GHS baseball gets No. 12 seed in CCS Division I Playoffs, faces
No. 5 Valley Christian-SJ in Wednesday’s first round
GILROY – When Mustang head coach Clint Wheeler left the section playoff meeting to determine seeds, his garlic unit was set at No. 12 in the Division I bracket up against No. 5 Leland.
But by the time Wheeler arrived back at his house, his team’s first-round opponent had gotten tougher.
Due to a re-calculation of power points for Palo Alto, which went from No. 2 down to No. 6, the top six spots in the order shifted. Gilroy (16-9-1) stayed put as the No. 12 seed, but the No. 5 seed was changed to Valley Christian-San Jose (23-10).
“We got exactly what we deserved point-wise. It was the games we let get away from us early in the year that cost us,” said Wheeler, who would have rather played another public school than the private powerhouse. “That’s not to take anything away from Leland, but it’s definitely a tougher draw.”
In the CCS Rankings, Leland was ranked No. 13 with a 13-11-2 record, while Valley Christian, of the West Catholic Athletic League, was ranked up at No. 5 with a 23-10 campaign.
Leland was one of the hottest teams in the section down the stretch. The Mustangs played them twice last year and lost by a total of two runs in two games, so they are “much more familiar with them than Valley Christian.”
The last time the Mustangs were in the CCS Playoffs in 2001 they knocked off Bellarmine Prep in the quarterfinals before falling to Saint Francis in the next round.
“West Catholic League, it doesn’t matter. You pick your own poison,” Wheeler said. “You have to play well, if you’re going to win.”
Gilroy does have a history against strong private programs like Bellarmine, which they hold a 5-4 advantage in recent years; and St. Francis, which they have beaten twice and lost to five other times over the last 10 years; and Archbishop Mitty, which they are even at .500, beating them in 2000 by an 11-0 score.
The Mustangs also lost their only game against Serra, another private school, but has never faced Valley Christian in a game that counted. However, they did scrimmage Valley Christian for 14 innings in San Jose before the start of this pre-season.
“I like the fact that we’ve been there already. It’s not something new,” said Wheeler, whose squad gave up 20 runs and scored none in that early season scrimmage. “They’ve won 16 games since then. They’ve come a long way.”
Wheeler said the Mustangs had a rough first inning, allowing Valley Christian to send 10 batters to the plate. Gilroy used seven different pitchers who gave up five home runs. But Wheeler added the lopsided affair – coming after only one week of practice – could play to his team’s advantage if they are taken lightly.
“It’s kind of hard not to think that way when you blow a team out like that,” Wheeler said. “I think we’re going to walk in pretty loose. The pressure is on them. In their eyes, they should blow us out.”
Junior right-hander Carlos Garcia, who emerged as the ace of the staff this season, will get the start for the Mustangs.
“He’s going to have to pitch one of the best games he’s ever had,” said Wheeler of Garcia. “If he throws the way he did in the past – gets his pitches over, mixes it up and keeps them off balance – we’ll have a chance.”
Wheeler expects Valley Christian will save its ace, Jeremy McChesney who has a scholarship to attend UC-Davis, for the next round and throw either its No. 2, John Irby, or No. 3 starter.
“They’re good. They’ve got three good pitchers,” Wheeler said. “Their No. 2 is a carbon copy of McChesney. They both are 6’1″, 6’2″. They both throw in the high 80s. … They also have a lefty.”
McChesney finished with a 10-3 record and a 2.44 ERA in 77.3 innings of work this season, while Irby was 8-3 with a 2.20 ERA in 63.7 innings pitched. Two other Valley Christian arms are Joshua Espinosa, who went 1-1 with a 1.86 ERA, and Kevin Miller, who went 2-0 with a 4.10 ERA.
Valley Christian finished second in the West Athletic Catholic League with an 8-5 record behind only league champion St. Francis, which went 12-1 in league play.
After a strong start and an exciting league title chase that ended with them losing three of their final four league games, the Mustangs finished in third place with a 9-6 record in the Tri-County Athletic League.
“We give up a grand slam in the last inning to lose (against Palma). It hurts, but mentally we should have won. We lose another to Live Oak where we gave up a lot runs (losing 15-14), but we did a lot of good things in that game,” Wheeler said. “The one loss that sticks out is the Hollister game two weeks ago, but I think the guys are ready to go.”
League champion Palma (12-3 in T-CAL, 20-8 overall) is the No. 5 seed in the Division II bracket, while second-place Live Oak (10-5, 14-11) received the No. 9 seed in Division I and fourth-place Hollister (8-7, 16-13) got the No. 13 seed in Division I.
If the Mustangs can upset Valley Christian, then they will play the winner of the No. 13 Hollister-No. 4 Leland game in Saturday’s quarterfinals at PAL Stadium in San Jose at 10 a.m.
“This is the first taste of CCS for some and the last for others. It will be fun for them. They’re going to show up ready to play,” Wheeler said.
“I think it’s going to have to be in the neighborhood of five runs at the most. I don’t see us putting up 10 runs on their pitchers,” he added. “We have to play solid defense and not give them anything.”
Senior first baseman Ben Hemeon, who broke two school single-season records with eight home runs and 50 runs-batted-in this year as well as tying the batting average record at .500, leads the Mustang offense along with junior outfielder Marty Sustaita, who stole 10 bases this season.
“(Hemeon) is definitely going to have to come up in situations where we have chances to score,” Wheeler said. “But they know who we’ve got, so it’s going to take a team effort.”
Valley Christian’s big hitters include: McChesney, who batted .438 with nine doubles; Irby, who batted .373 with four home runs; and Daniel Flores, who scored 24 runs and stole 18 bases this season.
“They have a synthetic turf field so the games are a lot faster on that. It’s a decent sized yard. It’s kind of small, but the fences are higher than ours,” Wheeler said. “I think it helps us out. Our outfielders can cover some ground. … We can do some things if we put the ball in play.”
D-I First-round match-ups
Wednesday, May 20
No. 11 Leigh (16-14) at
No. 6 Palo Alto (18-9)
No. 14 Santa Teresa (16-14) at
No. 3 St. Francis (23-2)
No. 10 Westmont (19-10) at
No. 7 Bellarmine Prep (22-12)
No. 15 Carlmont (18-8) at
No. 2 Serra (21-8)
No. 12 MUSTANGS (16-9-1) at
No. 5 Valley Christian-San Jose (23-10)
No. 13 San Benito (16-13) a
No. 4 Leland (13-11-2)
No. 9 Live Oak at
No. 8 Archbishop Mitty (18-10-1)
No. 16 East Alvarez (15-11) at
No. 1 Wilcox (26-4
Valley Christian-San Jose
(23-10 overall, 8-6 in WCAL)
W.C.A.L. FINAL STANDINGS
TEAM WINS LOSSES
Saint Francis 13 1
Valley Christian 8 6
Bellarmine 8 6
Junipero Serra 7 7
Archbishop Mitty 7 7
Riordon 5 9
Sacred Heart 5 9
Saint Ignatius 3 11
Gilroy High School
(16-9-1 overall, 9-6 in T-CAL)
T-CAL FINAL STANDINGS
TEAM WINS LOSSES
Palma 12 3
Live Oak 10 5
MUSTANGS 9 6
Hollister 8 7
Salinas 6 9
North Salinas 0 15
