Olvera tosses one-hitter in Lady Mustangs’ 1-0 win over LO to
stay CCS eligible
MORGAN HILL – The Gilroy High softball team knew exactly what was at stake even before the Lady Mustangs traveled to Community Park in Morgan Hill to take on host Live Oak.
With a CCS Playoff berth weighing in the balance, senior ace Jennifer Olvera brought her ‘A’ game – and she needed it in a tight 1-0 road win over the Lady Acorns.
“This is a big win. We made it close. Our bats are still sleeping,” said Olvera, who daunted the Live Oak hitters through seven innings of one-hit ball. “I thought about it all last night. I knew if I screwed this up, there would be no CCS. I knew it was a big game.”
It was the biggest game of the season.
So big that junior catcher Bria DeLorenzo – who took a hard shot to the head during Tuesday’s 2-0 loss to North Salinas – braved it out behind home plate like she has been all year.
“I was banged up a little bit,” said DeLorenzo, who squeezed the final out of the game. “We just didn’t have the intensity we had on Tuesday. We definitely didn’t want the game to be this close. But we’ll take the win and hopefully get a CCS bid.”
At 14-14 overall, the Lady Mustangs are still not guaranteed a playoff spot – but the hope that playing in the toughest league in the section as well as in some tough tournaments will earn them a berth.
“It’s all over now, but praying and crossing our fingers,” said second-year skipper Julie Berggren, who will find out Gilroy’s fate at Saturday’s seeding meeting. “We’ve played an excellent schedule. We played tons of ‘A’ league teams. We only played two ‘B’ teams and one ‘C’ league team. We played a couple of league champs.”
Gilroy got on the scoreboard for its only run in the second inning as sophomore shortstop Kayla Aldridge’s bunt was thrown away to put her on first base. The first-year Lady Mustang then stole second base to move into scoring position and moved to third on a wild pitch. Junior rightfielder Jessica Sandoval followed with a hard shot to short – reaching base on an error and driving in Aldridge.
The Lady Mustangs threatened for one more as Sandoval moved to second on a past ball and to third on a Kristen Campos’ sacrifice bunt. But with two outs, designated hitter Christina Hernandez grounded out.
That was all Gilroy needed with Olvera in total command – whiffing eight and walking none. The only base hit was erased when the runner was gunned down trying to extend to a double on a bullet throw from Sandoval.
Hernandez nearly drove in an insurance run in the fifth inning following a Sandoval single as she blasted a hard liner to left field that was snagged on a nice defensive grab.
Senior third baseman Cherise Martinez crushed a two-out shot into the left-center field gap in the sixth frame – hustling out a triple by sliding head first into the bag. She was left stranded when senior first baseman Jenna Daugherty grounded out to third.
“They did what they needed to do. That’s what counts,” said Berggren, whose squad managed only three hits off Live Oak pitcher Katelyn Rauschnot. “So we only scored one run. We did what we needed to. We played excellent defense and Jenn through a one-hitter.”
But Berggren admitted that she was feeling the pressure before Thursday game. “I was actually nervous before this game. It was the only time all season because I knew our post-season was on the line.”
