Costanza’s two-run shot key to 4-3 victory over Monterey
Peninsula
MONTEREY – Coach Neal Andrade has not given up yet, and neither have his players.
In past years, the Gavilan College baseball team could not wait for the season to come to an end. But this season is different with the first-year skipper instilling a never-say-die attitude, no matter the circumstances.
“We’re not just holding up shop, not just going through the motions,” Andrade said. “I take pride in that as a coach. They’re in turn giving me back hard work and dedication as team.”
Trailing by three runs in Saturday’s conference clash against Monterey Peninsula College, the Rams showed their resiliency – rallying for four runs in the final two frames to steal a 4-3 road victory.
“It was pretty uneventful for us until the eighth inning,” said Andrade, whose squad was getting shutout out by MPC ace Mark DiBernardo through the first seven innings. “We’re battling.”
Sophomore first baseman Rocco Costanza jump-started the rally with a two-run homer in the eighth inning. With sophomore Steve Gonzales on base after his one-out single, Costanza belted a shot into the left-center field porch to cut the gap to 3-2.
“It was a pretty good poke,” said Andrade of Costanza’s 360-foot dinger. “He’s having a really good year for us. He’s one of the leaders in the state as far as doubles, and he’s hit four or five homers this year.”
The Gilroy High product leads the Rams in doubles, and is among the team leaders in homers and runs-batted-in.
“He’s having a pretty solid sophomore year,” said Andrade of Costanza, who finished 2-for-4 with an earlier single in the sixth inning.
After freshman reliever Scott Moquin struck out two in a flawless bottom of the eighth, the Rams finished what they started with a game-breaking two-run rally. With one out, sophomore Brian Meek battled DiBernardo, fouling off a couple of pitches before singling to right field.
Freshman outfielder Brian Collom followed with a base hit to put runners on first and second. Then, sophomore Josh Becknall, who was hitless in four previous at-bats, connected for a RBI double to score Meek from second and knock out DiBernardo.
“He pretty much kept us at bay for the first seven,” said Andrade of DiBernardo.
Tied at 3-3, Gavilan kept the ninth-inning rally going, as Gonzales singled to drive in Collom and give his team a one-run edge.
“It’s been a tough-break team for us this year. We’ve had so many opportunities late in games. We just haven’t found holes late in the game,” Andrade said. “But now we’re making the plays. Situational hitting has been big in last couple of innings.”
Moquin still needed to retire MPC in the bottom of the ninth to secure the victory, and it did not come easy. After striking out the lead-off hitter, Moquin allowed a single and then issued walk to put runners on first and second. The next MPC batter sprayed a single to left field and the tying run was waved home. But sophomore left-fielder Adam Beardan hit his cut-off man, Gonzales, who gunned the runner down at home plate.
Gavilan was only one out away, and a past ball advanced the runners to second and third. But Moquin, out of Live Oak High, re-focused himself on the hill and got the next batter to ground out to first.
Moquin got the win, striking out three through the final two innings, but sophomore starting pitcher Kurt Simmons did the job early. Simmons, also out of Gilroy High, allowed three runs – two earned – on five hits over the first seven innings. Monterey scored single runs in the first, third and fifth innings.
“He deserved to get the win,” said Andrade of Simmons. “He pitched well enough to get the win. Nevertheless, he kept us in the game.”
The Rams threatened in the second inning when they loaded the bases with two outs on back-to-back singles from freshmen Mike Green and Andrew Kistler plus a walk issued to freshman Trevor Molyneaux. But Meek grounded out back to the pitcher to end the early threat.
The late-season victory upped Gavilan’s conference record to 4-12 on the season with two games coming up this week, Tuesday at home against league-leading Chabot and Thursday on the road against Hartnell. Both games start at 2 p.m.
“We still have something to play for. The playoffs are out of reach, but we want to put a kink in the status of other teams,” Andrade said.
Monterey, which is battling for second place and a playoff spot, dropped to 7-9 in conference. Andrade hopes to continue the trend this week.
“We’re going to try to play the role of spoilers,” he said. “We want to end the season on a good note. We have some standout freshman doing well. They know that we’re building something here and they know it’s not going to be a quick-fix to re-build a program that has been neglected the last few years.”
Freshman outfielder Brian Collom has been a bright spot for the resurgent Rams. In his first college season, the Gilroy High product is batting over .300 and playing solid defense. Andrade said he is under consideration to make the All-Conference team.
“There were some recruits watching the game at MPC, and it was good for them to see that we play good baseball at Gavilan,” Andrade said.
