Gilroy loses 1-0 to Central, finishes tourney Wednesday
Portland – They really wanted to be on television.
But the Gilroy Majors All-Stars won’t be a part of the ESPN2-televised Little League Softball World Series semifinals when they begin today.
Gilroy defeated Europe (Ramstein, Germany) 14-0 Saturday, but fell to Central (Mattawan, Mich.) Monday in a 1-0 heartbreaker. The team finished a third-place 2-2 in pool play, one spot out of qualifying for the semis.
Gilroy will play host Oregon Dist. 4 for fifth place Wednesday at 1pm. The game will be webcast by Full Access Sports at www.softballworldseries.com.
For the second time in the tournament, Gilroy was no-hit by a powerful opposing pitcher. Central’s Loren Nagy struck out eight Gilroy batters and walked none in her complete game performance.
Gilroy’s own pitcher, Sam Parraz, also had a stellar day on the diamond, allowing just two hits and striking out five in five innings.
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third inning. With one out, Central’s Hanne Stuedeman reached on a fielder’s choice. She then advanced to second when a pick-off throw from Gilroy catcher Melanie Morelos got past first baseman Elaina Vasquez. Then No. 3 Central batter Lauren Gevaart powered a fly ball to the outfield, which bounced off the glove of running center fielder Casey Lester. Gevaart, who stayed at first, hit the ball far enough so that Stuedeman could score.
The play took the wind out of Gilroy’s sails and the team continued to struggle at the plate. Afterward, the girls were disappointed with not being able to reach the semifinals in their return visit to the World Series. Gilroy played for fifth place last year as well, losing to take sixth. But the players also acknowledged the accomplishment of making the World Series in back-to-back years.
“I’m just glad we made it again,” said Parraz, who was on last year’s World Series team. “It was fun this year because we knew what was happening.”
Gilroy manager Gene Carlisle is hoping his team will end on a winning note Wednesday.
“The girls, they’ll bounce back,” he said. “They are still one of the 10-best Little League (softball) teams in the world. The girls have got to realize that.”
