Gilroy High’s softball team had plenty of chances at the plate,
but lost a pitchers duel with the Salinas Cowboys 1-0 Tuesday
afternoon in Salinas.
Gilroy High’s softball team had plenty of chances at the plate, but lost a pitchers duel with the Salinas Cowboys 1-0 Tuesday afternoon in Salinas.
After allowing one run in the bottom of the first inning, the Mustangs left seven runners stranded on base the rest of the way.
A walk of Chelsea Williams resulted in the lone run.
“What basically happened was the girl got on by a walk, stole second and the ball went (under short stop Kylie Herrada’s glove) on the throw and she took third,” Gilroy coach Catherine Hallada said.
The throw from center field to Gilroy’s third baseman then went into the dugout. The play was ruled dead, allowing Williams to advance across home plate without resistance.
“It was just a tough situation,” Hallada said, “but we fought the whole game. The girls adjusted pretty well to their pitcher, they were hitting, but we needed a timely hit and it just didn’t happen.”
The Mustangs had a 6-4 advantage on hits but the two errors proved to be the difference.
Gilroy’s Melinda Ortiz pitched a complete game in the loss, striking out seven batters. Samantha Rodriguez got the win for Salinas, striking out 10.
Gilroy dropped to 18-8 overall, 6-5 in the Tri-County Athletic League, while Salinas improved to 13-11-1 overall, 6-5 TCAL.
The Mustangs will try to regroup in their final regular season contest Thursday at 4:30 p.m. when they host Alisal. The contest will mark the final home game in the careers of 10 GHS seniors. All are expected to start the game, according to Hallada.
“I basically told them they have to stay intense because our next game is going to be a [Central Coast Section playoff] game,” Hallada said. “I want them to have fun, but I want them to keep their intensity throughout the game as well.”
CCS seedings will be announced Saturday.
