Gilroy
– The Gilroy softball team’s schedule has the Mustangs playing
some very evenly matched opponents, which explains why they’ve been
in quite a few tight contests this spring.
Gilroy – The Gilroy softball team’s schedule has the Mustangs playing some very evenly matched opponents, which explains why they’ve been in quite a few tight contests this spring.
“There are a lot of strong teams in the area,” said Gilroy coach Julie Berggren Monday. “You try to put yourself in the position of playing stronger teams, with the power rankings we get. (Playoff seedings) all come in at the end of the season based on who you’ve played against and whether you won or lost. The TCAL is an “A” league, so everybody’s happy to schedule us.”
The ‘Stangs had a couple more tight games Saturday at the Steinbeck Classic in Salinas. Gilroy won its first game against Santa Catalina 3-1, but dropped an extra-inning game to Aptos later in the day.
In the win over Santa Catalina, Gilroy scored two of its runs in the second inning. With one out and sophomores Erin Magill and Russhelle Preeshl both on base after hitting singles, freshman Brittany Balanesi got on base with a bunt, which scored one run for the Mustangs.
With two outs, freshman Kylie Herrada hit a single up the middle which drove in another run and gave the Mustangs a 2-0 lead.
With two outs in the top of the third, senior shortstop Kayla Aldridge hit the only extra-base hit of the game, a double, and eventually crossed the plate for Gilroy’s third run when Santa Catalina committed a fielding error.
The Cougars scored their only run in the top of the fourth inning.
Sarah Villar (6-6) pitched both games for the Mustangs, striking out 12 and allowing one hit in the win against the Cougars.
In the showdown with Aptos, the score was tied 2-2 going into the eighth inning. Berggren said at that point, the international tie breaker rule – starting the inning with a runner on second base – was put into effect to speed up tournament play. Usually, the international tie breaker doesn’t go into effect until the 10th inning.
“We just had a little mental lapse and they scored runs in the top of the eighth,” Berggren said. “It was just one of those moments that you really wanted to take back. But it happened and we learned from it. We face Aptos again in two weeks, which we’re totally looking forward to.”
The ‘Stangs should have played Soquel Friday, but that game was rained out and will be made up this Friday for their third pool game of the tournament.
But before that, the Mustangs (9-6/1-1) will travel to Morgan Hill to take on a very strong Live Oak team, which is 2-1 in TCAL and 12-4 overall.
“Live Oak has an excellent record this year,” Berggren said. “They’ve really come out strong. They have a strong pitcher, Juliette Bowers. They’ve got a couple girls that can hit the ball hard, which always makes for an interesting challenge for us.”
The game at Live Oak begins at 6pm.
