Gilroy’s Little League Minors All Star Team claims the Section 5
Championship for the second year in a row
SUNNYVALE – Gilroy’s Girls Minors (9-10) Little League All Stars claimed the Section 5 title for the second year in a row this past week in Sunnyvale, and are now on their way to Eureka to defend their 2003 Northern California State Championship.
The local stars claimed the title with strong pitching, superb infield defense, as well as a potent offense that produced on average nearly three runs an inning during the tournament’s five games.
Wednesday’s championship game against Foster City was a tense matchup in which Gilroy collected single runs in each inning and ultimately won by a single run, 6-5.
Celeste Mendoza put in another strong pitching performance for Gilroy, and Kaylana Mah’s clutch pitching in relief ultimately delivered the Section 5 Championship to Gilroy for the second year in a row.
Gilroy held a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning, but Foster City plated three runs in the bottom of the fourth to cut the gap to one on a walk and three hits.
Each team scored a run in the fifth to make the score 5-4 in favor of Gilroy. The locals then pushed another run across in the top of the sixth after two outs when Kaylana Mah singled, Dani Hemeon reached on an error, and Sara Spindell hit into a fielder’s choice that allowed Mah to score. The all-important run gave Gilroy a two-run lead going into the bottom of the sixth.
In its last at-bats, Foster City’s first two batters singled and doubled to plate a run, which cut the deficit to one once again with no outs and a runner on second.
Gilroy then brought in Mah, who had to face down the first three batters of Foster City’s powerful lineup to seal the victory. The first batter she faced lined out to second base, the second batter struck out swinging, and then Dani Hemeon recorded the final out on a running catch of a fly ball in foul territory.
Gilroy’s pitching staff was led by Celeste Mendoza, who collected two wins in elimination games, pitching 11 innings, striking out 20 while walking nine and giving up six earned runs for a 3.27 earned-run-average.
Gilroy’s offense was led by pitcher/catcher Sarah Spindell, who punished opposing pitching by batting .687 overall in the tournament’s five games while pounding out 11 hits. Shortstop/leadoff hitter Michelle Sosa batted .487 and also collected 11 hits, and second baseman Dani Hemeon batted .421 and collected eight hits.
Next up for Gilroy is the Northern California State Championship tournament in Eureka starting this Saturday.
Gilroy opened up District 5 play on Saturday against Union City. The Garlic Girls dominated the opposition, winning 24-0 in four innings. Sosa, Hemeon, and Spindell each had three hits to lead the offense, and four different pitchers threw an inning each to shut out the opposition.
In Sunday’s second game, Gilroy faced an explosive Foster City team and lost a marathon 2 1/2-hour battle by a score 20-19. Gilroy led 15-8 after four innings, but Foster City put 11 runs on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 19-15 lead.
Gilroy answered back in the top of the sixth when Mendoza and Vanessa Tellez walked, Sosa singled, Hemeon reached on an error, and Spindell singled to produce the tying runs. However, in the bottom of the sixth , Foster City loaded the bases and hit a game winning single to left field with two outs to win.
Gilroy then faced Sunnyvale National on Monday night in an elimination game, and got back on track by winning 17-4. Mendoza’s stellar pitching performance led the way as she pitched a complete game, striking out 10 batters and allowing only two hits in five innings of work. Sosa collected three hits, and Spindell and Mendoza each had two hits to lead the offense.
On Tuesday, Gilroy once again met the Foster City All Stars in what was a championship game for the opposition, and came out on top 12-4 to force a winner-take-all championship game on Wednesday. Gilroy rode a strong pitching performance by Spindell to victory. Spindell only allowed three hits and struck out seven batters in a complete-game performance against the explosive Foster City lineup. Stephanie Gomez went 2-for-2 with two walks to lead the offense.
