Sims’ three-run homer in the third gives Hollister 5-1 advantage
but Acorns battle back
Hollister – With a 5-1 lead going into the fifth and the always-powerful Jason Sims on the mound Tuesday, the San Benito High baseball team was thinking that it was in line for a win against the TCAL-leading Acorns of Live Oak.
Think again.
The Acorns exploded for three runs in that pivotal fifth inning and then used that momentum to tie things up at 5-5 in the sixth before going on to win the game 6-5 in eight innings.
“Down 5-1 we just never gave up, we kept battling,” said Live Oak head coach Mark Cummins. “It was the same kind of thing that happened against Gilroy last week. We were down 8-0 and we got back to within 9-7. It shows what kind of team we’re capable of being.”
The loss was particularly bitter for the Haybalers. Not only did the team blow a comfortable lead, the ‘Balers are now three, instead of one, games behind Live Oak for first.
“It was an extremely tough loss for us,” said Hollister head coach Michael Luna. “With only six games left, it’s going to be awfully tough to catch (Live Oak) for the league title.”
It was all Hollister early on in Tuesday’s contest. Karson Klauer led off in the first by taking Live Oak starter Kyle Mosbrucker’s 0-1 offering over the left fielders head for a double. Klauer advanced to third and then came across on a passed ball to make it 1-0.
The Acorns responded with a run of their own in the second off an RBI single from Andrew Cummins that scored Shaun Standridge, who led off the inning with a double off of Hollister’s Sims.
But Hollister quickly reclaimed the lead in the bottom half of the third. With two outs and nobody on, Scott Mead reached with a single. Brian Rossi was up next and he earned a trip to second after being hit by a Mosbrucker pitch. ‘Baler catcher Seth Hudson was up next and he wasn’t about to account for the team’s third out with runners in scoring position. Hudson connected with a 1-0 pitch to reach first and bring Mead home from second base, extending the inning and giving Sims a chance to help out his own cause.
The first pitch Sims saw was high for a ball. The second pitch, however, was right down the middle and Sims was all over it, crushing a shot over the fence in center field to score three runs and push Hollister’s lead to 5-1.
But the Acorns, true to form, never gave up. And, in the fifth, they made their move,
Sims sat down the first Live Oak batter of the inning by striking him out. But Cummins reached second on an error as the Acorns’ next hitter before Mosbrucker got on board after earning a walk. Sims uncharacteristically walked Live Oak’s next batter to load the bases for Shayne Christman.
Christman took Sims to a 2-1 count before he got ahold of a nice pitch, hammering the ball down the left field line for a double and scoring three runs in the process.
The Acorns added the go-ahead run in the sixth as Standridge reached first as the lead-off man after being walked by Hollister reliever Kris Bittner. Standridge would score the tying run later in the inning thanks to a single by Mosbrucker.
After Sims’ homer in the third, the ‘Baler bats went as cold as they have been all season long. The team managed just one hit after that third inning, a single from Breyon Canez in the fourth.
But the Acorns had some more offense left as the game went to extra innings.
Doug Porras started the inning by singling off of Rossi, who came in to try and shut the door on Live Oak in the seventh. Porras made it all the way over to third thanks to a passed ball but Rossi struck out two in a row to put the pressure on Eric Nelson.
But Nelson responded with a 1-1 single to bring Porras across and hand Live Oak the win.
“With a 5-1 lead and the big guy on the mound, we liked our chances,” Luna said. “I have to give a lot of credit to Live Oak though, they battled and battled. The effort was there though. We were intense.”
