Everything was going so well for Gilroy before everything fell
apart.
Gilroy – Everything was going so well for Gilroy before everything fell apart.
Tied 3-3 in the fifth inning of the first game of the 8- and 9-year-old All-Star championship game, Aptos had a runner on third base with two outs. A passed ball let Aptos’ runner score, but Gilroy pitcher Eric Ornduff quickly struck out the next batter to end the inning and keep the team well within reach.
In the sixth inning, Gilroy’s defense just couldn’t get off the field.
Trailing 4-3 in the top half of the frame, Gilroy gave up a walk, another passed ball, and a bunt. With runners on first and second, the flood gates opened when Aptos got a double to center field to make the score 5-3.
With two Aptos runners aboard, a ground ball slid underneath the glove of Gilroy’s shortstop to allow another run to score. Then, with Aptos players on the corners, a ground out to first brought the runner from third home. The final run of the inning came on a muffed groundball to the shortstop, leaving Gilroy in canyon-sized, 8-3 hole.
Aptos brought in their star pitcher Braxton Peterson to close out the game. He retired the side on a ground out and consecutive strikeouts.
Gilroy manager Brent Drysdale was despondent after the game.
When summing up what went wrong, all he could say was, “a couple bad innings, a couple bad errors.”
The team will have anther chance to take the championship tonight at 6pm at Gilroy Sports Park. The tournament is double-elimination and Gilroy was undefeated until last night’s game.
For Drysdale, that means one more attempt at getting a group of eight- and nine-year-olds to focus on playing baseball rather than running wild in the dog days of summer.
“I told them to get some rest, don’t go swimming for two or three hours and be ready to play tomorrow.”
