Morgan Hill No. 1 will move onto the Bronco Division Regional
All-Star tournament despite losing a pair of games to Santa Clara
No. 1 in the finals of the Sectional tournament Saturday at Britton
Field.
Morgan Hill – Morgan Hill No. 1 will move onto the Bronco Division Regional All-Star tournament despite losing a pair of games to Santa Clara No. 1 in the finals of the Sectional tournament Saturday at Britton Field.
The top two teams advanced to the Regionals, which begin Thursday in Brentwood.
Morgan Hill entered the championship game undefeated and on the heels of a 7-3 win over San Jose PAL and it quickly jumped to a lead.
Grant Goyette was hit by a pitch on a 3-2 count to lead off the game and Dom Bejarano reached on a fielder’s choice when Goyette was forced out at second base. Alex Hagiperos followed by blasting a double to score Bejarano and Hagiperos scored when Jordan Dexter crushed a double for a 2-0 Morgan Hill lead.
But that advantage was short-lived.
After a walk, a bunt single and a balk put runners at second and third, Santa Clara’s Cail McClenahan smashed a two-run ground-rule double to tie the game.
Jason Riland followed with an infield single and Grady Caldwell delivered an RBI groundout to put Santa Clara on top 3-2.
Angel Valdez plated another run for Santa Clara when he reached on an error and when the batting order turned over and leadoff hitter James Soares came up for his second plate appearance of the inning, he hit a two-run single and Morgan Hill trailed 6-2.
Santa Clara pitchers Riland and Nick Jackson then took over the game, facing the minimum over the next four innings.
Morgan Hill had three runners reach base during that stretch, but two were picked off and one was forced out as part of a double play.
Meanwhile, Santa Clara added two more runs in the third, one in the fourth and two in the sixth to cruise to an 11-2 victory.
The loss was Morgan Hill’s first in the double-elimination tournament, meaning a second game was required to determine the Sectional champion.
In the second game, Morgan Hill again struck first. Bejarano led off the game with a double. After he moved to third on a passed ball, Goyette grounded out to short stop and Bejarano crossed the plate on the play to make it 1-0.
Morgan Hill’s Andy Muller looked strong on the mound in the first inning, retiring the side in order with a ground out, strike out and line out.
After Morgan Hill went down 1-2-3 in the top of the second, Santa Clara got the equalizer.
Riland led off the inning with a single and stole his third of four bases on the day. He moved to third on a ground out and scored the game-tying run on a wild pitch.
Morgan Hill regained the lead in the fourth. Dexter led off the inning with a walk and with two outs Chase Chadband delivered an RBI double for a 2-1 lead.
Santa Clara wasted little time in responding. Riland walked to lead off the bottom of the fourth and quickly stole second and scored when Caldwell reached on an error.
The lead jumped back to Morgan Hill’s hand in the top of the fifth. Jerry Jacob led off the inning with a single and Bejarano walked. Bejarano was picked off first, but on the play Jacob moved up to third and scored when Goyette picked up his second RBI groundout of the day to make it 3-2.
But once again, Santa Clara had an answer, scoring two runs to take a 4-3 lead.
Morgan Hill had a chance to tie it in the sixth. Dexter led off the inning with a single and moved over to third with one out.
Tommy Naranjo laid down a bunt, which was fielded by the pitcher, who fired it home to cut down Dexter at home and maintain Santa Clara’s lead.
Morgan Hill put a runner on second base in the seventh inning, but Santa Clara’s Riland recorded a strikeout and induced a game-ending groundout to secure the win.
