All bad things must come to an end.
Gilroy High baseball put a stop to its losing streak, which was
nine games deep, by beating the Alisal Trojans 9-5 in Salinas
Tuesday. The victory was the first for the Mustangs in almost a
month. The team’s last win came Mar. 17 against Saratoga.
All bad things must come to an end.
Gilroy High baseball put a stop to its losing streak, which was nine games deep, by beating the Alisal Trojans 9-5 in Salinas Tuesday. The victory was the first for the Mustangs in almost a month. The team’s last win came Mar. 17 against Saratoga.
“We all knew what rut we were in,” Gilroy coach Clint Wheeler said. “Nothing was said about how bad we wanted to win, but it was definitely a relief after the game to get back on the other side for the first time in three and a half weeks.”
Along with several solid hitting performances, Gilroy’s pitching combination of Michael Hartman, who got the win, and Jordan Holler deserved much of the credit.
“The biggest reason why we won was we didn’t walk leadoff hitters,” Wheeler said. “We didn’t give anything. They had to earn everything they got.”
Along with five innings of work on the hill, Hartman went 3-for-3 at the plate.
“He helped himself out a lot,” the coach said of Hartman’s efforts. “That’s always going to help your team when you’re hitting out of the nine-hole.”
Gilroy’s Lukas Fortino was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI and Charlie Duffy, returning from a back injury that the team feared might keep the senior sidelined for the rest of the season, provided some pop as he hit a home run to go 2-for-4 with 2 RBI.
“He went in and doctors gave it a few days rest to see what would happen and it wasn’t as bad as they thought,” Wheeler said. “He’s our best opposite-field hitter so he did a great job for us with the wind blowing straight in our face.”
Alfredo Aportela took the loss for Alisal, which dropped to 5-16-1 overall, 4-7 in the Tri-County Athletic League. Meanwhile the Mustangs improved to 8-15, 6-4 TCAL.
Despite having gone through a rough stretch before Tuesday’s victory, Gilroy still has a very good chance to make the Central Coast Section playoffs, according to Wheeler.
“You gotta finish .500 in your last 22 games, .500 in league or (.500) overall,” he said. “If we can get a good run going here we’re definitely going to make it.”
The Mustangs will host Alisal Thursday at 4:00 p.m. with lefty Taylor Chris taking the hill.
