Team takes victory in the final inning against Hartnell
Trailing by a six runs and clinging to their final out,
Hollister scored six times in the top of the seventh inning Sunday
against Hartnell, then plated two more in the ninth to steal a
13-11 victory and claim the District 9 title at Muni Stadium in
Salinas.
Team takes victory in the final inning against Hartnell
Trailing by a six runs and clinging to their final out, Hollister scored six times in the top of the seventh inning Sunday against Hartnell, then plated two more in the ninth to steal a 13-11 victory and claim the District 9 title at Muni Stadium in Salinas.
Craig Slibsager’s two-run single to right field in the seventh tied the game at 11-all, while his single to left field two innings later moved the speedy Ryan Jacobs to third base. Jacobs scored after a fielder’s choice groundout from Richie Beltran, and Tyler Pina’s RBI double later in the inning scored Slibsager, providing Hollister with a comfortable cushion heading to the home half of the ninth.
“I thought it might have been caught,” said Slibsager of his game-tying single in the seventh, which was trapped by Hartnell’s right fielder. “Then I noticed he didn’t catch it and I saw him throw it home. I saw Dylan (Ito) was safe and it was excitement.”
Slibsager was on the mound in the ninth and got a favored Hartnell team to go in order, including striking out the last two batters.
“We felt we had the momentum,” said Slibsager, who went 4-for-5 with two RBIs. “We were just excited. We just wanted to score some more runs and close it out.”
Slibsager came on in relief in the sixth and pitched four scoreless innings after Hartnell scored in each previous inning to build an 11-5 lead.
“We asked the kids to fight,” manager David Slibsager said. “As coaches, we really expected to get three or four runs (in the seventh inning) and build momentum for tomorrow, but it just snowballed. Momentum is huge in sports.”
Hollister, which went 4-0 and outscored their opponents by a 54-26 margin in district, advances to the sectional tournament. They’ll face the champion of District 39 on Saturday in Milpitas. District 39 includes areas of Santa Cruz and Gilroy.
Hartnell, considered the favorite after their lone regular season team compiled a perfect 18-0 record, lost to Atlantic in the quarterfinals, 11-10. They battled their way back through the Elimination Bracket, however, where they rifled off three straight wins to reach the championship on Sunday.
“[Hartnell] hit the ball well today and we didn’t pitch our best today,” David Slibsager said, “but the kids didn’t quit.”
Hollister grabbed an early lead in the top half of the first when Beltran hit a high double over the left fielder’s head and scored pinch-runner Sean Corral (running for Slibsager) from first base.
It would be the last time Hollister led until the ninth inning, however, as Hartnell came right back with three of their own in the bottom frame. Hollister followed with two runs in the second to tie the game at 3-all, including an RBI single from Jacobs that scored Michael Breen, but Hartnell went on to score six runs over the next three innings.
Hollister began to chip away in the fifth, when Pina’s RBI single plated Brian Becerra, and again in the sixth, when Jacobs was nearly picked off at third base but wound up scoring Hollister’s fifth run of the game.
“We never give up,” Ryan Jacobs said. “We never give up.”
