Hollister squad runs into some tough pitching in Atlantic’s
Austin Reyes; late rally comes up short
Salinas – The Major Yankees just haven’t been hitting the ball very well in this year’s Tournament of Champions and, on Thursday in Salinas, the team’s woes at the plate continued against Atlantic ace Austin Reyes. The result was a 1-5 loss for the Yankees, the first of the four Hollister Little League teams participating in the tournament to bow out of the competition.
“We just kind of ran out of gas a little bit,” said Yankees’ manager Robert Fabing. “We were a little flat these last two games and, you know, if we’re not right on with our big guns, we’re going to struggle. Five hits in the last two games, that’s not going to get it done. But the team had a great season. I didn’t know what to expect coming in, with seven new guys but they got it done.”
The Yankees just couldn’t get anything going against Atlantic’s Reyes, who notched a complete game four hitter with 13 strikeouts on Thursday, and they found themselves in a tough situation down 5-0 in the sixth inning.
But the Yankees didn’t quit, not even with two outs on the board.
With the end of the season looming Darin Gillies ripped a shot to center and reached second easily before taking third on a passed ball.
Teammate Will Cross was up next and he battled to a full count against Reyes before connecting for a single to score Gillies from third. Unfortunately, the Yankees couldn’t muster any more offense as Reyes shut the door on the comeback by striking out the next batter he faced.
But Hollister Little League still has three teams left in the mix. The Orioles and the Cardinals will play each other tonight here in Hollister at Veteran’s Memorial Park, Field 2 at 6pm. The Brewers will face the Ferrasc Reds tonight at Continental Park in Salinas at 5:30pm. All three Hollister squads are 3-0 in the tournament.
