After losing its first two games of league last week against
Live Oak, the Haybaler baseball team rebounded with a 3-1 win over
Gilroy on Wednesday.
After losing its first two games of league last week against Live Oak, the Haybaler baseball team rebounded with a 3-1 win over Gilroy on Wednesday.
“We hit a lot of balls on the strings, and we did the little things,” said Baler coach Derek Barnes. “We showed signs of breaking out of our little funk by executing. Winning cures everything. If we can get on a little streak here, we will be all right.”
The Mustangs scored an unearned run in the first inning but were kept off the board after that despite threatening several times. Mark Gonzales knocked in the only Gilroy run with a double.
San Benito’s Justin Patton, who was coming off a couple rocky starts, allowed just one walk while pitching a complete game.
“We were getting leadoff hitters out,” said Baler coach Derek Barnes. “That is big because it shortens the inning for them. We hit the ball well off the strings.”
Gilroy pitcher Anthony Lucio also threw a good game in his six innings.
“We just didn’t give him any help defensively,” said Gilroy coach Clint Wheeler, whose team is 2-1 in league. “Mentally, for whatever reason, we didn’t show up to play. Not to take anything away from Hollister because they played well, but defensively, we were not into the game.”
The Balers (5-5, 1-2 TCAL) scored two of their runs with the help of perfect sacrifice bunts.
In the fourth inning the Balers added their final run to make it 3-1. Mike Lango led off with a hit through the left side of the infield. Patton moved him over to second base with a sacrifice bunt.
Brian Rossi hit a double over the center fielder’s head. Lango went to third but couldn’t score because he didn’t know if the ball would be caught.
After hitting a hard foul down the left-field line, Brett Fulgoni hit one up the middle to score the run.
But Gilroy turned a double play to get out of the inning. Right fielder Ron Coleman came in on a shallow hit ball to make the catch. But with the Baler runner halfway between first and second, Coleman froze before barely throwing the ball back to first to get the runner.
“It was an easy no brainer,” Wheeler said. “Everyone in the park was yelling ‘one,’ ‘one.'” ‘Sometimes we didn’t know the situation and count.”
Gilroy got another double play in the fifth inning to stay in the game. Shortstop Peter Mickarz dove to get a ball and flipped to second baseman Drew Andersen.
Gilroy leadoff hitter Josh Sterling, who had three hits, led off the fifth inning with single, and then Andersen laid down a perfect drag but to put two on with no out. But Gilroy couldn’t score after Karson Klauer at shortstop snagged a line drive to end the inning.
In the sixth inning, Carlos Garcia lead off with a steal for the Mustangs.
He was replaced at first by Jeff MacPhail, who stole second.
But he was left there after Patton struck out two batters looking and then got the final batter to fly out.
Gilroy again made some noise in the seventh inning. Sterling led off with a bunt single, and Ben Hemeon also singled.
After Gilroy had a double steal, Patton struck out a batter and got the last batter to pop up to end the game.
The Balers and the Mustangs will meet Friday in Gilroy for round two.
“We had a couple bad practices in a row, but they came out with a sense of urgency today,” Barnes said.
Jason Sims, who was the DH Wednesday after getting three hits in his last outing, will get the start for the Balers on Friday.
JV NOTE: The San Benito JV team (8-1, 2-1 TCAL) lost 7-4 to Gilroy. Chris Etheridge went 2 for 3 hit a triple, a double and three RBIs
Kris Bittner (1-1) pitched four innings, and Etheridge (3-0) pitched the last threes innings of the game.
