Actress Helen Hayes once said, “The expert in anything was once a beginner.”
That saying epitomizes Gilroy High’s Taylor Slattery and Brendan Holler, who have been devoted to their respective sports from a young age.
Their hard work and dedication have led to them excelling on the field and on the diamond as well as leading their teams into the postseason. Slattery and Holler’s performances this season have earned them the honor of being the Gilroy Dispatch Female and Male Athletes of the Year at Gilroy High School.
“It (being named Athlete of the Year) felt pretty good because it made me realize that all of my hard work had paid off,” Holler said. “Playing three sports for four years. there’s been pretty much no break.”
Holler – a baseball, football and basketball player – had stellar seasons for the Mustangs, helping both his baseball and basketball teams to playoff berths. During the basketball season. he scored 173 points in 23 games, knocking down 18 3-pointers for Gilroy. Holler played wide receiver/free safety during the football season, where he had 26 receptions for 530 yards and eight TDs in addition to 28 carries that were good for 184 yards and two touchdowns.
But it was during the baseball season that Holler really shined. The Mustangs had a perfect 18-0 regular season record, due in part to his 38 hits and five triples. He also had 10 multi-hit games for Gilroy.
“Baseball is my favorite. It’s just been my favorite my whole life,” the senior pitcher/outfielder said. “I just like the challenge, pretty much. Even if you fail, if you succeed three times out of 10 in hitting you’re pretty much one of the best players.”
Unfortunately for Holler and the Mustangs, their perfect season was spoiled by Branham in the quarterfinals; a game they lost 13-1.
“It (the season) was way better because last year we didn’t do very good,” Holler said. “It was a big improvement. I’m sad we couldn’t go farther but we just had an off-day.”
For Slattery, soccer was the focus of her life and she has spent her entire high school career — and then some — playing it.
“I actually quit (soccer) when I was 5,” the senior forward said. “I was so shy that I didn’t like when people would cheer for me. I quit and then I started playing again when I was 7 because my older sister played. I just a grew a passion for it and ended up playing for it.”
The passion for the sport is apparent by the numbers she put up for the Mustangs this year. Slattery scored 22 goals, breaking the previous school record of 20 goals that she set in her sophomore year.
She also holds the record for the most overall goals at Gilroy with 64.
Slattery had seven assists this season and is also the school recorder holder in that category in overall assists with 41. She helped her team to an 11-3-6 record which earned the Mustangs a trip to the postseason.
“I definitely wanted to make it past the first round,” Slattery said. “Being such a young team and making it to the playoffs, I didn’t think we were going to have the chance (to get there) — but we had such skill.”
“It was very emotional at the end of the year because I didn’t think we were going to (get passed the first round). We made it to penalty kicks and we were so close to making it past the first round. Sadly, we didn’t. We were so close to making it.”
Though Slattery wasn’t able to achieve her goal of escaping the first round, her stellar season didn’t go unnoticed. She was named the Monterey Bay League Champion, an award she has won four times. She was also named the League MVP for the third time.
Slattery’s teammates also recognized her dedication for the sport, naming her team captain in both her junior and senior year. But being recognized as Female Athlete of the Year was something was something that took her completely off guard.
“I’m at a loss of words,” Slattery said. “I don’t even know how to explain it (having a stellar senior season). Senior year I wanted to go out with a bang, I guess you could say.”
Slattery and Holler will both continue their playing careers next year in college.
Holler secured his spot on the baseball team at the College of San Mateo. Slattery will venture outside of California to continue her soccer career. She received a partial scholarship to the University of Utah where she will show off her skills in the Pac-12.
Erin Redmond is the sports editor of the Gilroy Dispatch. Contact her at (408) 842-1694 on Twitter @DispatchERed.
