The nicknames have been building up in droves for the Orioles
Steven Cabral this season.
The nicknames have been building up in droves for the Orioles Steven Cabral this season. After twirling a four-hit, 6-1 victory against the Giants in Wednesday night’s District 9 Majors Tournament of Champions semifinals at Vets Park, the handle of “Big Bulldog” is finally starting to settle in for Mr. Cabral.
“That’s O.K. by me,” said the burly right-hander, who has ‘bulldog-like’ toughness out on the mound every time he pitches.
The Orioles, first place winners of the Hollister American Little League, can cap off a perfect 25-0 season with a win in tonight’s championship game, which starts at 7 p.m. The opponent appears to be a worthy one in the Salinas-Hartnell Giants, who walloped Salinas-Atlantic 17-6 in the other semifinal Wednesday.
“To win the TOC title would be icing on the cake,” said Orioles manager Steve Gessell, who had some, hopefully, not premature water tossed on him after Wednesday’s triumph. “Every win is adding to it.”
“There is a lot of team unity on this team,” said Cabral, who won’t be available to pitch tonight. “We’re totally together.”
The Hollister National Little League champs Giants, who ended the year an impressive 23-3, sent their ace Bret Furtado to the mound. Furtado struck out 12 Orioles hitters, but he walked six and hit a batter. There were two Giants errors behind him, as well.
“Bret isn’t usually that wild,” said Giants manager Anthony Alvarez. “I think he was letting the strike zone affect him tonight.”
“Bret’s a very good athlete,” stated Gessell. “We did a good job of being patient and waiting him out. We had a couple of walks then had some timely hits. We nickel-and-dimed him tonight.”
The hitting star for the Orioles was leadoff hitter Trevor Gessell. Gessell led off the game with double over the head of the Giants left fielder. That would be the first of four hits in four trips for the scrappy shortstop.
“He’s been doing that all year for us,” said father, Steve. “He really got us going tonight.”
Gessell was wild pitched to third, then Kyle Zozaya worked a walk. After Zozaya pilfered second, Cabral chopped a single over shortstop to drive in two birds. However, Cabral was nailed at second base on a nice throw from Giants catcher Justin Schlie to shortstop Chad Whitehead.
The Giants tallied their lone run of the game in the bottom of the first. Anthony Alvarez scorched a one-out double off the right fielder’s glove. Alvarez, who advanced on a wild pitch, scored on a Whitehead single.
Cabral was real bulldog-like the final five frames. He only allowed a bunt single to Adam Marentis in the second and a single through the box to Furtado in the sixth. He worked to just five over the minimum during that span and fanned nine for the game.
The Orioles tacked on three runs in the fourth to acquire some breathing room, with most of the damage being done with two outs. Tyler Ruiz walked, stole second, then swiped third base like a cat burglar, catching the Giants’ third baseman unawares. Furtado whiffed the next two hitters, but walked Jake Hunter. Gessell’s single scored one run. Adrian Garcia walked, then Zozaya was hit with a pitch with the bases loaded, a tough RBI.
Gessell singled in his second run of the game in the top of the sixth, scoring Spencer Brann, to cap off the O’s scoring.
“This team improved from the beginning of the season,” said the elder Alvarez. “They really matured as ballplayers.”
Either Ruiz or Trevor Gessell will get the call tonight for the Orioles, who need one more win to achieve a dream season.
Game notes: The Orioles were errorless on defense…..The O’s left seven runners on base, the Giants five….Tonight’s championship game starting time was changed from it’s original 6 p.m. scheduled start to make it easier for fans coming from Salinas.
Orioles 200 301 – 6 6 0
Giants 100 000 – 1 4 2
S. Cabral and Zozaya; Furtado and Schlie. WP-S. Cabral. LP-Furtado. 2B – Gessell (O); Alvarez (G). 4 hits – Gessell (O). 2 RBI – Gessell, S. Cabral (O).
