Hollister National and Almaden went hit for hit, appeal for
appeal and argument for argument in Tuesday night’s Section 5 9-10
All-Stars game at Vets Park.
Hollister National and Almaden went hit for hit, appeal for appeal and argument for argument in Tuesday night’s Section 5 9-10 All-Stars game at Vets Park. Almaden, which had a run taken away from it in the bottom of the fifth on an appeal play at the plate, still had one more run on its side of the scoreboard after all was said and done.
Final score: Almaden 7, Hollister National 6. And if the players, coaches, fans and umpires have anything left to give in them after this major drainer, the two teams will do it all over tonight at Vets at 7 p.m. in a winner-take-all game.
Had Hollister National won Tuesday, it would have been the Section 5 champs. Now, it must do it without its No. 1 pitcher – Daniel Arevalo – who threw all six innings Tuesday, two days after pitching six innings in National’s 4-3 win over Almaden on Saturday. Hollister National manager Jerry Sepulveda rolled the dice by going with his No. 1 and nearly got away with it.
“I wanted Daniel to go because that would have given him three days rest before the Division game on Saturday,” said Sepulveda, who was no-doubt looking ahead.
Shoddy defense
Arevalo pitched well at times, but only struck out three batters as Almaden, a free-swinging team like Hollister National, made good contact off him. The most damaging number for Hollister National, which certainly didn’t help Arevalo’s cause, was seven errors. Six out of Almaden’s seven runs were unearned. In contrast, Almaden made zero errors.
There inlies much of the game.
Meanwhile, Almaden’s Trevor Marino did his part, throwing all six innings and fanning 11 Hollister National batters, striking out five in a row at one stretch in the middle innings. Hollister National hitters often swung at pitches high out of the strike zone.
“He had a real good curve,” said Sepulveda of Marino. “His off-speed stuff really hurt us. He kept his cool out there.”
“Trevor battled out there tonight,” said Almaden manager Tarun Patel. “To beat a good team like Hollister National is quite an accomplishment. They’re a tough team. They make a lot of plays out in the field.”
Gunned two down
Despite the miscues, Hollister National threw out two Almaden runners at the plate. In the bottom of the first, Oscar Ramirez’ perfect relay from short gunned down Vinny Gemette for the final out of the inning, though one run did come in on an RBI single by Chad McCarthy. And in the third, Gemette was nailed at the plate by third baseman Adrian Casarez, who hustled to retrieve an errant throw.
Almaden surged ahead for good in the bottom of the fifth with three runs and might have had four. Ryan O’Malley’s single to right appeared to have scored Stephen Johnson with two out, but Johnson was ruled out on a appeal for missing home plate.
The Almaden brass argued vehemently and was warned not to say another word. Only moments earlier, a Hollister National fan was tossed from the game for unwarranted comments in regards to the umpiring, such was the intensity of the game.
Possible runaway
The way the game began, it looked like a potential Hollister National runaway. With two out in the top of the first inning, Arevalo singled to left. Cooper Sepulveda deposited an 0-2 pitch over the center field wall and Hollister National, as it had done vs. Los Altos on Sunday, had struck quickly. A walk to Adrian Casarez and singles by Jahz Gonzalez and Michael Martinez made the bases full. Joey Schulman proceeded to beat out an infield single for 3-0 Hollister National.
Down 4-3 in the top of the fifth, Hollister National went to work once more. Arevalo beat out an extremely close play at first for a hit. Sepulveda singled through the box to set things up for Casarez. Casarez drove one to the base of the right field fence for a two-run double and Hollister National had retaken the lead. Gonzalez singled off the shortstop’s glove to put runners on at first and third. After Gonzalez took the automatic steal of second, Joey Schulman’s grounder was not played properly in the infield, giving Schulman a hit and allowing Casarez to score.
Three straight hits by J.D. Correa, McCarthy and Jordan Penny triggered Almaden’s winning rally in the fifth. Sepulveda singled with two outs in the top of the sixth for Hollister National, but Marino struck out the final out of the game.
“Almaden’s a good team,” said Jerry Sepulveda. “I’m surprised either team scored that many runs with those two pitchers out there.”
Same two good teams will be going at it tonight for all the marbles. Expect the intensity level to be raised to the max.
Game notes: Marino is the son of Jim Marino, longtime boys varsity basketball coach at Los Gatos High…..Hollister National had 12 hits to Almaden’s 10….Correa made several fine plays at shortstop for Almaden….Whoever wins tonight has a bye in Division play with the first game being Saturday at 11 a.m. at Tri-Cities LL Field in Cupertino. There will be six teams in the tourney field.
Hol Nat 300 030 – 6 12 7
Alma 112 03X – 7 10 0
Arevalo and Garcia; Marino and Patel. WP-Marino. LP-Arevalo. 2B – Casarez (HN); O’Malley, Marino (A). HR –Â Sepulveda (HN). 3 hits – Sepulveda (HN). 2 hits –Â Arevalo, Casarez, Gonzalez, Schulman (HN); O’Malley, Correa, McCarthy, Penny (A). 2 RBI – Sepulveda, Casarez, Schulman (HN); Chavez (A).
