The 11 and 12-year-old Gilroy Little League All Stars are District 59 champions — though both teams earned their crowns in very different ways.
11-year-old Blue Team All Stars
The 11-year-old Gilroy Blue Team All Stars learned that winning the District 59 title isn’t easy.
Gilroy faced a rollercoaster of a game against rival Evergreen, grinding out a 13-10 win in San Jose Tuesday. The victory advances the team to the Section 5 Tournament where it will face the Hollister All Stars at 3 p.m. Saturday in Scotts Valley.
“They didn’t quit,” Gilroy coach Greg Fernald said. “In the last couple games, we had been pushed a little bit but there wasn’t much of a spark. This time there wasn’t that scared look, that ‘Oh no’. They were ready for the challenge. They hung in there and got it done.”
Though Gilroy went 4-0 to advance to the championship game, they fell 6-2 to losers bracket winners Evergreen Monday to force a Game 2 — the tournament is double elimination.
With the game tied a 9-9 in the top of the sixth inning, Fernald sent the top of the order out to break open the game. Sergio Sanchez kicked things off with a lead-off walk and was followed by back-to-back doubles from Sean Fernald and Aidan Lee, putting the team ahead 11-9.
But it was a two-run blast by Connor Villanueva that secured the win, giving Gilroy a 13-9 lead heading into the bottom of the inning.
Lee led the scoring for his team, going 3 for 4 with a single, double and triple while driving in five RBIs. Villanueva went 2 for 3 with a single, a home run and two RBIs and Sean Fernald went 2 for 4 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI.
Pitcher Shawn Hernandez — who took a ground ball off his shin in the fourth inning — put in three innings of work, getting three strike outs and allowing a walk.
Evergreen loaded the bases and was able to score one run before being shut down by pitcher Brenden Lodge to end the game.
“When they loaded the bases I was like ‘Oh no’,” coach Greg Fernald said. “It was pretty exciting but I feel a lot better today than I did yesterday.”
Gilroy started off hot, taking a 5-1 lead after two innings. But Evergreen wasn’t about to back down without a fight.
The Evergreen All Stars scored six unanswered runs to take a 7-5 lead into the top of the fourth inning. Gilroy fought back with singles by Zach Buessing and Villanueva and key doubles by Sean Fernald and Sanchez to score four runs and take a 9-7 lead.
Evergreen was able to tie it up at 9-9 in the bottom of the inning and both teams were unable to score until the top of the sixth.
Gilroy is anticipating a tough match-up from the Hollister All Stars. Greg Fernald said he knows that sectionals won’t be easy, but is confident his team is up for the challenge.
“I told them that all of the teams are like us in terms of the level of competition,” he said. “The bar is raised and we’re just going to have to raise our level of play to kind of hang in there — you never know what might happen.”
12-year-old All Stars
The 12-year-old Gilroy All Stars went undefeated in tournament play, clinching the title in a 4-1 victory over Eastridge on Monday in San Jose. The team moves to the Section 5 tournament, where they will receive a first-round bye as play is hosted by District 59. They will play the winner of the Santa Clara Westside and Almaden South game Sunday in San Jose.
The 12-year-olds never trailed in the championship game. They took an early 1-0 lead into the third inning, where Alex Ruiz hit a two-run blast to put them ahead 3-0. An Eastridge error in the bottom of the fourth allowed Ben Zanger to score from third and improve his team’s lead to 4-0.
The lone Eastridge run came in the top of the fifth inning, though it could have been a lot worse for Gilroy. Eastridge threatened in the fifth and again in the sixth when it loaded the bases with no outs.
Gilroy called upon Ruiz to come in and close things out and he delivered. Ruiz struck out the first batter he faced before getting the second to hit a ground ball to second base for a double play which ended the inning.
Zanger and Cade Dominguez both hit two home runs in the tournament, while Ruiz and Marshall Silva III hit one.
“The strength of our game that day was pitching and defense,” Gilroy coach Marshall Silva said. “I was confident in the sense that the team had been playing well. … There’s always that doubt in your mind that things aren’t going to go as planned. I wouldn’t say we were going in over confident; we were definitely prepared to play a tough game.”
Silva coached the 11-year-old District 59 champs last season. Last year, his team was able to win their first game before losing the next two. With the core of his team returning, he’s hoping their experience will help them advance further this time around.
“All teams in the section tournament are proven winners,” Silva said. “They’ve all had to win a tournament to get to that point. … The caliber of the competition is definitely a step above.”
