KIRKLAND, Wash. – With a No. 1-seed at stake for Friday’s
semifinals, Gilroy came up on the losing end for the first time
this week, dropping a narrow 3-2 decision to East on Wednesday in
Kirkland, Wash.
KIRKLAND, Wash. – Manager Rudy Perales and assistant coach John Green knew the final game of pool play for the Gilroy All-Stars would be the toughest test so far at the Little League World Series.
Their intuitions were correct.
Gilroy already secured a spot in the semifinals with its 10-2 win over Guam on Tuesday, moving the girls to 3-0 in the bracket. As a result, Wednesday’s game against the East was purely positional, with the victor earning the No. 1-seed in Pool B.
But with the top seed at stake, Gilroy came up on the losing end for the first time this week, dropping a narrow 3-2 decision to East.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” manager Rudy Perales said Thursday. “At no point did our girls give in. They fought and battled. Every great game there has to be a winner and a loser and unfortunately, we were the losers that time.”
Gilroy held a slim 2-1 cushion heading into the seventh inning, but relinquished the lead as the East scored twice to steal the contest.
Mariza Rodriguez drove in Kristen Dennis in the top of the first to give the girls an early 1-0 lead, and Brittney Souza chased in Holly Lam all the way from first base for the girl’s second tally of the afternoon.
“If we were going to lose a game, that was probably the one to lose,” Perales said. “It would have been nice to have been the No. 1 team, but they are a strong team. After about an hour or so of them with their chins down they bounced right back up and they are ready to play again.”
Gilroy (3-1) will enter the semifinals as the second-seed out of Pool B and will face Pool A’s No. 1-seed Latin America – the defending world champion – at 5 p.m. Friday.
The Garlic Girls enjoy a day off today, taking advantage of the free time to visit Seattle.
If the girls are victorious Friday they will play for the world championship at 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN 2.
