Gilroy
– Not even the combined power of wearing matching earrings to
school and white headbands and pink ponytail ribbons during the
game could bring the Mustangs a win in their last home game of the
season on Wednesday.
Gilroy – Not even the combined power of wearing matching earrings to school and white headbands and pink ponytail ribbons during the game could bring the Mustangs a win in their last home game of the season on Wednesday.
Despite making a solid run at Salinas’ lead in the sixth inning, the ‘Stangs left five runners stranded on base and dropped a 3–2 decision to the Cowboys.
A win for Gilroy (13–13 overall, 2–8 TCAL) would have made lone senior Kayla Aldridge and head coach Julie Berggren’s last game on the Mustangs’ home field a sweeter one. But the good news is there’s still a fair chance the Mustangs’ season will continue on into the CCS playoffs.
The white headband is Aldridge’s trademark on the field. However, she said, the matching headgear was more a team bonding thing, and not so much a senior day tribute to her from her teammates.
“I don’t know,” Aldridge laughed. “We decided we all had one so we just wanted to wear it. … We just wanted to have fun on our last day.”
The Mustangs did have some fun – up until the fourth inning when Salinas (12–13–1 overall, 3–7 TCAL) got four hits in a row off Gilroy pitcher Sarah Villar.
Salinas’ Brit Armbruster hit a hard single between third and short to drive in pinch runner Julie Roland for the first run of the game. Tiffany Ward’s double up the middle drove in Sammy Rodriguez to give Salinas a 2-0 lead. The Cowboys got their third run of the game when Amy Yonenitsu flied out to Gilroy right fielder Kylie Herrada. On the play, Armbruster tagged up at third and made it home as Herrada’s dead–on throw to the plate popped out of catcher Brittany Balanesi’s glove.
Villar (seven strikeouts) got out of the inning by fanning Salinas starting pitcher Ashley Ross (four innings, one strikeout) for the third out.
The Mustangs surged in the sixth inning. Sophomore left fielder Dana Schoeneman, who went 2–for–3 (single, double) on the day, led off the inning with a line drive single to center field. Schoeneman was forced out at second on Erin Magill’s fielder’s choice to short. After sophomore Patty Olvera lined out to second, third baseman Amanda Tellez walked, advancing Magill to second. Both Magill and Tellez advanced on a wild pitch to Villar. Then Salinas pitcher Armbruster, who came in for Ross in the bottom of the fifth inning, hurled another wild pitch. Magill scored, and so did Tellez when no Salinas players covered home plate. The runs cut Salinas’ lead to 3–2.
Villar struck out two of three Cowboy batters in the top of the seventh to keep the Mustangs within striking distance, but in the do–or–die bottom of the inning, the Gilroy couldn’t get any hits past the Salinas defense.
“We didn’t let down and they scored the old-fashioned way,” Berggren said. “They hit the ball hard and put it in places we weren’t. It’s not great but I’d rather them score that way than us making errors and messing up a lot.”
Both Aldridge and Berggren are hoping Wednesday’s game wasn’t their last at Gilroy. But that won’t be determined until Saturday’s CCS playoff seeding meeting.
“(Making the playoffs) is going to depend on how a couple other teams (we’ve played) finish and whether we can get some points off of them finishing league champs or co-league champs,” Berggren said. “It’s gonna come down to the numbers.”
But even if the Mustangs don’t make the playoffs, Aldridge has plenty more softball to look forward to. The three–year varsity player has signed to play college ball at St. Mary’s in Moraga.
“It’s a nice, small school. I like it,” Aldridge said. “It’s Division I, it’s really pretty there and I’m looking into an art major and they have a lot of that stuff.”
Berggren sees nothing but a bright future for her top defensive player.
“She’s just an awesome girl,” Berggren said. “She has an incredible attitude as far as always trying her hardest and pushing herself to do better everyday in practice … I’m excited for her to be staying in an area where her family can watch her play.”
JV ends season with wins
The JV softball team closed out its last week of play with two home shutouts, a 4–0 win over Live Oak on Monday and a 4–0 win over Salinas on Wednesday.
Pitcher Melinda Ortiz earned both wins on the mound while the Mustang offense was paced by Angelica Galindo (two doubles), Caitlin Perotti (double, triple) and Cassandra Barrera (four singles).
Crystal Torres played a big role on the defensive end. In both games, the center fielder made key catches to kill rallies, said coach Joey Gonzalez.
“They’re a great bunch of kids,” Gonzalez said. “They made a good run at it. And best of all, for all three losses, they avenged every one.”
The JV ‘Stangs finished second in TCAL behind Notre Dame with a 7–3–1 record. Overall, Gilroy closed the books at 18–3–1.
