The Christopher High baseball team was inches away from victory Wednesday. Instead, Monte Vista Christian held on for a 3-2 win and, with it, created a logjam at the top of the Monterey Bay League standings.
The Cougars (13-6, 8-2 MBL), Mustangs (17-4, 10-2 MBL) and defending champ Monterey (13-8, 10-2 MBL) all have two losses – each having beaten the other one time. The cluster sets the table for an exciting final two weeks of the season.
Trailing 3-1 with two outs and runners on first and third in the bottom of the seventh, Nick Cordova drilled a line drive to left that bounced off of the yellow protective piping that runs along the top of the outfield fence. Had the ball gone over – game over. But the bounce went MVC’s way and landed in the field of play. One run scored from third. However, the trailing runner misread the ball and didn’t get a quality two-out jump. The Mustangs executed a perfect relay to home plate, cutting off the potential tying run to secure the one-run decision.
It didn’t go our way today,” CHS manager Ryan Dequin said.
MVC’s Sam Thorne and Christopher’s Mario Talamante kept the opposing bats at bay throughout their complete game performances. Thorne surrendered four hits and needed 84 pitches to get through his seven innings. Talamante allowed three hits, and all three of the Mustangs’ runs were unearned. He used just 82 pitches.
The Cougars felt they had a couple calls go against them on the base paths, but Dequin said those ultimately had no barring on the outcome.
“One call isn’t going to win or lose a game, in general, but there was a call that took a guy out of scoring position for us,” Dequin said. “We battled back, and when it came down to it, a base running mistake by us cost us.”
CHS split its crucial four-game stretch against Monterey and MVC that began last week. The two losses were by a combined three runs. In essence, the Cougars are right back where they started – in first place, but with some company now.
“Definitely could have been in a better situation, but we aren’t in a bad spot,” Dequin said. “If we win out we win league.”
CHS plays Monterey then MVC – both on the road – to conclude the regular season May 9 and May 11. Monterey and MVC have one more date against one another.
SOFTBALL
Gilroy High challenged the Central Coast Section’s top-ranked club, Archbishop Mitty, on Wednesday in Gilroy. GHS manager Julie Berggren was pleased with the team’s effort despite a 4-0 loss to the Monarchs.
Mitty pushed across three runs in the top of the first inning, but went relatively silent the rest of the way. However, the Mustangs only mustered two hits (Lauren Castro and Celeste Mendoza) in being shut out.
The Mustangs play their fourth straight game of the week today back in league action at Notre Dame.
