n By cheeto barrera
staff writer
Gilroy – Gilroy Little League’s Junior Majors all-star team began Section 5 tournament play Monday night at Gilroy High by routing visiting San Juan Bautista 12-6.
In a game where the players literally had to call it a night, finishing play after just six innings due to darkness, the Junior Majors all-stars used a big second inning to emerge victorious.
In the nine-run second inning, every player in the local Junior Majors team’s lineup had a base hit as the squad batted around.
Gilroy coach Mike Gustin said his team went on cruise control after the second inning.
“The game got real boring and we wanted it to end after the fifth,” Gustin said.
Gilroy’s Branden Elam had the big hit of the day with a three-run homerun that bounced off the scoreboard.
While the garlic team’s defense was shaky, according to Gustin, pitcher Matt Hahn went three solid innings on the mound to pick up the victory.
The Gilroy Junior Majors all-stars play San Juan Bautista in the second game of a three-game set on Wednesday at 5:30pm at Gilroy High.
The best-of-three winner moves on to play in San Jose on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Gilroy Little League Senior Majors all-star team will begin play on Tuesday, July 19 at 5:30pm at San Jose’s Farrell Field.
