serra and Gilroy earned at-large berths. Gilroy beat out Aragon for the final spot.
The CCS meet will take place at Rancho Cañada Golf Club in Carmel Tuesday.
Softball Out-Slugs North Salinas, 8-5
Three triples, two doubles, one home run.
Those were the highlights of the Gilroy softball team’s hitting resume Wednesday against North Salinas.
Thanks to 13 hits total, the Mustangs kept a steady lead on the Vikings on their Senior Night and came away with an 8-5 victory. The win helped Gilroy (13-8) take back third place in TCAL from the Vikings. (11-11-1).
“Basically, when we hit, we hit,” said Gilroy head coach Catherine Hallada. “It just fired them up. They just drive off each other’s hits. They also went into this game and I don’t think they felt any pressure.”
The Mustangs took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but it was the third inning when the bats really came alive. Sarah Villar, who would later come in to relieve winning pitcher Patty Olvera, put a two-run home run over the fence, driving in Amanda Tellez (single). It was the senior’s first-ever home run. Villar ended up nearly hitting for the cycle, also hitting a double and a triple.
Right after Villar’s third-inning homer, freshman Jasmine Perez tripled. She was later driven home on a single by Caitlyn Pierotti. Perez also had a big night at the plate, with two triples and a double.
Gilroy scored two runs in the fifth and again in the seventh. The Mustangs scored on back-to-back doubles from Villar and Perez in the fifth and back-to-back triples from Olvera and Perez in the seventh.
Gilroy plays at Salinas Tuesday at 4pm before hosting Sobrato on Senior Day next Thursday.
JV Gymnastics Wins SCVAL Title
After playing bridesmaid to St. Francis at the Santa Cruz Valley Athletic League Finals two years in a row, the Gilroy JV gymnastics team found its way back to a league title Wednesday.
The Mustangs, led by sophomore Veronica Kelly’s third-place finish in the all-around competition, edged out the Lancers (174.4) by less than a point with a total of 175.35.
“Last year, we lost to St. Francis. We kind of have this little rivalry going on so it was extra-special to get it back,” said Gilroy gymnastics head coach Nikki Anagnoston.
Los Altos (171.5) took third place, followed by Cupertino (144.9), Tracy (123.9) and West (88).
In addition to her 6.9 all-around performance, Kelly took first in uneven parallel bars (9.3), second in floor exercise (9.45), fifth in vault (9.45) and seventh in beam (8.7).
Other placers were Shannon Hubbard (T4th in floor, 9.35), Carrie McGeehon (4th in bars, 8.1), Amber Minderler (4th in bars, 8.1), Katie Kishimura (5th in floor, 9.3), Larissa Gomez (7th in floor, 9.15) Rebecca Costanza (9th in floor, 9.05) and Jenna Stuenkel (T9th in floor, 9.05).
In a meet against St. Francis last week, Gilroy lost to the Lancers by four points. Anagnoston said the team worked hard to improve on their events in the week between that meet and the league finals.
“We cleaned up a lot of little errors that added up last week. We were really, really proud,” the coach said. “We really needed every event to compete and have a solid competition.”
As the meet wore on, the team kept close tabs on where the Lancers’ point total was at. The margin was narrow throughout, but Anagnoston said her gymnasts’ performances in bars and in floor exercise were what put the Mustangs ahead.
Now Kelly, senior Chelsea Garcia and two other Gilroy JV gymnasts will try to qualify for CCS as individuals at next Wednesday’s varsity league finals at Los Altos.
In addition to Anagnoston, the JV gymnasts are coached by Jennifer Yip, Aimee Hepner-Saul and Gerardo Mendoza.
