Taking on an Aptos Mariners squad that Gilroy High baseball
coach Clint Wheeler had heard was,
”
Supposedly, one of the best teams in Northern California,
”
the Mustangs showed Saturday they can more than hold their
own.
Taking on an Aptos Mariners squad that Gilroy High baseball coach Clint Wheeler had heard was, “Supposedly, one of the best teams in Northern California,” the Mustangs showed Saturday they can more than hold their own.
Gilroy entered the sixth inning down 5-3, but through three runs in the bottom half of the inning, the Mustangs held a 6-5 lead going into the final frame.
Unfortunately for Gilroy, a game-tying run allowed in the seventh, making it all knotted up at 6-all, propelled the Mariners to a six-run eighth inning to win the game 12-6.
Aptos is now 3-0 while Gilroy dropped to 0-2.
Luke McCreesh, who came on in relief in the sixth inning, got the win for the Mariners while Kevin Grove, also pitching in relief, took the loss for the Mustangs.
Until the extra frame, Gilroy had done a remarkable job of containing the Aptos offense.
The Mariners entered the contest having beaten Bellarmine Prep 4-3 and annihilating North Salinas 28-1.
Chris Taylor was phenomenal at the plate for the Mustangs, batting 5-of-5, including a double, while also stealing a base and scoring a run. He was also the starting pitcher, allowing five runs through four innings on 72 pitches. He also had two strikeouts to six walks.
Grove struggled coming in to pitch during the sixth inning, allowing six hits and seven runs, but he was a terror with the bat in his hands.
Grove finished the game 2-of-4, with a homerun, two walks and 4 RBI.
Roberto Celestino was the only other Mustang to record a hit, going 1-of-4 with a RBI. Danny Contreras walked twice, had a stolen base, and scored two runs for Gilroy and Derek Engen was hit by a pitch and later scored a run for the Mustangs.
Each squad will need to limit its mistakes in the field during today’s scheduled rematch as Aptos had six errors to the Mustangs’ five.
First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in Gilroy.
