Ryan Williams struck out five in a complete-game six-hitter, and the No. 2-seeded Bulldogs edged No. 14 Willow Glen 2-1 in a Division II semifinal game Thursday
With their starting pitcher in the center, fresh off winning the biggest game of his prep career, the Sobrato baseball players massed on the dew-softened mound, celebrating a magical muggy spring night in San Jose Municipal Stadium.
The several hundred fans on the home side, who cheered their loudest through the final few outs, beckoned for high-fives through the infield netting. Their Bulldogs staved off tournament spoiler Willow Glen, 2-1, in the Division II semfinals and are one win away from becoming the first team to win a CIF-Central Coast Section championship in their school’s six-year history.
Did any of them picture this moment before the season?
“We didn’t even mention it until about a week ago, when we won our first-round game,” Sobrato second baseman Tim Andrade said. “We’ve just kept winning.”
Ryan Williams would not let the No. 2-seeded Bulldogs fade against the upstart No. 14 Rams. The 6-foot-3 junior superbly collected his ninth win and fifth complete game of the season, outdueling Ricardo Diaz who also went the distance.
Santa Teresa Division runner-up Willow Glen, which ended the dream for No. 3 Palo Alto and No. 6 Westmont earlier this postseason, mounted a last-inning charge that pushed Sobrato to the brink. Diaz led off with a single, and Mitch Ravizza laced a double over Rauley Cambra in center field. Cambra recovered quickly, though, and Andrade’s relay throw to catcher Shea Adams was well in time to nail Diaz. Ravizza scored during the next play.
With their poise threatening to unravel along with their special season, Williams and the Bulldogs (20-13 overall) kept their cool and survived.
“I was just trying to stay calm,” said Williams, who struck out five and allowed six hits and no walks for his ninth win of the season. “I wasn’t nervous at all; it was just adrenaline. I just wanted to end it and put us in the championship.”
Williams (2-0) struck out Marcus Findeisen, but Nate Kadlecek extended the inning with a single to left, moving pinch-runner Jake Wilson to second. Andrade, whose error at second base led to Ravizza’s run, threw out Dane Gurley to end it, and the Bulldogs stormed the field.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” Sobrato’s fifth-year coach Ulises “Shorty” Gutierrez said. “Before the season, our goal was to place in the top four in the Mount Hamilton Division and make the playoffs. After we started 3-5, I was just hoping we could hang in that league. We had our rough moments, but they made us stronger this year. We developed a quiet confidence. We were ready for these types of games.”
Behind their pitching, the horse that carried them to a second-place finish in the Blossom Valley Athletic League ‘A’ division, the Bulldogs assured themselves of playing for the ultimate prize Saturday.
“(Williams) really gave us trouble today,” said Willow Glen coach Mike Riley, whose young team ended a precocious season at 23-10. “He kept us off balance, switching between his fastball and off-speed stuff. Our guys gave it everything they had against him.”
Sobrato will play top-seed Los Gatos at 1 p.m. in Municipal Stadium. The De Anza Athletic League champion Wildcats (27-5) defeated No. 5 Monterey 9-3 Thursday.
“We’re excited, but we’re not done yet,” said Bulldogs left fielder David Rotter, whose two-run double in the fourth was the difference Thursday.
Gutierrez plans to start his lefty, Chris Bradley, the winner in last Saturday’s 4-0 quarterfinal victory over No. 4 Leigh. Against Willow Glen, Bradley batted 2 for 3 with a triple.
“They’re a good hitting ball club, but we’re definitely going to have the edge in pitching,” Gutierrez said. “We can beat them definitely. We just need to bring our hitting and score any way we can.”
After stranding three base runners in the first three innings, Sobrato finally put together consecutive hits in the fourth. Tim Giles started the two-out rally with a walk, and Kaleo Correa followed with a single to right on a hit-and-run play, putting runners at first and second for Rotter. The junior left fielder connected on a 2-1 fastball to clear the bases. The ball landed just out of reach of a diving Ryan Sommers in shallow center.
“I was just sitting back waiting for that pitch,” Rotter, a junior, said. “I knew it was big going up there with two men on. I had to come through.”
That was the one blemish for Diaz (1-1), who struck out four, walked two and batted 2 for 3.
“We couldn’t give him any support,” Riley said. “When they got hits, they put it in the gap. When we hit the ball, we hit it right to them, but that’s baseball.”
The game with endless possibilities has boded well for these Bulldogs, a team that has not ceased to surprise.
