GILROY
–– Six innings were in the books at Wednesday’s T-CAL softball
match-up between Gilroy and San Benito, and still nothing would
give on either side.
GILROY –– Six innings were in the books at Wednesday’s T-CAL softball match-up between Gilroy and San Benito, and still nothing would give on either side.
The Lady Haybalers had threatened with base runners in the first and second innings, but sophomore hurler Sarah Villar and the Gilroy defense would not budge.
On the other side, the Lady Mustangs were having their own problems trying to figure out Hollister pitcher Danielle Hernandez, who had a no-hit bid entering the final frame of the deadlocked contest – not to mention a sure-handed infield to back her up.
San Benito quickly went to work in the top of the seventh with back-to-back base knocks from junior Rachelle Barrientos and Megan C. Smith to lead it off. First baseman Elizabeth Stewart then reached on an error after laying down a sacrifice bunt to load the bases with no outs.
“Bases loaded and no outs is a coach’s nightmare,” San Benito skipper Scott Smith said. “All you can do is lay your cards on the table and see what happens.”
San Benito’s Cassandra Sonnier stepped up to the plate to face Villar, and sent a hard grounder right back to the hill. Villar fielded it and gunned it home to senior catcher Bria DeLorenzo, who stepped on home plate and fired down to first to complete the double-play.
“I thought we had it. I thought we would get out of it right there,” DeLorenzo said. “It just didn’t go our way this time.”
“That was tough,” Smith added. “They are a well-coached team and we hit it to the one spot you don’t want to hit it with the bases loaded. Their catcher is tough and she stepped on the plate and then threw the runner out down first base.”
But there was still one more out to go.
After pitching around Lady Baler lead-off hitter Jenny Mahue to re-load the bases with two outs, Villar faced junior Julie Broyer, who sent a sharp liner over the outstretched glove of sophomore shortstop Kayla Aldridge for a clutch two-run double. Hillary Williams followed with another two-run base knock to put San Benito ahead, 4-0.
“She’s probably one the biggest clutch hitters on the team. She always seems to come through,” said Smith of Williams. “I’d say 9 out of 10 times she comes through with a base hit. She’s a patient hitter. … That was a big hit.”
Gilroy broke up Hernandez’s no-hitter with consecutive one-out singles in the bottom of the seventh, but could not push a runner home, taking their first league loss at the hands of Hollister, 4-0.
“It was difficult, but to come back in the bottom of the inning and get two hits says a lot about this young team. They don’t quit,” Gilroy skipper Julie Berggren said. “We hung with them the whole game. I’d like to see more hitting and I think we’ll hit her harder next time.”
San Benito upped its league mark to 2-0 and overall record to 9-2 with the victory, while Gilroy falls to 1-1 in the Tri-County Athletic League and 7-3 overall.
“Both teams played good defense. Both teams hit the ball hard,” DeLorenzo said. “They just got the win.”
Villar held her own against the Lady Baler bats, scattering three hits through the first six frames before giving up four runs on four hits in the seventh inning. The two clutch two-out hits for Hollister came off a screwball and then a curveball, according to DeLorenzo.
“She put it right where she needed to put it,” DeLorenzo said. “They just adjusted to it.”
Hernandez took command of the game from the outset, striking out seven Lady Mustangs and allowing only two hits in the final inning of her complete-game shutout.
“She let up a little (in the final inning). If we only had a one-run lead, she would have finished strong,” said Smith of Hernandez. “She missed four spots, but that was one of her best games.”
After Gilroy managed only two base runners on errors over six innings, DeLorenzo broke up the no-hitter with a single to left field and then Aldridge followed suit with a single between short and third. But Hernandez retired the final two batters to close out the game.
“We tried to adjust to her drop balls. We moved back in the box and that didn’t work so me and Kayla said we were going to move up and it worked,” DeLorenzo said. “Me and Kayla going back-to-back (in the line-up), we said if we can each go 1-for-3, then we’ll win some games.”
Up next, Hollister will travel to North Salinas and Gilroy will hit the road to face defending league champion Notre Dame, both on March 26 at 3:45 p.m.
