Nashia Alvarez kept herself busy on the Hollister High bench for
nearly 10 full innings Tuesday by chasing foul balls, cheering her
teammates on, doing a little singing and a little dancing.
Nashia Alvarez kept herself busy on the Hollister High bench for nearly 10 full innings Tuesday by chasing foul balls, cheering her teammates on, doing a little singing and a little dancing.
Sitting out due to an injury, Alvarez all of a sudden found herself standing at the plate in a rare pinch-hitting role with one out in the 10th inning and with the potential winning run on at third base.
Alvarez decided to send the sizable, properly-chillled crowd home to thaw when she singled to left field off Gilroy’s Jen Olvera to score pinch-runner J.T. Temperino for a shivering, gut-wrenching 2-1 Baler victory.
Temperino, pinch-running for Rachelle Barrientos, started the inning at second base as part of the international tiebreaker rule and was sacrificed to third by Liz Stewart.
“I was excited when coach told me I was going to hit,” said Alvarez, the team’s co-captain. “I’ve been working hard with my swing lately. I felt good up at the plate.”
The Balers (18-8, 8-4 Tri-County Athletic League), ranked 5th in the Central Coast Section, have found out that beating Olvera (12-7) and the Mustangs this season is hardly a piece of cake. This Gilroy team, 13-11 overall, could be the best 5-6 team in the history of the league. The two teams have split four meetings this season. The Balers had to go 11 innings for a 1-0 win at Gilroy on April 11. The Mustangs won in Hollister 2-0 on March 26 and 4-1 at the Watsonville Tournament on April 26.
The next time these two teams could meet would be in the CCS Division I playoffs. Speaking of which…
“I discussed with my team that if we went into a slide the final four games that we could end up tied with Gilroy,” said Baler coach Scott Smith. “We could be left out of CCS if that happened. This was a big win for us. No doubt about it.”
The tension in this game was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Make that an icepick.
Both teams left runners on base in the late innings. Gilroy’s Bria DeLorenzo led off the ninth with a single off eventual winner Dani Hernandez (11-5). Charise Martinez bunted picture-perfectly down the first-base line and the Balers had no play. A sac bunt by Jenna Daugherty placed runners on at second and third with the 5 and 6 hitters in the Mustangs’ lineup coming up.
Hernandez got a one-pitch pop-up to Stewart at first for the second out. The third out wasn’t so easy. Kayla Aldridge hit a slow roller to Jenny Maheu at second and Maheu, one of the few second basemen in the CCS who could have made the play, charged in and threw quickly to first to nip the swift Aldridge on a bang-bang play. Maheu had earlier scalded a triple to left field with one out in the bottom of the eighth.
Olvera, who had nine strikeouts in going the distance, whiffed the next two Baler batters to end the threat.
The Balers also had a great chance to win it in the bottom of the seventh. Barrientos, who had an RBI double in the fourth for the Balers’ other run, ripped another deep drive to left for extra bases with nobody out. As she rounded second, Gilroy left fielder Kristen Campos was just retrieving the ball. Campos adeptly hit the cutoff – the shortstop Aldridge. Aldridge then threw a rifle shot to third baseman Martinez on the money to nail a sliding Barrientos.
“Their third baseman did a good job of blocking the base,” said Barrientos.
As for her two doubles, which would have been home runs had there been a regulation fence, Barrientos merely said, “I felt the vibes.”
Smith felt a little hindsight after sending Barrientos, which broke a cardinal rule: Never make the first out of the inning at third base.
“I need to have more confidence in the players batting behind her,” said Smith. “It was risky, but I thought I’d take a chance.”
This game was full of fine defensive plays, especially by the Balers, who made zero errors once again.
Center fielder Johni Kiesewetter made a tough oncoming catch of a screaming liner from Martinez in the fourth.
Kim Dabo, who scored the Balers’ first run of the game after singling, followed Kiesewetter’s play by staying with a bad-hopper to throw out Daugherty from her shortstop position.
With a runner on at third and two out in the top of the seventh, Hernandez helped her cause with a nifty short-hop of a comebacker from Campos. Hernandez also snared a line drive from DeLorenzo in the sixth.
With one out in the top of the third, Baler right fielder Julie Broyer came in to make a good catch of a liner from Olvera. Broyer threw to first to double up Francesca Lopez, who strayed off the bag.
For the Mustangs, DeLorenzo, an outstanding catcher, made a great throw from her knees in attempt to pick off Temperino in the 10th. On another day, Temperino might have been called out.
“DeLorenzo has a strong arm,” said Smith. “We had just talked about the fact that Gilroy likes to throw back door.”
The long battle between the two evenly-matched teams symbolized a healthy rivalry.
“We love beating Hollister,” said Gilroy coach Julie Berggren, who has hope her club can make CCS. “They’re our rival so we really get up for them. They’re an excellent softball team. I like the way they hustle and don’t back down to anyone.”
The feeling is mutual.
Baler bits: The win sets up a huge showdown for second place on Thursday when North Salinas visits. The Vikings (17-6, 7-4) had little trouble with Live Oak Tuesday, winning 10-0. North Salinas, ranked 17th in the state and eighth in the state for Division I schools, needs to make up a game with Gilroy at a later date. – Notre Dame, ranked 18th in the nation and sixth in the state, defeated Salinas 6-0 to run its record to 25-2, 11-1 in the T-CAL. – Hernandez started the fifth inning in relief of Alyssa Baker, who gave up two hits in four scoreless innings. A two-out RBI single from Jessica Sandoval in the fifth plated the Mustangs’ only run. – The CCS pairings will be determined May 17 at 1 p.m. at the CCS office.
JV score: Gilroy 6, Hollister 1. Nicole Burns knocked in the Balers’ run. Last Thursday, Hollister defeated Leland 2-0. Burns and Nicole Clay had RBIs.
Gilroy0000100000000-172
Hollister0001000001-270
Olvera and DeLorenzo; Baker, Hernandez (5) and Baxter. WP-Hernandez (11-5). LP-Olvera (12-7). 3B – Maheu (H). 2B – Aldridge (G); Barrientos 2 (H). 2 hits – Sandoval (G); Barrientos (H).
