GILROY—It was eerily silent as Jimmy Lemberger stood at the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning. Josiah Wiley, the tying run, stood on second base and all Lemberger had to do was bring him home to keep Gilroy’s chances alive.
With two strikes already against him, the sophomore swung and smashed the ball over the fence for a walk-off homerun that lifted the Mustangs past Salinas 5-4 on Wednesday in the regular season and home finale.
“(It feels) amazing,” Lemberger said. “I was swinging out of my shoes at that at bat.”
Lemberger was greeted at home plate by a herd of excited Mustangs and a Gatorade bath. On Senior Day, it was a sophomore who stole the spotlight from his graduating classmates. As he stood next to senior teammate, Bubba Lara, he jokingly replied: “Sorry, Bubba.”
The focus may have been on Lemberger, but Lara had the crowd on the edge of their seats all afternoon. With the Mustangs trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth, Lara led off with a single to shallow left field. He kept his head up and legs going and capitalized on Cowboys’ throwing errors to come all the way home and to get Gilroy on the board.
“(I was thinking of) anything to advance to the next base — I was hoping my guys would pick me up,” Lara said. “It just happened that they made a bad throw. I capitalized on it and scored.”
Lara’s score seemed to rattle Salinas, as it gave up back-to-back walks immediately after. The senior showcase continued as senior stood Sammy Aptekar at third and Hector Lopez on second after a wild pitch. Aptekar was brought home when his senior teammate Travis Moulden his a rocket to deep left field to bring him home.
Salinas picked up two quick outs before walking Lemberger to load the bases for the third time in the game. Gilroy was unable to capitalize on its other chances, but Salinas couldn’t escape unscathed this time. Dallas Wilson was hit by a pitch to keep the bags loaded and score Lopez and cut the Cowboys’ lead to 4-3. Salinas got the last out before Gilroy could score anymore.
Aptekar led the team with 2 hits, a run and double and a walk. Lara also had two hits and a run, while Moulden had two hits, an RBI and a stolen base.
Lara was also stellar defensively. The shortstop made an impossible diving catch in the top of the sixth and followed that with a stellar response to a hard ground ball to help the inning end as quickly as it began.
Smart play and timely hitting certainly helped, but Lara said the key to the Mustangs’ success is more than that—it’s rooted in family.
“Our teammates became a lot closer towards the end of the year and it helped out a lot,” Lara said. “Everyone is hitting the ball together and we’re more of a family. It’s just a great way to end my last game here at this high school.”
Salinas got on the board early, scoring four runs—two earned—off of senior Mark Kinoshita in the second inning. Kinoshita exited after one and two thirds innings and Gilroy ace, Justin Hale, came into silence the Cowboys’ bats. He allowed only two hits and two walks and picked up a strikeout in five and a third innings.
“Justin, in my mind, has the opportunity to play baseball for a really long time,” Mustangs coach Billy Holler said. “He’s tall, he’s composed and he does a really good job on the mound. Even if he gets behind in the count, he gets you ground balls. He’s an exceptional player.”
The win caps off an exceptional second-half of the season for Gilroy. The Mustangs went 3-9 to start the season, but got a huge boost in confidence —and momentum—after beating Gabilan Division leader San Benito 4-2 on April 11. Since then, Gilroy went 6-6 and put itself in a position to qualify for the Central Coast Section playoffs—which happened with this win. Seedings, times and locations for the playoff games will be determined Saturday.
“These guys came together. Earlier in the year they weren’t family-orientated, but towards the end of the year they really came together,” Holler said. “They’re doing an outstanding job. If they can take this into the playoffs, we have a chance to really hurt somebody’s feelings.”
