Senior slugger belts two-run shot in 6-5 win over Salinas, grand
slam in 12-8 loss to Hollister
HOLLISTER – Three home runs, including a seventh-inning grand slam from senior first baseman Ben Hemeon, was not enough for the Mustang diamondmen to catch host San Benito High in Friday’s 12-8 league loss.
Gilroy, which held off Salinas after taking a six-run lead in last Tuesday’s 6-5 road victory, fell behind early against the Haybalers, resulting in their fourth league loss all season.
“We’re still going for the league title. That’s our number one goal,” said head coach Clint Wheeler, whose squad is 8-4 in T-CAL and 16-7-1 overall. “But we need a little help. We have to do our part and even if we don’t get help, we’ll still be ready for playoffs.”
The Mustangs dropped two games back of league-leading Palma (10-2 in T-CAL, 18-7 overall), but remains one game ahead of third-place Live Oak (7-5, 11-11) and two games ahead of fourth-place Hollister (6-6, 14-12). The T-CAL Standings round out with Salinas (5-7, 11-14) in fifth place and North Salinas (0-12, 3-17) in sixth place.
Gilroy has three league games remaining, including back-to-back home games against Palma on Tuesday and North Salinas on Thursday. The Mustangs finish the regular season with a May 10 road game in Morgan Hill. All three games are scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
“If we beat Palma on Tuesday, we still need Hollister or Live Oak to beat them,” Wheeler said.
Palma’s only two losses in league came on the road in two-game splits against Gilroy, which won the May 24 opener, 11-10, but lost the May 27 rematch, 6-2, and against Hollister, which dropped the April 20 opener, 15-9, but won the April 23 rematch, 7-6.
Wheeler said more important than catching the Chieftains to claim Gilroy High’s first league title since 1991 is winning out to stay ahead of Live Oak and San Benito to clinch the school’s first CCS Playoff berth in three seasons.
“They’re looking forward to the CCS Playoffs. It will be the first time for a lot of them, even seeing it,” Wheeler said. “They’ve done a great job so far. 16-7-1 is much better than what a lot of us thought (before the season started) because we’re such a young team.”
The Mustangs put an underclassmen on the mound against Hollister on Friday with sophomore Jeremy Teschera getting his second starting nod of the season. The six-foot-two, southpaw lasted just three innings, but only three of the six runs allowed were earned.
“He did all right. We didn’t help him out too much defensively,” said Wheeler of Teschera, who gave up only one run in five innings of work in the Lion’s Easter Tournament. “He’s going to be one of our guys for sure next year. He deserves some time this year. He’s played well for us.”
Hollister scored one run off an error in the first inning, but Gilroy responded with a pair of solo shots in the second by junior shortstop Peter Mickartz, his second of the season, and junior outfielder Marty Sustaita, his first on the year.
“It was good to see,” said Wheeler of the Gilroy’s power surge. “Definitely, it felt good.”
Teschera and the Mustang defense could not hold off the Haybalers in their next at-bats, allowing two runs to fall behind again, 3-2. San Benito then scored three more runs to pull ahead by four.
“That’s when they just exploded,” Wheeler said. “They hit a couple of balls hard. They hit a couple of doubles. They hit another I thought should have been caught that extended the inning. It would have been a decent play, but it turned into a double.”
After Gilroy answered with one run to cut the deficit to 6-3, the Haybalers knocked around junior reliever Anthony Lucio for five runs through the fourth and fifth innings.
“He’s been getting hit pretty good lately,” said Wheeler of Lucio. “He’s missing his spots and has been getting the ball up. We’re trying to get him to keep the ball at the knees and mix it up.”
With the Mustangs trailing 12-3 in the top of the seventh inning, Hemeon connected for a bases-loaded home run to trim the gap to five. The senior slugger’s seventh long ball this year tied the Gilroy High single-season home run mark.
Still in the seventh, Gilroy threatened for more with two outs and runners on the corners. On a pitch in the dirt, the runner from third scored, but the runner on first got tagged out to end the game.
“We had a couple of chances,” Wheeler said. “(Hollister’s) two big innings, we had a chance to make plays to stop the bleeding. But we didn’t make the plays and extended the inning.”
In Tuesday’s one-run victory over Salinas, junior right-hander Carlos Garcia went four strong innings to get the win and Lucio pitched the final three innings for the save.
The Mustangs scored on in the first, one in the second, and four in the fourth inning to take a 6-0 lead. But Salinas answered with four in the fourth and one in the sixth to make it a tight finish.
Five different Mustangs had RBIs. Hemeon hit a two-run jack for his sixth of the season, while teammates Chris Hernandez, Mark Gonzales, Ron Colmon – on a triple – and Lucio all drove in runs.
TRI-COUNTY ATHLETIC LEAGUE STANDINGS
TEAM LEAGUE OVERALL
Palma 10-2 18-7
MUSTANGS 8-4 16-7-1
Live Oak 7-5 11-11
San Benito 6-6 14-12
Salinas 5-7 11-14
N. Salinas 0-12 3-17
Tuesday games
MUSTANGS vs. Palma in Gilroy, 4 p.m.
Live Oak vs. Salinas in Morgan Hill, 4 p.m.
San Benito vs. North Salinas in Hollister, 4 p.m.
Thursday games
MUSTANGS vs. North Salinas in Gilroy, 4 p.m.
Palma vs. Live Oak in Salinas, 4 p.m.
San Benito vs. Salinas in Salinas, 4 p.m.
May 10 games
San Benito vs. Palma in Hollister, 4 p.m.
MUSTANGS vs. Live Oak in Morgan Hill, 4 p.m.
Salinas vs. North Salinas at North High, 4 p.m.
