The word about Gilroy’s 1-0 upset of Live Oak filtered through
the Hollister High fan base at the Balers’ final Tri-County
Athletic League baseball game at Palma Tuesday.
The word about Gilroy’s 1-0 upset of Live Oak filtered through the Hollister High fan base at the Balers’ final Tri-County Athletic League baseball game at Palma Tuesday.
In about the fifth inning, a rabid Baler fan caught the attention of Baler head coach Neal Andrade and mouthed the score every Baler player wanted to hear.
“I didn’t know what was going on at first,” said Andrade, who didn’t tell his players until after the game. “Then it sunk in.”
The Balers went on to defeat the Chieftains 7-1 and –Â coupled with the Acorns’ loss – ended up in a flat-footed tie for first place in the T-CAL. It was the second year in a row that the Balers shared the title. The experience was also eerily similar to the 2002 campaign, when the Balers won at Monterey, only to learn that Gilroy had defeated North County, resulting in a co-title.
“Gilroy did it for us again,” said the Balers Josh Badillo. “It’s the same as last year.”
It has been a zany couple of weeks. The Balers (20-7, 11-4) were stung by a loss at Salinas not long ago, but got a break when the Acorns lost to Salinas, as well. Then the Balers were stunned by the Mustangs last Saturday, only to have Gilroy play spoiler once more on Tuesday in knocking off Live Oak. A couple of balks on Live Oak’s ace Ryan Muller eventually led to the game’s lone run, which came in the fifth. Jon Kirkish and Todd Gimenez combined to shut down a good-hitting Live Oak team.
Go figure.
“We planned it that way all from the beginning,” joked the Balers Nathan Rowe. “This will give us a big boost going into CCS. If we can start hitting, we can roll all the way in CCS.”
The Central Coast Section pairings will be set this Saturday at 4 p.m.
“I’ll think we’ll be anywhere from No. 7 to No. 11 seed,” said Andrade. “And we should be seeded ahead of Live Oak because we’ll have more points.”
A year ago, Hollister received the No. 2 seed, its highest in history. This year, the Balers, ranked 12th in the section, could be seeded in the top four because they are league champs. However, one thing is for certain. They will have their hands full at CCS no matter where they are seeded for Division I is absolutely loaded this year, perhaps, as loaded as it ever has been.
Eric Diaz Jr. (8-3) went the distance and whiffed 13 Palma batters. Diaz also went 1-3 ended the league season at .581, which led the T-CAL.
“Eric was hitting .600 going into the game,” said Andrade. “I really wanted him to hit .600.”
The Balers reaped the benefit of some errors and walks by the Chieftains to score the bulk of their runs. The biggest blast came from Gordon Ross, who crushed a 380-foot double.
That’s a good sign for the Balers, who will need to score a minimum eight runs to get the best of the plethora of hitting-rich West Catholic Athletic League teams they will encounter at CCS.
“The top six in our order needs to step it up at the plate right now,” said Diaz. “And the bottom of the lineup has to help out all it can. We have to start hitting the way we’re capable of. If we do, we can beat anybody.”
The Balers played well defensively, making no errors.
Andrade feels that what should be about a week rest, will help his club.
“Anthony Synegal has caught every inning for us this year,” said Andrade, who gave his team the day off today. “He’s tired. Nick Ramos isn’t 100 per cent yet. We really need a rest. We got some players banged up.”
The Balers will most likely host a first round game next Wednesday.
