Diablos bring age and speed, Black Sox bring power and depth
Hollister – Two of Hollister’s best adult baseball teams are ready to face off for the Central Coast Adult Baseball League title. The Hollister Black Sox and Diablos will meet Wednesday in game 1 of the best-of-three championship series. Both teams easily defeated their Monterey counterpart in the first round of the best two-of-three series to get to the championship.
And both Hollister teams did it fairly easy also. The Diablos defeated the A’s by the ten-run mercy rule in the eighth inning twice. The Black Sox on the other hand defeated the Seals 13-3 in seven innings and 12-0 in six innings.
Kevan Bettancourt pitched a no-hitter in the Diablos last game to defeat the A’s. Gordon Ross hit a two-run home run, and Frank Montoya hit a two-out two-run double in the third inning to help break the game open.
The Diablos defeated the Nationals in the playoff tie breaker, winning 12-2 in seven innings.
For the Sox, Andrew Barragan, who had been out for three weeks with a shoulder injury, returned to pitch five innings and strike out 11 in the last game for the win.
David Kaplansky went 3-for-3 with two RBIs, and Kevin Hatchet went 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
“We got all the momentum going in,” Barragan said. “The pressure is on them.”
Even though both teams have enjoyed shortened games recently, the Diablos have been a little cold going into the playoffs, at one time having a three-game draught.
“We’ve had a decent season,” said Diablos manager Michael Montoya. “We finally have put together a full squad. That is what hurt us when we played them last time. We’ve been hitting the ball well the last couple games. The whole team is hitting now, so hopefully we’re peaking at the right time.”
The Black Sox own a 3-1 season record against the Diablos. The only win for the Diablos came in the second meeting when Michael Montoya pitched seven innings in the 5-4 victory.
The Diablos have the edge in age, averaging about 25, while the Black Sox hobble in at a ripe old 34. The oldest player on the Diablos is Frank Montoya at 30.
“They have the speed, but we have the strength and the depth,” Barragan said.
Barragan said he hopes the two teams have put their bad blood from their intense rivalry behind them and come out and play good clean baseball.
Nick Gonzales will take the mound for the Diablos Wednesday, while Rob Picha will go for the Black Sox. Barragan will go on Sunday for the Sox, and closer Leroy Dozel could start the third game. The Diablos will have Ian Hudson ready to pitch Sunday.
“It will be a good game. The fans will get their money’s worth,” Montoya said. “It is always a really hard-fought game between us.”
Added Montoya: “A lot of time against them we’ve had errors or given up the home run. We’re just going to try to put the ball in play. You want to win the first game then their backs are to the wall.”
