Gilroy softball wins eight of nine, including shutout of Hollister

The Gilroy softball program rose to new heights last year and is continuing to excel again this season. 

After solid campaigns in 2022 and 2023, the Mustangs really took off. In 2024, they went 21-7 and competed in the Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs, which includes only the strongest eight in the section. This year’s squad is off to a superb start, showcasing they are among the best once again.

Two weeks ago, Gilroy took CCS powerhouse Willow Glen right to the edge, falling 4-3 in a nail-biter on April 3. In their next game, the Mustangs demolished perennial power Hollister 12-0 in an amazing five-inning run-rule wipeout.

With an April 15 1-0 win at Westmont, Gilroy has now ripped off eight wins in their last nine contests. The Mustangs are in second place in the Blossom Valley Athletic League, Mt. Hamilton Division at 5-1 and are 10-4 overall.

“The season has been going pretty good,” said Gilroy pitcher Lele Yslava, after the Willow Glen game. “We’ve had a lot of great wins. I love this team.”

Yslava is the primary pitcher. Jocelyn Ta is just now coming back from injury and can pitch, along with backup freshman hurler Stella Rhodas.

“She (Yslava) is lights out,” Gilroy coach Dusty Lester said. “She leads the league in strikeouts. And she is also one of the top hitters in the league.”

And that comment came before two more extra special performances. Against Hollister, Yslava allowed just three hits and no runs in a five-inning shutout. 

A week later against the Westmont Warriors, she pitched a masterpiece, a three-hit, no-walk complete game shutout with 13 strikeouts. Her stats for the season show a 0.47 ERA, with just five earned runs over 74 innings, along with 109 strikeouts.

Bela Sousa holds down first base and Bam Mendoza is on the hot corner. The keystone combo is Jennie Hernandez at short and Leilany Martinez at second. The outfield features Averi Peters, Dani Wilson and Christy Haro. The solid Drea Dela Rosa is at catcher.

Depth is minimal, especially with Caitlyn “Beans” Correia out injured and Ta only now back. Coach Lester relies on Carissa Allinson and JV callups as needed.

Yslava and the defense are quite reliable, game after game. The offense is usually very good too. The athletic Wilson is having an amazing season at the dish, hitting 25-for-45 for .556, with 26 runs scored, 17 RBIs, four homers and 10 steals. 

Yslava has been similarly superb, with a 20-for-42 .476 average, along with 13 runs scored, 21 RBIs, and four homers. Mendoza has fashioned a .366 average, on 15 hits in 41 appearances, Hernandez is at .316 and Peters at .306.

In the Mt. Hamilton standings, unbeaten 13-0 Willow Glen leads with a 4-0 mark. Gilroy is 5-1, with Branham at 4-2 and Westmont 3-4. Santa Teresa is 3-4, Sobrato is 2-3 and Leland is 2-4, with Leigh a bit back.

Willow Glen’s game against the Mustangs was a thrilling spine-tingler, with the Rams barely prevailing 4-3. The contest loomed as a pitcher’s duel between WG’s star hurler Alanna Clincy and the Mustangs’ Yslava.

Each team made a little noise but could not score during the early innings. Willow Glen broke on top in the fifth with a four-run outburst. The tallies came courtesy of a walk, two hit-by-pitches, an error and two singles.

In the last of the seventh, the resilient Mustangs turned the game sideways. With one out, Wilson singled and Yslava belted a bomb over right fielder Haley Ocumen’s head for a run-scoring triple. Hernandez reached on a fielder’s choice to score Yslava and close it to 4-2. 

Mendoza got most of a Clincy offering but it fell a little short of being a tying two-run home and was just a deep fly out for the second out.

Dela Rosa continued the offensive display by crushing a double to right center, scoring Hernandez and taking third on an errant throw. Peters was hit by a pitch and later stole second, putting the tying and winning runs in scoring position. But Clincy regrouped and struck out Haro to close the contest.

“It was close,” Lester said. “We almost tied it up. One inning hurt us.”

Wilson voiced the team’s resilience and mental strength.

“We can always come back,” Wilson said. “We’re good at adjustments. We have confidence in ourselves. And Lele’s pitching her butt off.”

On April 8, Gilroy sent a strong message to all of CCS with a 12-0 pasting of Hollister. The Balers are down a notch from their CCS Open Division and NorCal title team of two years ago but they remain strong. On this day, Gilroy was the only strong team on the diamond. 

The Mustangs scored two in the first, broke the game open with four in the third and ran away with three-run outbursts in both the fourth and fifth innings. 

Wilson hit 3-for-3 with a double. Yslava went wild at the plate, hitting 3-for-3 with five RBIs, including blasting a double and a homer. Mendoza and Peters each added two hits. In the victory over Westmont, the hero was Hernandez, as she smacked a solo homer for the game’s only score.

Earlier in the year, Gilroy picked up wins over Milpitas, Valley Christian, Salinas, Leigh, Branham, Leland and Sobrato. The upcoming schedule features several big tests. Gilroy faces Christopher at 1pm on April 19, CCS favorite St. Francis on April 22, Branham on April 29 and has a rematch with Willow Glen on May 15.

The Gilroy program has an illustrious history. The Mustangs have four CCS championships in seven title game appearances. The advent of the Open Division brought the Mustangs to that elite eight-team group last year, but may have kept them from another title in one of the other divisions, the way things worked before the new structure added the Open categorization.

The Mustangs were a cumulative 27-27 in 2022 and 2023 and have taken a big step forward. Last year’s team was not only 21-7 overall but 14-2 in league. This year is looking similar, especially with the recent win streak.

“Everyone’s goal is CCS,” Yslava said. “A league championship would be good, but we want a CCS ring baby.”