Gilroy – Earning itself a berth in the Section 5 tournament, the Gilroy Little League Junior Majors (13-14) all-stars beat San Juan Bautista 11-8 in a thriller in District 39 tourney play at Gilroy High Wednesday night.
After trailing for most of the game, the Garlic all-stars tied the game at 5-5, then took an 8-5 lead in the fifth inning.
San Juan Bautista wouldn’t go down quietly, surging for three runs in the top half of the sixth inning on Gilroy’s defensive errors.
But Gilroy came back in the bottom half of the inning for three runs of its own to take the 11-8 lead before the umpire called the game on account of darkness.
According to Gilroy head coach Mike Gustin, the play of the night came in the fifth inning when Santiago Avila dove into home, avoiding the tag to score a run.
Gilroy’s Branden Elam starred on the mound in his pitching debut, going four innings for the garlic all-stars.
Gilroy swept the San Juan Bautista crew in a best-of-three series. The local team also won the opener.
The Garlic City team will travel to Branham Hills Little League’s park in San Jose on Saturday to compete in the Section 5 tournament.
Gilroy’s tourney opener is at 1pm.
The section tournament is double-elimination, with the championship to be played the following Friday.
