Shortly after Wednesday’s 9-2 elimination loss in the first
round of the CCS playoffs to Valley Christian-San Jose, Mustang
head coach Clint Wheeler was already looking to next season.
SAN JOSE – Shortly after Wednesday’s 9-2 elimination loss in the first round of the CCS playoffs to Valley Christian-San Jose, Mustang head coach Clint Wheeler was already looking to next season.
And why not with all but three seniors expected to return next year for the garlic diamondmen.
“We’ve got to start getting ready for next year tomorrow if we’re going to compete at this level and not just show up,” said Wheeler, whose squad went 16-10-1 overall and finished third in the Tri-County Athletic League with a 9-6 record.
Three sophomores and 10 juniors were on the 16-man varsity roster – as well as four more junior varsity players called up at the end of the regular season – and now they have a taste of what the CCS playoffs are all about.
“They come out here and get four at-bats,” said Wheeler, knowing the importance of any kind of playoff experience. “This is a tough place to play, too. It will go a long ways next year.”
The Mustangs had not reached the playoffs since 2002 when they lost in the first round to Saint Francis, 5-1, and have not won a playoff game since 2001 when they beat Aptos and Bellarmine Prep before losing in the semifinals.
A playoff-less campaign in 2003 was somewhat salvaged when Gilroy won its final five league games to give some hope for this year, and the team picked up where it left off.
Following a promising pre-season, Gilroy jumped out to a 7-2 start in T-CAL and found itself in the thick of a league title chase with only two senior starters – first baseman Ben Hemeon and left-fielder Ron Colmon.
Although they struggled down the stretch – losing three of their final four games to fall out of title contention – the youth-filled Mustang line-up proved to their coach that the future was now, securing the No. 12 seed in the 2004 Playoffs.
Up against No. 5 Valley Christian, a private power from the West Catholic Athletic League, the Mustangs held their own – nearly jumping out to an early lead but failing to score with the bases loaded and only one out in the first inning.
“We came out ready to play in the first inning. We just made mistakes, mental mistakes. We were a little nervous,” said sophomore centerfielder Josh Sterling, who went 2-for-4 in his first CCS action. “I think next year – since we’re mostly all returning – we’re going to come out ready to play.”
The Warriors, on the other hand, took advantage of their scoring chances – putting two runs up in the first and extending to a 6-0 lead with a four-run fourth frame.
“The clutch hit is what we needed. That will come with experience and we have a little more now,” sophomore second baseman Drew Anderson said. “We’re very young. Everyone is returning except for the three seniors, so next year we can hopefully compete and get into the second or third round of the playoffs.”
Gilroy, which had several thrilling come-from-behind victories during the league season, finally broke out with a two-run fifth inning. The Mustangs even had Valley Christian head coach John Diatte thinking he was going to have to bring in his ace, Jeremy McChesney, to stop the bleeding. But once again, the rally ended with the bases loaded.
“It was big for us to get those two runs. I felt good to accomplish that this year,” Anderson said.
Junior right-fielder Marty Sustaita was waiting for Gilroy to break out and threaten again, but it never happened.
“At one point, I did (think we had a chance to win), but then I messed up on that one ball and my confidence went down,” said Sustaita, who committed one of Gilroy’s five errors. “I felt we didn’t really come ready to play. We were not as confident. We didn’t have that fire that we had against the Palmas and the Live Oaks.”
However, it was a marked improvement for Gilroy – which lost 20-0 in a scrimmage against Valley Christian before the start of preseason.
“From the first time we scrimmaged them to now we’re definitely a different team,” Anderson said. “I think we can not only hang with them, but beat them. We have a chance every time.”
The Mustangs played 14 practice innings and were blown out by the Warriors, but they were a different ball club on Wednesday.
“We knew the scrimmage didn’t mean anything. We didn’t pay attention to it,” Diatte said. “I just knew (Wheeler) does a good job with his kids, that they are always in the right place and they don’t make mistakes.”
Wheeler knew what he was up against in Valley Christian-SJ.
“They have one of the best programs around,” Gilroy’s skipper said.
The Mustangs will return seven of nine starters, including their entire pitching staff in junior ace Carlos Garcia, who gave a valiant effort in the playoff loss, junior right-hander Peter Mickartz, who pitched the fifth and sixth innings, and junior righty Anthony Lucio.
The hardest player to replace is going to be Hemeon, who broke Gilroy High’s single-season record for home runs (8), RBIs (51) and batting average (.511).
“Those are going to be big shoes to fill,” Sustaita said.
Hemeon, who still has his options opened for playing college ball next season, went 2-for-4 with an RBI in his final game at Gilroy High. Although he wanted to win more than anyone, the team leader was happy with the performance of his younger teammates.
“We came out better than I thought we would with the bases loaded (in the first inning). We had a chance. The breaks just didn’t go our way,” Hemeon said. “We were all hitting the ball pretty well. Right away, people were hitting the ball hard, all over the place.”
“I had a blast this year,” the slugger added. “The team was great. The coach was great.”v
