Gilroy High softball coach Catherine Hallada loved the way the
bracket shaped up when she saw her squad on the opposite end of No.
1 seed San Benito.
Three victories later, the Mustangs will be facing their rival
in the Central Coast Section Division I championship, which will be
played Saturday at 3 p.m. at PAL Stadium in San Jose.
Gilroy High softball coach Catherine Hallada loved the way the bracket shaped up when she saw her squad on the opposite end of No. 1 seed San Benito.
Three victories later, the Mustangs will be facing their rival in the Central Coast Section Division I championship, which will be played Saturday at 3 p.m. at PAL Stadium in San Jose.
Melinda Ortiz pitched her third straight complete-game shutout of the playoffs as the Mustangs went on to beat Monta Vista 6-0 Thursday at the same site of Saturday’s championship contest. Gilroy will now face San Benito, which topped Carlmont 5-0 in their semifinal game later in the day.
In three CCS contests, Gilroy has now outscored its opponents 19-0, something Hallada said could be attributed to Ortiz’ brilliance on the mound in addition to a stingy defense behind her.
“Mo’ has been doing an incredible job and the girls are backing her up,” Hallada said before adding that the offense has also been doing its job.
“They were all hitting, all making contributions.”
The Mustangs got three runs in the top of the third inning and three more in the fifth to control the contest in the final two frames.
The third-inning charge started with a double by Alissa Castro, followed by a base hit by Lauryn Chris reached on an error, an RBI single by Kylie Herrada, an RBI double by Jasmine Perez and an RBI triple by Sarah Lira.
Gilroy then followed with similar outburst in the fifth when Perez and Lira both got on base by a walk and single, respectively, and were moved up a base by a Caitlyn Pierotti sacrifice bunt. The pair were then brought home by an RBI double by Brittany Balanesi. Balanesi was plated on the next at-bat as Emily Castro continued her sensational hitting by coming just a few feet short of a home run with a ground-rule double.
Castro hit two home runs in a quarterfinal victory over Homestead.
Perez said the team has been able to play its best ball of the season through a steady, relaxed approach.
“We like to communicate with each other and not get all riled up,” she said.
Before the matchup was set against the Lady ‘Balers, a team that beat Gilroy all three times this season in all close contests, players and coaches all admitted they wanted to see San Benito in the finals.
“Everyone is just pumped up and excited for the next game,” said Ortiz, who struck out seven batters while only allowing five hits.
Asked if there was a preference on who she wanted to play, coach Hallada left little doubt.
“A hometown rivalry is always better than someone you don’t know,” she said.
