Gilroy
– Because Gilroy is not normally a power-hitting team, it has to
figure out different ways to score runs.
Gilroy – Because Gilroy is not normally a power-hitting team, it has to figure out different ways to score runs.
Thus, aggressive base running is stressed. It’s not necessarily in the form of the stolen base. But the girls are drilled constantly to get good jumps. That’s especially true with two out.
Alicia Reese had a good enough jump Tuesday that she was able to score from first base on Yolanda Esquival’s fifth-inning double. It was the best opportunity that the Mustangs had to score and yet it was enough as Gilroy opened its Tri-County Athletic League season with a 1-0 win over Alvarez.
“If I didn’t get the good jump, I wouldn’t have scored,” Reese said.
Hard-throwing righthander Brittin Larsen only had one strikeout, but she moved the ball around, and the Mustangs hit the ball at fielders. Leftfielder Stephanie Trujillo made a diving catch on a wet field to keep the Mustangs (10-3) from adding an insurance run in the sixth.
Gilroy didn’t need insurance because Patty Olvera was pitching a gem of her own, notching her second shutout. Like Larsen, she yielded just four hits – two each to Whitney Massey and Mariah Garcia. The hits came in four different innings. And Olvera struck out a season-high eight while walking two.
“That’s exciting,” Olvera said when informed about her strikeout total. “I was really impressed with (Larsen). We needed to take advantage when we got the chance. Yols hit the ball in a perfect spot. Reese is doing amazing for her first varsity season.”
With one out in the fifth, Reese laced a single to left field. After the second out, Reese was moving on the crack of the bat. Esquival’s shot to left-center wasn’t hit as well as Reese’s base hit, but it found a hole and rolled to the fence.
“Give kudos to them,” Eagles coach Johnny Pinedo said. “They have a heck of a pitching staff. The pace (of the game) was phenomenal. They got the hit when they needed it.”
Reese agreed that Larsen was the hardest thrower the Mustangs had faced this season.
“You have to be ready quick,” Reese said. “You can’t be moving in the box against her.”
Gilroy again was errorfree in the one-hour, 30-minute game. Other than the fifth, the Mustangs didn’t get a runner past second. Alvarez (4-5) didn’t get a runner past second at any time.
“(Olvera) did very well today,” GHS coach Catherine Hallada said. “She was pitching hard and hitting her spots. It took us a while before we started timing their pitcher. But we’re not going to beat many teams with power hitting so we try to be very aggressive and get good jumps (on the bases).”
Next up is a 4:30pm game Thursday against defending TCAL champion and perennial Central Coast Section Division III champion Notre Dame.
“We need to come out strong,” Hallada said. “We beat them in a tournament (last year) so the girls know what it’s like.”
In last year’s TCAL regular season, however, the Spirits beat the Mustangs twice.
Alvarez 000 000 0 – 0 4 1
Gilroy 000 010 x – 1 4 0
Larsen and Massey; Olvera and Balanesi. 2B-ALV, Massey. GIL, Esquival, Tellez.
