Gilroy
– The Mustangs did what they had to do. They had to wait a while
to find out if Live Oak did its part.
After a 2-0 win over Salinas at home Wednesday afternoon, Gilroy
awaited news from the Hollister-Live Oak game to see if they had
finished tied for second in Tri-County Athletic League baseball, or
if they would have to settle for third.
Gilroy – The Mustangs did what they had to do. They had to wait a while to find out if Live Oak did its part.
After a 2-0 win over Salinas at home Wednesday afternoon, Gilroy awaited news from the Hollister-Live Oak game to see if they had finished tied for second in Tri-County Athletic League baseball, or if they would have to settle for third.
So of course the Haybalers and Acorns went to extra innings.
But the news finally did come that Live Oak (17-8 overall, 12-3 in TCAL) had beaten Hollister, meaning the Mustangs and ‘Balers both finished with identical 10-5 league records and a share of second place.
And having taken two of three from Hollister, the ‘Stangs can also claim, at least unofficially, that second is theirs alone.
It took a game effort from emergency starter Drew Andersen and a clutch relief performance by Peter Mickartz to end the league season on a high note.
Leading by just two runs, Mickartz came on in relief of Andersen with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the sixth inning. The senior reliever promptly got two huge strikeouts to end the Cowboy threat.
“I think the change of pace helped,” said Mickartz after the game. “I throw harder than Drew, so that might have crossed (the Salinas hitters) up.”
Jared Gamm scored Gilroy’s first run in the bottom of the third inning. After drawing a leadoff walk, the senior designated hitter stole second easily. Gamm took third on a sharp groundout by center fielder Josh Sterling that had Salinas second baseman Phillip Incaviglia diving to his left to stop with a nifty bit of defense.
But on the very next pitch, when Andersen hit a routine bouncer to Incaviglia, the Salinas junior booted the ball, and Gamm raced home.
A smart piece of baserunning by Mickartz gave the Mustangs an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth. After singling up the middle, the rangy slugger found himself on third when catcher Chris Hernandez got caught in a rundown between first and second with two outs.
Mickartz dashed for home, and the Salinas first baseman rushed an errant throw to the plate as the Mustang slid home safely to make it 2-0.
Gilroy now awaits the decision of the CCS seeding meeting on Saturday. Head coach Clint Wheeler believes his team should do fairly well in the point-based playoff ranking system, saying that Gilroy (16-11 overall) and Hollister (21-8 overall) are both slightly behind TCAL champion Live Oak in point totals.
