Currently trailing first-place Palma in the league standings by
one game, the Balers will now be without their No. 1 starting
pitcher, Darin Gillies, for the remainder of the season. Gillies
suffered a broken right wrist when he was hit by a pitch in the
fourth inning of last Wednesday’s tournament semifinal against
Bellarmine. The senior right-hander was taken to a nearby hospital
in San Jose following the inning, where doctors discovered a
fracture and a bone chip.
HOLLISTER
Winning a sixth straight Tri-County Athletic League championship will prove to be a steeper hill to climb for the San Benito Haybalers.
Currently trailing first-place Palma in the league standings by one game, the Balers will now be without their No. 1 starting pitcher, Darin Gillies, for the remainder of the season.
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Gillies suffered a broken right wrist when he was hit by a pitch in the fourth inning of last Wednesday’s tournament semifinal against Bellarmine. The senior right-hander was taken to a nearby hospital in San Jose following the inning, where doctors discovered a fracture and a bone chip.
“I was trying to stay positive,” Gillies said after he was hit, hoping it was, at worst, a minor bone bruise. “Once I heard it was a fracture, I knew for sure my season was over.”
Gillies said he’ll be in a cast for the next four to six weeks, with physical therapy to follow. No surgery is needed, he said, but the break will keep him out until at least June, at which point San Benito’s season will be complete.
“It’s very unfortunate. It’s really unfortunate,” San Benito manager Jason Bugg said following Wednesday’s game. “This was his best performance of the season, too. He was just throwing strikes. He was in the zone, and then something bad happened.”
Gillies, who earned the win Wednesday after San Benito topped Bellarmine 6-2, threw three innings and allowed no runs, no walks and just one hit while striking out five batters. He even retired the first nine batters he faced.
But in the fourth inning, the senior hurler’s day, and season, came to an abrupt end.
“I feel bad for the kid,” Bugg said. “Poor guy.”
Gillies finishes his shortened senior campaign with a 4-1 record and 2.27 earned-run average, according to MaxPreps. In 37 innings pitched, the hard-throwing righty allowed 12 earned runs on 27 hits, striking out 53 batters in the process.
“It was real difficult,” Gillies said when he heard the bad news. “I was looking forward to my senior year and enjoying all the events that came with it — Senior Day and the CCS playoffs … I just wanted to be there for the guys.”
Gillies didn’t necessarily think much after he was hit by the pitch. He didn’t hear anything crack.
But when his wrist began to swell, and he couldn’t move it left or right, he knew something might be wrong.
“This is not how I thought I would end my senior year,” he said. “It was really disappointing, really devastating.”
The TCALs Pitcher of the Year as a junior, after he helped lead the Balers to their fifth straight league title, Gillies compiled a 6-0 record and 1.30 ERA during league play last season, as well as a 9-2 record and 1.40 ERA overall.
He also signed a National Letter of Intent in November to play at Arizona State next year.
But the break shouldn’t keep Gillies from his normal offseason regime, he said. In fact, he was already doing lower-half workouts on Sunday.
Having already contacted the coaching staff at Arizona State to alert them of them injury, Gillies said the key now is to get healthy, but not rush back too soon.
“They were bummed that my year was over, but they just want me to get healthy,” he said. “I’m just gonna take my time now.”
“It’s a bummer,” he added.
