A complete recap of the Gilroy Little League championship
games
Boys’ Juniors
Red Sox 14, A’s 3
The No. 1 Red Sox stayed alive with a victory over the No. 3 A’s Monday night.
The A’s, sparked by Corey Snyder’s double, took a 3-0 lead in the first inning. But that’s all the team would get. The Red Sox, meanwhile, responded with three runs in the third inning and five in the seventh.
Red Sox hurler Aaron Cimino pitched all seven innings for the victory and was supported by error-free defense. The team was led offensively by Jordan Hollard (4-for-5), Matt Elston (3-for-5, triple) and Gavin Menges (2-for-2, walk).
The Red Sox defeated the Cardinals in the first round of the playoffs before losing to the A’s in the second. But the team bounced back to defeat the Giants 9-4 on Friday and earn a berth in Monday’s game.
The Red Sox and A’s meet again Wednesday night at 5:30pm at Gilroy High. The Red Sox won the regular season meeting against the Athletics, 2-1. Both teams have 13-6 records going into the final game.
Boys’ Majors
Rangers 4, Cardinals 0
The Rangers scored once in the second inning and three times in the bottom of the fifth inning to ultimately beat the Cardinals 4-0 Thursday and come away with the boys’ majors championship.
The Rangers’ Casey Olechnowicz hit a two-run double in the bottom of the fifth to help the team to a 3-0 lead. Olechnowicz drove in Erik Brolin (single) and Patrick Mank (single). Michael Pirnik followed with another single to score Olechnowicz and extend the top-seeded team’s lead to 4-0.
In the top of the sixth and final inning, the Cardinals threatened to close in on the Rangers’ lead by putting two runners on base with a walk and a hit. They advanced to second and third on a passed ball. But Rangers’ relief pitcher Marcus Lopez struck out two batters to end the inning and preserve the win.
“The end of the game got a little exciting,” said Rangers manager Jim Pirnik. “Those guys (the Cardinals) had me nervous.”
For the Cardinals, Bryan Cid went 2-for-3 at the plate. Brandon Pickens and Jordan Soares had one hit apiece.
Brolin pitched four shutout innings and struck out eight batters for the Rangers. Lopez pitched the final two innings.
On June 6, the Cardinals beat the Rangers 8-6 in extra innings the first meeting between the teams in the double-elimination tournament.
“That was a pitching duel,” Pirnik said.
The game stayed tied 1-1 through six innings, with Rangers’ starter Rafael Garcia and Cardinals’ starter Cid battling it out. Each amassed 13 strikeouts by the time both had to be retired because of the 6-inning limit for pitchers.
“They both just threw lights out,” Pirnik said.
Both teams exploded for runs in the late innings. The Rangers now advance to the District 39 Tournament of Champions. Their first game is June 21 at 7:30pm at Santa Cruz’s Harvey West Park.
Girls’ Majors
Sunbirds 6, Bandits 3
Laura Mora’s double in the bottom of the fourth that scored Sam Parraz and Melanie Morelos helped the Sunbirds to the 6-3 girls’ majors championship win on June 5.
Sunbirds’ pitcher Parraz (9 strikeouts) and Bandits’ pitcher Stephanie Rodriquez (10 strikeouts) kept batters off-balance for much of the game.
Amber Gamboa hit a double for the Bandits, who Bandits scored most of their runs on errors but received a double from Amber Gamboa.
Boys’ Minors – American
Yankees 9, Rangers 1
The Yankees (16-1), behind pitchers Jalynd Gallardo and Ryan Fredricks, defeated the Rangers 9-1 to win the American League title June 3.
“We had pretty consistent scoring throughout the game,” said Yankees manager David Gallardo. “It was a team effort. One of the reasons why they won so much was because they worked harder than the other teams in practice.”
In addition to hits by Gallardo and Fredricks, Adam Gonzalez and Alex Vega also had solid offensive games. Travis Hill and Zachary Loo played well both offensively and defensively.
The Yankees also received solid overall play from Ramond Aguirre, Dylan Calimpong, Daniel Cortez, Timothy Crooker, Kyle Doughty and Andrew Vurdick.
Boys’ Minors – National
Cubs 9, Mets 2
Kenny Dipko had a double and drove in two runs to help break open the game for the Cubs in the National League championship June 3. The Mets held a 2-0 lead early but couldn’t score in the late innings. Brian Ransom pitched the whole game for the Cubs.
Trevor Large had a solid hit down the third-base line for the Mets. Matthew Alexandre pitched four innings for the Mets. Eddie Garcia stole his way around the bases to score one of the Mets’ runs.
Girls’ Minors
Heat 12, Riptide 11 (8 innings)
In an 8-inning thriller, the Heat defeated the Riptide 12-11 when Alyssa Lopez scored from third on a passed ball in the bottom of the eighth inning to end the game. Lopez had gotten on base with a walk.
“We went even-even pretty much from the beginning to the middle of the game,” said Heat manager Donna Simpson. “We managed to get girls on using our aggressive baserunning to get around at home.”
Kristyn Simpson (2 doubles), Michaela Zurtuchi (double) and twins Kaycee (double) and Kayla Roelling all had hits for the Heat.
The Riptide nearly got the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh inning on a wild pitch from Kaycee Roelling. The Riptide’s runner at third dashed for home, but catcher Simpson chased the ball down behind home plate and flipped the ball to Kaycee Roelling, who was covering the base. The pitcher tagged the runner out at home.
The Roelling twins combined for the win in the circle for the Heat. The winning team received strong defensive contributions from Domica Burton, Jenny Seigl and Lopez.
~ Compiled by Ana Patejdl and Nathan Mixter
RegularSeasonStandings
Boys Majors
Team W L T
Westaff Rangers 3 0 0
California Chop Shop Cardinals 10 4 0
Jiffy Lube Dodgers 9 4 1
C & N Tractors Yankees 7 6 1
Handmade Health Care Cubs 6 8 0
Weinerschnitzel Red Sox 6 8 0
Gilroy Tile & Stone A’s 5 8 0
Cortec Precision Sheetmetal Giants 0 13 0
Boys’ Minors – National
Team W L T
Doyles Work Co., Inc. Cubs 12 1 1
Black Bear Diner Cardinals 9 6 0
Clampco Mets 8 5 2
Trans Valley Transport Nationals 7 7 0
Nicholson Lath & Plastering Dodgers 3 12 0
Engineered Solutions Giants 0 15 0
Boys’ Minors – American
Team W L T
Jiffy Lube Yankees 13 1 0
Jeffrey S. Miller DDS Rangers 10 4 1
Headstart Nursery, Inc. Orioles 8 6 1
R.J. Dyer Real Property Investments Red Sox 8 8 0
Fritter & Schulz Physical Therapy Angels 5 8 1
Gilroy Firefighters Association A’s 1 11 0
Girls’ Majors
Team W L T
Operations Management Riptide 9 2 1
B & T Farms Sunbirds 6 4 1
Kathleen Reinholm Intero Real Estate Heat 6 6 0
Goldsmith Seeds Bandits 4 7 0
Jeff Chilman Financial Services Armadillos 3 9 0
Girls’ Minors
Team W L T
Mission Valley Veterinary Cardiology Sunbirds 8 3 0
California Silk Screening Heat 8 4 0
Bas W. Wafelbakker, D.M.D Riptide 7 4 0
Dutchman’s Pizza Bandits 4 7 0
South Valley Bank Armadillos 1 10 0
