Gilroy’s 19-under baseball club starts strong at Sollecito Jr.
Memorial Tournament
MONTEREY – If first impressions are everything, then the Gilroy Heat baseball team is already in the good graces of head coach Clint Wheeler.
The 19-under American Legion squad took home the second-place trophy from the premier Frank Sollecito Jr. Memorial Tournament in Monterey.
“I knew it was going to be a tough tournament. It’s been around a long time,” said Wheeler of his team’s first action. “I was happy with how we played. It sets the tone for the summer.”
The invitational is in memory of the former Monterey High School star (Class of 1988) who earned a scholarship to Cal-Berkeley before succumbing to leukemia. All proceeds benefit the leukemia foundation.
“The teams we played were quality competition,” said Wheeler, who used the tournament as a prelude to the Heat’s American Legion season that begins with a Saturday double-header at Gilroy High at 10 a.m. “I like what I saw on hill. I used a lot of guys and they all did a good job.”
The Heat, which finished with a 2-2 tournament record, won two of three games in their pool and advanced to the championship game due to a tiebreaker rule. Four teams all finished 2-1 in pool play and Gilroy advanced based on run-differential.
In the championship game, Gilroy dropped a 10-4 decision to the Watsonville Aggies, an all-star team made up of 10 different high schools. Left-hander Todd Gimenez, a Gilroy High graduate who just finished his freshman season at Gavilan College, took the loss on the mound.
“He did a great job. We just didn’t play great defense against them,” Wheeler said. “He looked really good. He’s got more velocity and more command of his stuff. … He looked sharp.”
The Heat won their first two games, starting off with Saturday’s 16-0 thumping of the Peninsula Riptides, made up of players from the Monterey area. Left-hander Kyle Bennett, a Live Oak High graduate, went five strong innings for the win. He stuck out seven and threw only 66 pitches.
“He did really well,” said Wheeler of Bennett. “Everyone chipped in. (Ben) Hemeon had a couple of RBIs. Drew Anderson had a couple of hits. He did really well for the whole tournament.”
Gilroy then returned for a double-header on Sunday, opening with an 8-5 victory over the San Jose Knights. Right-hander Anthony Lucio recorded the win with five solid frames and reliever Armando Franco finished the final two innings.
“We had the lead the whole game, but it was 3-1, 3-2, then 5-3. Every time we added on they kept coming back,” Wheeler said. “We chipped away with two runs here and two runs there.”
Shortstop Jordan Newton and outfielder Joe Cano, of Gilroy, both had big two-out run-scoring hits for the Heat.
The Heat suffered their first loss in the form of an 8-5 decision at the hands of San Carlos, a team of players out of Saint Francis, Serra and Sacred Heart.
“They had a really good team,” Wheeler said.
Right-hander Peter Mickartz started on the mound, but lasted only into the second inning. The bullpen then took over with lefty Jeff MacPhail, Cano and San Jose’s Chris McKim seeing action.
“They jumped out early on us,” Wheeler said.
After falling behind 5-1, the Heat did cut the gap to 5-4 before San Carlos extended to a four-run advantage. Gilroy managed only five hits in the losing effort.
The Heat roster includes 16 Gilroy High players plus one former Mustang, two players from Morgan Hill and one from Homestead High in San Jose.
“I think based on what we saw this weekend, we’ll be OK,” said Wheeler on the season outlook.
