Gilroy
– The Gilroy softball team’s 4-2 loss to Hollister Tuesday was
no doubt frustrating.
The Mustangs made plenty of contact at the plate and scattered
five hits. The problem? When it mattered most, the ‘Stangs just
couldn’t put the ball where the ‘Balers weren’t.
Gilroy – The Gilroy softball team’s 4-2 loss to Hollister Tuesday was no doubt frustrating.
The Mustangs made plenty of contact at the plate and scattered five hits. The problem? When it mattered most, the ‘Stangs just couldn’t put the ball where the ‘Balers weren’t.
“They shifted their defense and we hit into their shift,” said Gilroy head coach Julie Berggren after the game. “I’m not disappointed. We hit the ball hard. But, yeah, we’d like to see more runs get across.”
The loss not only drops the ‘Stangs to 1-4 in TCAL, but it also dropped them lower below the .500 mark overall (10–12), which could ultimately cause them not to make the CCS playoffs.
“You have to be .500, so we have to win,” Berggren said. The Mustangs have six games left, five of them in TCAL.
At Gilroy on Tuesday, pitchers Sarah Villar (10–10, 8 strikeouts) and Dani Hernandez (14-5, 5 strikeouts) battled to a 0-0 stalemate through the fourth inning. But in the top of the fifth, Villar gave up her first hit of the game to Hollister’s Nicole Clay, a single to left field. Elena Fata then reached on a fielder’s choice. Villar struck out the next batter, Ari Romero, for the second out. With Nicole Burns at the plate, Fata stole second base. Burns then beat out a slow grounder for a single. Romero turned the corner for home, but was held back while Burns advanced to second.
Then ‘Balers right fielder Julie Broyer drove both of them in by smacking a single between Mustangs’ third baseman Amanda Tellez and shortstop Kayla Aldridge.
“It was good to see Julie get that hit,” said Hollister coach Scott Smith. “We had her going back and forth between lefty and righty, but lately we’ve had her stick to right-handed.”
Hollister shortstop Kristen Archuletta then roped a double down the left field line, scoring Broyer and extending the Haybalers’ lead to 3-0.
Throughout the game, Hollister’s tough defense let few hits through.
“I feel very fortunate to beat them,” Smith said. “Fortunately for us, they hit it right to us and we had position.”
The Mustangs surged in the sixth inning, when they scored two runs to go into the final inning behind just 3-2. Kylie Herrada (double, single) led off the inning with a single to center field. Then sophomore right fielder Dana Schoeneman, who hit a fence–clearing two-run homer in Friday’s win over Aptos, caused Gilroy to score its first run. After blasting an attention–getting shot down the left field line that went just foul, Schoeneman switched to small ball and laid down a perfect bunt, which caught the ‘Balers on their heels. She beat the ball out for a single. Herrada continued home after a wild Hollister throw to third.
“(Schoeneman) is one of our better bunters. That’s why she was in the 2–spot today,” said Berggren. “It totally caught them off–guard.”
Patricia Olvera hit a single that dropped into short center field, scoring pinch runner Marissa Nowakowski to make it 3-2.
With two outs in the top of the seventh inning and runners on the corners, Broyer grounded to Aldridge at short. Aldridge’s throw to the plate allowed catcher Brittany Balanesi to tag out pinch runner Felicia Freitas, but Balanesi’s throw to third to catch Burns at the bag was off and Burns scored an insurance run for Hollister (3–2/16–5).
Hollister 4, Gilroy 2
R H E
HOL 000 030 1 4 6 2
GIL 000 002 0 2 5 2
WP – Dani Hernandez (14–5) – 5 K’s, 5 hits, 2 runs
LP – Sarah Villar (10–10) – 8 K’s, 6 hits, 4 runs
