It is always better to receive than give.
Hollister High was the beneficiary of seven Aptos errors and the
Balers made proper use of them for a 9-6 victory in Wednesday’s
first-round Central Coast Section Division I playoff baseball
game.
It is always better to receive than give.
Hollister High was the beneficiary of seven Aptos errors and the Balers made proper use of them for a 9-6 victory in Wednesday’s first-round Central Coast Section Division I playoff baseball game.
The unexpected gifts, many coming on routine plays, were definitely needed by the Balers, for the 10th-seeded Mariners flexed their muscles for three homers, which produced five runs.
No. 7 Hollister (21-7) must now face an even more power-laden club in No. 2-seeded St. Francis (26-7) this Saturday at PAL Stadium in San Jose at 4 p.m. The Lancers hit three HRs Wednesday in their 14-4 win over No. 15 Silver Creek in six innings, giving the Lancers a total of 32 round-trippers for the year. St. Francis was the regular-season co-champ of the West Catholic Athletic League.
The Balers will entrust Nathan Rowe (8-3) to attempt to quiet the Lancers’ bats while St. Francis will go with Alex Perkins (5-0) on the mound.
“If we have seven innings like our first inning, we can win Saturday,” said Rowe.
Rowe was referring to the bottom of the first, when the Balers put a five-spot on the board off Mariners starter Jay Ramsey (8-4). The Balers did hit Ramsey fairly hard, but Ramsey can be more than excused as his defense caved in to the tune of four errors.
Balers leadoff hitter Josh Badillo walked, then promptly stole second. The throw went into center field as Badillo jumped up and went to third. The throw to third was airmailed out of play and Badillo scored, tying the score 1-1. Nick Ramos followed with a single, then the Mariners tossed away a potential double play on a ground ball by Eric Diaz Jr. Ramos ended up at third, while Diaz took second.
Anthony Synegal, who had a huge day at the plate for the Balers, singled sharply to center, tallying Ramos and Diaz. The ball got past the center fielder for the fourth error of the inning as Synegal reached second. Nathan Rowe doubled in Synegal for the fina l run of the frame. The Balers almost added to it with two out. Steven O’Connell singled and Brett Fulgoni doubled, but Ramsey got the final Baler hitter to fly out.
“I was shocked by our errors,” said Mariners coach Tom Graham. “That was seniors making the errors, so I don’t think it was nerves. We made the mistakes today and Hollister capitalized on them. Hollister’s a good team. They beat us today.”
The lead for the Balers was short-lived. The Mariners went to work against a shaky Diaz (9-3) in the top of the second. Andrew Ortega led off with a homer to left. Diaz walked Shaun Weaver, then hit Mike Keenan. One out later, Mariners freshman Tony Strickland belted his fifth four-bagger of the season for three more runs and the score was suddenly tied 5-5.
Diaz yielded two more hits in the third, but got of the jam. He then settled down and did a much better job of getting ahead of the hitters. He struck out the side in the third, including the final two outs. Counting those two, he had a stretch where he retired 14 of the final 16 batters. He allowed a single to Chris Thompson in the fifth and a solo home run to Garret La Torre in the seventh.
“Eric didn’t have his good stuff to start, but he battled the whole game,” said Synegal, who was behind the plate as always.
“I was fatigued out there,” said Diaz, who had a week between starts. “I didn’t have my stuff. The home runs they hit were fastballs that didn’t have much pop.”
Another Mariners miscue in the fifth helped pave the way for the winning run. Diaz reached first on an error and was wild-pitched to second. Synegal banged the first of two doubles to plate Diaz. Synegal went to third on a wild pitch, then Rowe walked, whereupon Graham yanked Ramsey in lieu of Paul Brock. Brock got one out before P.J. Galvan’s sac fly to left scored Synegal for the seventh and deciding run of the game as it turned out.
The Balers added two more in the sixth on a Diaz RBI ground out and a dropped pop fly for an error to score Synegal, who had doubled.
“I was seeing the ball well (today),” said Synegal, who had a 3 RBI day. “I was aggressive on the first pitch.”
“We executed on offense nicely a couple of times,” said Baler head coach Neal Andrade. “It was a typical win for us. It didn’t come easy. Aptos can swing the bat.”
Baler bits: Four of the Balers’ nine runs were unearned. – Krystal Duran sang the national anthem and did a very good job, despite having microphone feedback at the start. – Diaz finished the day with 11 k’s. – Other Division I baseball scores: Santa Teresa defeated Live Oak 7-4; Serra belted Woodside 12-4; Mitty blanked Salinas 9-0, meaning the Balers are the last Tri-County Athletic League holdout; Wilcox edged Homestead 3-1; Valley Christian nipped Menlo-Ahtherton 4-3; Bellarmine eased by Oak Grove 8-2.
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Ramsey, Brock (5) and LaTorre; Diaz Jr. and Synegal. WP – Diaz (9-3). LP – Ramsey (8-4). HR – Strickland, LaTorre, Ortega (A). 2B – Badillo, Synegal 2, Rowe, Fulgoni (H). 3 hits – Synegal (H). 2 hits – Jones, Ortega (A); Rowe, Fulgoni (H). 3 RBI – Strickland (A); Synegal (H).
