The Gilroy Junior Majors All-Stars have Milpitas’ number. The
team won 11-6 Monday night and have now defeated Milpitas twice in
four days.
Greg Chapman Staff Writer
Gilroy – The Gilroy Junior Majors All-Stars have Milpitas’ number.
The team won 11-6 Monday night and have now defeated Milpitas twice in four days.
With more at stake this time around, Gilroy again jumped out to an early lead. But it was a big sixth inning that busted the game open and will send the team to the championship.
“It was real big,” manger Jay Palma said, speaking on his team’s game-changing inning. “The other team kind of fell apart (after that).”
Second baseman Christopher Drysdale was the first to bring in a run, hitting a solid single to left field to score Ryan Capozza from second base.
With two outs, Gilroy would score three more runs, putting the game out of reach.
Tim Goulet came up with two outs and runners on second and third base and delivered in the clutch, like he said he usually does.
“All I was thinking was up the middle, up the middle, up the middle and I came through,” Goulet said.
Goulet’s hit back up the center of the diamond brought in two runs and a balk by Milpitas’ pitcher would bring in another. Gilroy scored four runs in the inning creating a comfortable cushion with a 10-5 lead.
Capozza would score another run in the seventh and the 11-5 lead was too much for Milpitas to overcome. Milpitas only mustered one run in the bottom half of the inning to end the game 11-6.
Not to be overlooked was the overall game of Thomas Harrington, pitching five innings to get the win. He also had three hits at the plate, bringing in three runs.
Most impressive was the fact that Harrington hadn’t pitched since the regular season ended one month ago. Still, he was effective from the mound.
“All I had to do was relax, put blinders on, focus on the batter and throw strikes,” Harrington said modestly. “I just had to remember to throw strikes and let the defense play behind me.”
Knowing how big the victory was, Palma was all smiles after the game.
Gilroy will face Lincoln Glen in the championship game tonight at Gilroy Sports Park at 6pm.
