Eric Diaz Jr. pitched well enough to record the victory. He
didn’t get it. However, Diaz Jr. did deliver the win when his
off-field single to left plated Josh Badillo from second base in
the eighth inning to end Monday’s Tri-County Athletic League dandy
with Salinas.
Eric Diaz Jr. pitched well enough to record the victory. He didn’t get it.
However, Diaz Jr. did deliver the win when his off-field single to left plated Josh Badillo from second base in the eighth inning to end Monday’s Tri-County Athletic League dandy with Salinas, sending the large Baler throng home happy in the process.
It was Hollister 2, Salinas 1 in a game that neither team deserved to lose.
“This was a great high school baseball game,” said Baler skipper Neal Andrade in a vast understatement. “This is what baseball is all about.”
Most importantly for the Balers (11-3, 6-1) they stayed even with Live Oak (11-4, 6-1) at the top of the T-CAL standings, albeit by the skin of their teeth. The Acorns clubbed Palma Monday 11-1 in six innings.
The Cowboys (10-9, 3-4), who need to start stringing some wins together to ensure a Central Coast Section playoff spot, host these very same Balers on Thursday. That game couldn’t possibly come close to this one as far as thrills and spills go.
No conceivable way.
From the outset, Diaz Jr., who whiffed a career-high 13 batters including six in a row in the first two innings, locked horns with Cowboys starter Chris Shively. Hollister had a chance vs. the veteran hurler in the bottom of the first after Badillo boarded first on an a fielding error to lead off the inning. Nick Ramos bunted towards Shively, but first baseman Thomas Incaviglia charged in from first on the play and Ramos was safe as the cover from second was late. Shively made a throw to first anyway and the ball got away enough for Badillo to take third. Ramos went to second on a passed ball, but Shively bore down to retire the 3-4-5 hitters in the Balers lineup to escape further damage.
Ramos’ no-cover bunt single was all the stingy Shively allowed until the seventh. At one stretch, the righthander retired 11 straight Baler batters and 15 out of 16.
“Shively pitched a heck of a game,” said Andrade. “He was on.”
The main Cowboys spur in the side of the Balers’ pants leg was leadoff hitter Zach McKibbin. The second baseman McKibbin did it with his glove, bat and legs. In the bottom of the fourth, he adeptly attacked a slow bounder from Diaz Jr. for the first out. Then, with two out and with Gordon Ross on at first, McKibbin ranged quickly to his left on Anthony Synegal’s bid for a basehit, smothered the ball with a dive and rose to throw out Synegal for the final out in the inning.
At the plate, McKibbin singled sharply in the first then stole second and third bases before being stranded. In the top of the third, he nearly hit a ball out to left field but it was flagged down by Ricardo Cosio at the fence. After singling in the fifth inning, McKibbin caused havoc in the top of the seventh when he bunted with runners at first and second and no out. Reliever Nathan Rowe (5-1) made a nice play to pick up McKibbin’s bunt down the third baseline, but Baler third baseman P.J. Galvan came in on the bunt and no one covered third. Rowe, who had the force at third, had to throw to first. The ball got away, allowing Danny Della-Rose to score for a 1-0 Cowboys lead.
That brought up Aaron McKenna with runners on a first and third. McKenna stung a ball into the gap in left-center field, but Badillo, one of the best outfielders in the CCS, raced to his right to rob McKenna. Meanwhile, Paul Casas, the runner at third, failed to tag up on the play and that proved costly. The Balers opted to intentionally walk Incaviglia, which loaded the bases with one out.
Cowboys cleanup hitter Sean Halton ripped a two-hopper to the left of Diaz Jr., who had flip-flopped positions with Rowe and with Diaz Jr. going from pitcher to second. The ball took a bad hop at the last second, but Diaz Jr. speared it, wheeled and threw to Ramos for the second out. Ramos turned the double play to perfection to end the threat and the Balers hustled to the dugout with one last gasp.
“That was the play of the game right there,” said Andrade.
“That ball was hit so hard,” said Diaz Jr. “I almost didn’t have time to get my glove up.”
Shively got the first out in the seventh, but Synegal flared a single to center. He was lifted for a pinch-runner, but Shively picked the runner off first for the second out. P.J. Galvan blooped a ball into right field and it was nearly snagged by a diving Della-Rose, but Galvan was on at first with a single.
Baler designated hitter Steven O’Connell drove the first pitch he saw from Shively off the wall in right-center field. McKenna had trouble with the carom and Galvan, who was motoring from first base with two outs, came home with the dramatic tying run.
“That was the biggest hit I’ve ever had,” said O’Connell, who has been with the varsity for the past two seasons. “I wanted to jump on the first pitch. I was just doing my job.”
“Steven’s a good hitter,” said Andrade. “He came through in a tough situation.”
Shively walked Badillo to start the bottom of the eighth, then Ramos’ bunt down the third baseline wasn’t fielded cleanly as Ramos was credited with his second hit of the day. Diaz Jr. sent every one home on a 1-0 pitch from Shively, who deserved a better fate.
“We made some mistakes,” said Salinas head coach Art Hunsdorfer. “We were in a position to win the game. That’s the way it has been going for us the past four games. We knew Diaz Jr. would give us a battle today. He did.”
A battle royale in a regular season game, no less.
JV score: Hollister 6, Salinas 0. Breyon Canez ran his record to 3-0 with seven innings of work, striking out five and walking one. Chris Etheridge was 4-4 with a double and 2 RBI, while Brent Ichien was 2-4 with a triple. Brett Brennan had a double with Kyle Sharp, Brian Rossi and Geno Fata adding RBI’s.
Salinas 000 000 10 – 1 6 4
Hollister 000 000 11 – 2 5 1
Shively and Casas; Diaz Jr., Rowe (7) and Synegal. WP-Rowe (5-1). LP-Shively. 2B – Della-Rose (S); O’Connell (H). 3 hits – McKibbin (S). 2 hits – Ramos (H).
