SAN JOSE
– The Morgan Hill Bronco All-Star team wanted to leave nothing
to chance after dropping down to the loser’s bracket of the Section
Tournament at PAL Stadium.
SAN JOSE – The Morgan Hill Bronco All-Star team wanted to leave nothing to chance after dropping down to the loser’s bracket of the Section Tournament at PAL Stadium.
Morgan Hill defeated Los Altos 18-1 in the first game Monday night, then won 19-0 in the second game.
In that second game, Morgan Hill’s Robert Adam and Joe Forestieri combined to throw a no-hitter against Los Altos. Adam was a little wild in the first inning, throwing a couple pitches to the backstop, but he settled down and retired the first nine batters in order. Forestieri came in in the fifth inning and had four strikeouts.
Both pitchers showed they could field their positions. In the fourth inning, Adam ranged way into foul territory by home plate to catch a popup that he had a read on the whole way. Forestieri gobbled up a couple tough slow rollers and threw to first for the outs.
The Morgan Hill defense came up with some big plays in the field. Center fielder Matt Nilmeyer saved a hit in the third inning with a nice head first sliding dive.
In the fourth inning, shortstop Philip Thrappas fielded a ground ball and threw to Dylan Davis, who put the tag on at third base to get the second out. Los Altos was so surprised that they headed off the field with the endorsement of the umpires.
It was only after they checked with the official scorer that they found out there was two outs and then came back on the field. That was the way the night went for Los Altos.
It wasn’t until the third inning that Morgan Hill was able to work out a run. Thrappas, who was 4-for-4 and reached base all six times, started it out with a ball hit through the middle that the pitcher just missed fielding.
In the fourth inning, Matt Nilmeyer was hit by a pitch and eventually scored the second run on a balk. Alika Bantilan had a single and scored. Eric Sanchez, who was 4-for-4 off the bench, dropped a ball in right field between three fielders.
With the count full, Adam doubled off the left center wall. The ball caromed off the wall and rolled back to the infield, allowing two runs to score. Adam scored the fifth run for Morgan Hill as he drew the throw at third base and then slid past the tag of the catcher.
In the sixth inning, Morgan Hill got three more runs. Thrappas knocked in Sanchez after the third baseman misplayed a ball. And Kevin Saign knocked him in with a sacrifice fly to right. Charlie McClung made it 8-0 as he slapped in an RBI hit to left field.
Morgan Hill broke it open in the seventh inning, scoring 11 runs and sending 17 batters to the plate. Sean LaBranche, who came in off the bench, was able to pick up a hit in second time at bat in the inning. Ryan Moyano also had a double in the inning.
Both Los Altos and Morgan Hill advance to the Regionals beginning Saturday at Hammer School in San Jose.
Note: The Morgan Hill American team, playing at Hammer School, lost its first game to Blossom Valley 10-0. The American team then defeated the Morgan Hill National B team in a come-from-behind 9-8 victory. In Sunday’s game, Morgan Hill defeated Los Altos 9-7. Results from Monday’s game were not available at press time.
