Despite trailing by seven runs against Skyline, Gavilan never gave up.
Unfortunately for the Rams, they fell just short and lost 7-6 to Skyline Thursday at home.
“We had a little late charge, but came up one run short against Skyline,” Gavilan coach Neal Andrade said. “It was a tough loss, but being down 7-0 we didn’t fold up shop and quit.”
The Trojans scored two runs in the top of the second and five more in the top of the seventh to take a 7-0 lead late, but Gavilan was just getting started.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Erik Barron was hit by a pitch and that allowed Rex Lagman to come home and get the Rams on the board. Kevin Burley followed up with a two-RBI single, scoring Bryant Cid and Tony Amaral. Tyler Slayday cut Skyline’s lead to three, 7-4, singling to score Barron.
Amaral and Matt Peterson scored the final two runs for Gavilan, both coming home on passed balls in the bottom of the ninth. Cid stood 90 feet from home, but Skyline racked up three consecutive strikeouts to end the inning.
Gavilan (16-10 overall, 8-7 in conference) will play Ohlone at noon Saturday in Fremont. The hosts sit a top the conference and the two teams haven’t met since conference play began.
“Obviously we have a big one tomorrow,” Andrade said. “These next nine games are going to determine A. who wins the conference championship and B. the two or three postseason berths our conference is going to get is going to be on the line, too.”
