Gilroy is finding runs hard to come by in Tri-County Athletic
League games.
The Mustangs have scored just six runs in five league starts,
and four of those came against North Salinas.
Gilroy is finding runs hard to come by in Tri-County Athletic League games.
The Mustangs have scored just six runs in five league starts, and four of those came against North Salinas.
The offensive woes continued Thursday as Salinas junior Samantha Rodriguez out-dueled Patty Olvera and the Cowboys used clutch two-out hitting to take a 2-1 win.
Rodriguez pitched a three-hitter with five strikeouts. Two of the hits came in the sixth when Gilroy (17-6 overall, 2-3 TCAL) scored its run. Amanda Tellez singled, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on a base hit by Alicia Reese. Lauryn Chris had the only other Mustang hit. Chris also walked and stole a base. The Mustangs left the bases loaded in the fifth on two walks and Chris’ base hit.
Salinas (13-6, 4-1) got three of its six hits off Olvera in the fifth when the Cowboys scored both of their runs. Jordynne English hit a leadoff double and moved to third on Emily Montanez’s sacrifice bunt. After the second out, Kat Norman singled in one run and Chelsea Williams doubled in the other.
Olvera (10-4) was the hard-luck loser, allowing six hits, striking out four and walking none in an efficient 66-pitch effort.
“She did a fantastic job pitching,” GHS coach Catherine Hallada said. “She didn’t walk anybody, got a lot of ground balls and several of their hits were bloopers. Their pitcher did well, too. She was in and out. We have been on break and haven’t seen a live pitcher in a week, and she was fast.”
Gilroy now finds itself in fourth place in TCAL with a 4:30pm home game Tuesday against Alisal.
If there’s one positive Hallada sees, it’s that the three losses came against the TCAL’s better teams on the road. The Mustangs get Notre Dame, San Benito and Salinas at home in the second half.
“I keep telling the girls, we should be able to turn this around with all the home games,” Hallada said. “We played a good game today. We should have hit a lot more but it was still a well played game.”
Gilroy 000 001 0 – 1 3 0
Salinas 000 020 x – 2 6 0
Rodriguez and Phillips; Olvera and Balanesi. 2B-SAL, English, Williams.
