Michael Martinez of Hollister Little League’s Major Cardinals
knows how to come up with a clutch hit.
Hollister – Michael Martinez of Hollister Little League’s Major Cardinals knows how to come up with a clutch hit.
Friday’s game between the Orioles and the Cardinals had a lot riding on it with the winner of the contest moving on to play another Hollister team, the Major Brewers, for the Tournament of Champions crown this Sunday at Continental Park in Salinas.
So, when Martinez stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the third with two on and two out, he had to be feeling a little pressure.
But any butterflies that might have been swirling around in Martinez’s stomach were quickly dispatched as the big left fielder blasted a shot over the fence in right center to put his team up 3-0, a lead they would hold on to for a 7-1 win over the Orioles and a trip to the championship game.
“We chipped away, scored a few runs. The kids did a good job today,” said Cardinals’ manager Jerry Sepulveda. “Our guys have been hitting the ball very well lately up and down the lineup, they’ve just been playing good.”
Now the Cardinals face a tough challenge as they prepare to face the Brewers, the squad that handed the Cardinals their only two losses of the season. The first time the two teams met, the Brewers easily won 7-0. The second time the two teams met, the Cardinals put together a much better effort but still lost, 6-4.
On Sunday, the Cardinals will be looking to draw on some of the momentum they’ve built up on their run through the Tournament of Champions, as well as the positives they took away from their last meeting with the Brewers, to try and win the title.
“We should match up with them pretty good this time, I think,” Sepulveda said. “We’ve got some momentum now so, we’ll see what happens.”
