GILROY—Gilroy’s Lauren Castro and Sobrato’s Morgan Martinelli have played together since they were 8 years old and know how dangerous each other can be. So when Martinelli stepped up to the plate in the top of the seventh inning—the game tied at 3-3—Castro knew that anything could happen.
Martinelli took one swing, and unfortunately for the Mustangs, she sent the ball sailing over the field in centerfield.
That was all Sobrato needed to beat the Mustangs 5-3 Thursday at Gilroy High. With the win, the Bulldogs claimed the South County crown having beaten Live Oak and Christopher previously.
The seventh inning was a rollercoaster for both teams. Marisa Heffernan hit a double just before Martinelli stepped up to the plate, which should’ve been enough to score Samantha Torres from second. Torres, however, never touched home plate and was ruled out, causing emotions to flare for both teams.
For Gilroy, the call sparked some momentum for it to finish the job in the bottom half of the inning, Castro said. For the Bulldogs, the call was all the more reason to finish the game right here.
“First I was thinking just hit the ball hard, get the ball through the infield, but once it went over everything kind of went loose,” Martinelli said. “I’m glad everything worked out because this is why we play softball for moments like this.”
The loss was hard to swallow for the Mustangs who had erased a 3-1 deficit just the inning before.
Castro led off the bottom of the sixth with a hard single to centerfield. Makenna Weiler followed up with a bunt single to get Castro into scoring position. Liezl Clark then doubled to deep left-centerfield, scoring Castro to get the team within one. Alexis Conlon tied the game with a sacrifice fly, which allowed Weiler to come home.
“It hurts more to lose games like this when they fight so hard and battle back,” Mustangs coach Julie Berggren said. “It’s just the way the way it went today, but not for a lack of effort at all. There was a super hard effort on everybody’s part.”
Gilroy drew first blood in the bottom of the first. Castro led off with a double and scored on a sac fly from Weiler to jump ahead 1-0.
Weiler went 1 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored. Castro was 2 for 4 with two runs and a double. Clark finished 2 for 3 with two doubles and an RBI.
Sobrato took a 3-1 lead with three runs in the top of the third. Torres doubled down the left field line and scored on the next play off a Heffernan double. Martinelli doubled to put runners on second and third. Kacey Suess then hit a single to left field to score Heffernan and Martinelli came home on a sac fly from Julie Camacho.
Martinelli led her team, going 3 for 4 with a homer, two runs scored, two RBIs and a double. Heffernan was a perfect 4 for 4 at the plate with two runs, an RBI and a stolen base.
Bulldogs coach Fred Cisneroz said playing schools like Gilroy is tough for his girls as most know their opponents from club ball. But as hard as it is for them to play their friends, it also makes the games more fun, he said.
“It’s always some type of rivalry,” Cisneroz said. “When it’s a rivalry, they’re playing their best ball and sweeping all three (schools) is great.”
Both pitchers brought their A-game, creating a duel in the circle. Torres got the win, allowing just three runs on six hits over seven innings of work. She also struck out three. She also went 4 for 4 at the plate with a run scored.
Castro allowed 12 hits in seven innings, but posted five strikeouts in the process. She took the loss especially hard, but never lost her composure during the game.
“It’s kind of tough when we’re just trying to come together and fix all the pieces and make everything stronger,” the Mustangs’ ace said. “These kinds of loses are the hardest ones.”
Gilroy (2-5) will look to rebound at the Circle of Champions Tournament Saturday at the Salinas Sports Complex.
The Bulldogs will next play at 4 p.m. March 19 at Oak Grove.
