The Gilroy Majors All-Stars’ season is just heating up, but for
Gilroy’s other pair of softball championship teams, last Wednesday
marked two fitting finales to two spectacular seasons.
While the Majors head to Vancouver, Wash., where they start
Western Regional Tournament play Sunday, the 11-year-olds and
Minors All-Star teams are left to savor their status as champions
of their respective Northern California Little League
divisions.
Gilroy – The Gilroy Majors All-Stars’ season is just heating up, but for Gilroy’s other pair of softball championship teams, last Wednesday marked two fitting finales to two spectacular seasons.
While the Majors head to Vancouver, Wash., where they start Western Regional Tournament play Sunday, the 11-year-olds and Minors All-Star teams are left to savor their status as champions of their respective Northern California Little League divisions.
While the 11-year-olds coasted to a 20-3 title game win over Antioch in Manteca Wednesday, the Minors’ 5-4 victory over Westside Chico came down to the Gilroy side’s final at-bat.
Also playing in Manteca, the Minors had two runners on and no outs in the bottom of the sixth and final inning of a 4-4 game when catcher Amber Gamboa came to bat.
She delivered.
Gamboa hit a line drive single up the middle that allowed the winning run to cross the plate, bringing the Minors Northern California title back to Gilroy after a one-year absence. Gilroy lost the 2004 title game by a single run in Eureka.
On their way to the title, the Minors had a 6-0 run through the postseason and outscored opponents 64-10 in six games.
Gilroy had beaten Westside Chico on Sunday, also by a score of 5-4, but the Westsiders were able to fight their way out of the losers’ bracket and into the championship game for a rematch with the Garlic City squad.
In the title game, Gilroy started off the scoring in the third inning when Kaylana Mah led off with a walk and scampered home on Sarah Spindel’s RBI single. Ashlee Williams followed with a base hit to drive home a run and make the score 2-0 in favor of Gilroy.
In the bottom of the fifth, Gilroy added two more runs when Gamboa smacked a leadoff single and later scored on a passed ball. Adrianna Ortega also reached base and eventually scored on Megan Lasater’s sacrifice to give Gilroy a 4-0 lead.
But there was no quit in Chico as Westside rallied to tie the game in the top of the sixth. After Chico had scored three runs with no outs, Gamboa threw out a runner trying to steal third for the first out. Gilroy starter Celeste Jimenez struck out the next batter for the second. Down to their last out, Chico tied the game, but Jimenez struck out the last batter to end the threat.
In the bottom of the sixth, leadoff batter Jimenez reached base on an error. Mah followed with a walk, which brought up Gamboa for the game-winning hit.
Jimenez pitched all six innings, allowing one walk and striking out 11. Gilroy’s three pitchers – Jimenez, Spindel and Mah – dominated the opposition in the team’s postseason run.
Gilroy’s leading hitters, who all batted over .500 in the postseason, were Gamboa, Jimenez, Lasater, Mah, Spindel and Williams.
