Saturday may have been prom night for Gilroy High, but that
afternoon the No. 5-seeded Mustangs already had a reason to
dance.
By Mark Powell Special to The Dispatch
San Jose – Saturday may have been prom night for Gilroy High, but that afternoon the No. 5-seeded Mustangs already had a reason to dance.
Jacob Dexter scored on a bases-loaded walk in the top of the seventh inning to give Gilroy a 2-1 victory over No. 4 Wilcox and a spot in the Central Coast Section Division I semifinal against top-seeded Valley Christian.
The game will take place at San Jose’s Municipal Stadium at 7pm Wednesday with the winner facing either San Benito or Santa Teresa in the CCS finals on Saturday.
“I told them they are doing something special here,” Gilroy coach Clint Wheeler said about his Mustangs (24-11). “I told them ‘Keep focus and have a good time tonight at the prom and let’s get ready to go back to work on Monday.””
Gilroy right-hander Kevin Grove picked up the win, allowing five hits and one run over six innings while striking out two.
“These are the kind of games you want to play,” Grove said. “Everybody’s yelling in the dugout and it’s just fun to come out with a victory.”
With one out in the seventh inning and the score tied 1-1, Dexter doubled into the left-centerfield gap.
“I was sitting slider and he threw me a fastball,” Dexter said. “I was trying to make hard contact and put the ball in play. I just tried to drive it into the gap.”
First baseman Charlie Duffy followed with a single to left, moving Dexter to third base.
Wilcox starter Kyle Barraclough then walked Danny Contreras and Michael Stevens in succession, with Stevens’ free pass bringing home Dexter for the go-ahead run.
Stevens relieved Grove on the mound in the seventh, cementing a save after getting Charger first baseman Jacob Johanson to fly to left field for the final out.
“Our team has done a lot of this,” Grove said. “We’ve battled through a lot of stuff. (Wilcox) got a run early but it was good to come back.”
Grove kept the Chargers’ bats silent until the bottom of the fourth, when Wilcox exploded for three straight two-out hits.
Following singles by Barraclough and shortstop Wally Galos, catcher Spenser Martinez doubled to left field to bring home Barraclough for Wilcox’s only run.
Gilroy tied the game in the top of the sixth when catcher Lukas Fortino’s two-out single plated senior Matt Hemeon.
“The deeper you get in the playoffs, the teams are getting better, the pitchers are getting better and everything you do is amplified,” Wheeler said. “We just kept telling our guys, ‘Hey, no matter what the other guys do, just keep fighting and scratching and stay in it.'”
The scoreboard could have read much differently had both teams not made several baserunning gaffes.
In the top of the third inning, Wilcox’s Ivan Rodriguez singled to left field but was picked off first base by Grove. Rodriguez would reach first in the bottom of the seventh inning on a walk, but was again picked off, this time by Fortino.
“In close ballgames, every little mistake is going to hurt you,” Dexter said. “And the team that makes the least mistakes is going to win the ballgame.”
On the Gilroy side, Fortino was thrown out by Martinez while trying to swipe third on the front end of a double steal in the second inning. Martinez also picked off Mustang pinch runner Jose Gamboa at second base to deaden a fifth-inning rally.
“We’re going to be aggressive, that’s what we do,” Wheeler said. “We stole a base to get in scoring position, so we’re going to live and die by that. I’m not afraid of that. We’ve won 24 times this year because of it and it’s part of our game. That’s what we do.”
