Gilroy
– It would have been easy to look ahead.But Kevin Grove was
having none of it.
Gilroy – It would have been easy to look ahead.
But Kevin Grove was having none of it. The junior righthander pitched Gilroy’s first complete game since opening day Wednesday and knocked in a run as the Mustangs defeated North Salinas 6-1 in a Tri-County Athletic League contest.
With TCAL unbeaten Salinas looming Friday, the contest had all the makings of a “trap” game. On a day when Gilroy found hits hard to come by, the Mustangs pitched well and played solid defense.
“Very efficient,” GHS coach Clint Wheeler said. “It starts on the hill. When Kevin throws strikes, he does well.”
Grove allowed just one hit through six innings and settled for a three-hitter with six strikeouts and two walks.
Ryan Ralston matched him through two innings before the Mustangs (8-8, 3-1) took advantage of the Viking righthander’s wildness to score four third-inning runs.
Roberto Celestino started things by walking. He went to second on a wild pickoff attempt, took third as Orlando Felix was grounding out and scored on a wild pitch after Tyler Chris had walked. Michael Stevens was hit by a pitch for the second time and stole second. Matt Hemeon grounded out as Chris scored. Grove’s RBI single chased in the third run. Grove moved up on a wild pitch and scored when Charlie Duffy doubled off the left-field fence.
North Salinas (3-9, 1-5) got its run in the fourth when Tramaine Lamb doubled off the left-centerfield fence, advanced on a ground out and scored on a wild pitch. Hemeon made a diving stop on a hard grounder to end the inning. And Celestino started a third-to-second-to first double play in the fifth.
“We had good defense today,” Grove said. “Matt and Roberto made great plays. The guys came through with hits at the right times so it worked out. We talked before the game that (North Salinas) comes first, that we can’t think about Friday.”
Gilroy added a couple of insurance runs in the fifth. Hemeon singled, Grove walked and they executed a double steal. Duffy’s ground out chased home Hemeon, and Grove scored on a wild pitch.
“It comes down to execution,” Wheeler said. “I wish we could have done better with our hit and runs where we were 0-for-3 and had good pitches. But when you make teams beat you (instead of giving up gift runs) you’re going to be successful in most games regardless of who you play.”
And now the Mustangs can think about Salinas, which comes to Gilroy for a 4pm game Friday with players with ex-major league names such as (Michael) Aldrete and (Phillip) Incaviglia.
North Salinas 000 100 0 – 1 3 2
Gilroy 004 020 x – 6 6 1
Ralston, Papurello (4) and Alarcon. Grove and Fortino. L-Ralston. 2B, NS, Lamb; GHS, Duffy.
