A year after winning the Salinas Easter Tournament’s silver
bracket, the Sobrato baseball team clinched a berth in the gold
bracket final Tuesday with a 13-3 victory over Palma
SALINAS — The Sobrato baseball team will play for the Salinas Easter Tournament’s top prize.
A year after winning the silver bracket, Sobrato clinched a berth in the gold bracket final Tuesday with an imposing 13-3 victory in five innings over Palma at Washington Middle School.
The Bulldogs will play Scotts Valley in the championship game at 7 p.m. Friday in Salinas Municipal Stadium.
Scotts Valley is one of three consecutive foes listed in the San Jose Mercury News’ top-15 rankings released Wednesday. Palma is No. 8, Scotts Valley is No. 13 and rival Live Oak is No. 15. Live Oak will host the Bulldogs in division play Tuesday.
“Every game right now is huge,” Sobrato coach Ulises “Shorty” Gutierrez said Thursday. “Each of these three games is an opportunity for us to prove ourselves. We’re looking forward to playing Scotts Valley again. They beat us 3-2 earlier this season.”
Sobrato (11-9 overall, 6-6 league) became just the fourth team to beat the Chieftains (15-4, 9-3) this season. The Bulldogs clinched it with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, ending the game by way of the tournament’s 10-run rule. They scored six runs in the second inning and four in the fourth.
Shea Adams and Ryan Williams went 2-for-3 batting with three RBIs, and Bryan Bradley scored three runs for Sobrato, which totaled 13 hits. Adams tripled twice, and Tim Andrade and Bradley once. Teammate Billy Birrell finished 2 for 4 with a double.
Williams got shelled with 10 hits, but held Palma in check on the way to collecting his fourth victory and third complete game. Williams (4-2) struck out five and walked one.
For the Chieftains, Phil Creecy doubled twice, and Tyler Kofman drove in two runs. Both players batted 3 for 3. John Pessagno scored twice and went 2 for 3 with an RBI.
