Anchorpoint Christian baseball team picks up seventh consecutive
win, a far cry from 0-9 start
Gilroy – A month ago, the senior captains of the Anchorpoint Christian baseball team held a closed-door team meeting – no coaches allowed – to try to snap the Warriors out of a bad 0-9 start.
Fast forward one month, and the meeting appears to have had an effect. Behind a combined no hitter from pitchers Julian Toscano and Victor Rodriguez, Anchorpoint won its seventh-straight game by beating Coastal Athletic League foe North Valley at home Thursday, 6-2. Toscano picked up the win, striking out six in five innings. Rodriguez struck out three in the final inning and a half.
“The biggest thing is the team has started to play as a team. Early in the season, there was too much relying on individual play,” said Anchorpoint head coach Ken Bradley. “One of out mottos is that we bend, but we don’t break. We’re not going to crumble and throw the game away.”
Added senior captain Mario Mariscal, “We’ve all come together more.” The shortstop, who had a 3-for-4 day at the plate with a triple and two singles, drove in five of the Warriors’ six runs.
A big reason Anchorpoint has been able to turn its season around is its pitching.
“I have confidence in my curveball and I’ve been following through with my pitches,” Toscano said. “It feels great. I can’t even describe it. I know how much potential we had. I’m hoping for 10 (in a row). We’re shooting for CCS and to take it all.”
With the win, the Warriors (9-9) stay tied for first place in the CAL with St. Thomas More. Anchorpoint has three more games to try to earn a spot in the Central Coast Section playoffs.
After North Valley took a 2-0 lead on errors after the top of the first inning, the top of Anchorpoint’s batting order got busy and gave the Warriors a 4-2 lead after two innings.
In the first inning, catcher and lead off hitter Nick Sandoval (1-for-1, 3 walks) got on base with a walk and then stole second base – his first steal of six for the game. Mariscal followed with a triple to drive home Sandoval. Anchorpoint evened the score at two when Michael Seelie (3-for-3) doubled home Mariscal. Anchorpoint took a two-run lead in the second inning when Mariscal knocked a base hit and drove home Adrian Rodriguez (reach on error) and Sandoval (hit by pitch).
The Warriors scored two more runs over the next four and a half innings, one of which was scored on a rarely-seen suicide squeeze play that involved Sandoval on third and Mariscal at the plate. With Sandoval taking off for home at full speed, Mariscal put a pitch at his eyes down for a sacrifice bunt and Sandoval scored.
“I had to lay it down so (Sandoval) wouldn’t stay ahead (in steals) too far,” laughed Mariscal. Sandoval, who has stolen 13 bases in the past two games combined, leads the league in stolen bases with over 30. Mariscal isn’t far behind.
Anchorpoint wraps up the regular season next week with games on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
