The Live Oak baseball team dropped back into a tie for first
place in the Tri-county Athletic League after a 6-5 loss at Gilroy.
The Acorns and the Mustangs face off against at 4 p.m. Friday.
The Live Oak baseball team dropped back into a tie for first place in the Tri-county Athletic League after a 6-5 loss at Gilroy.
The Acorns and the Mustangs face off against at 4 p.m. Friday.
The loss makes the April 30 match at Hollister, who also has two losses, all the more important in determining the outcome of the league. The Acorns (12-5, 7-2 TCAL) and Mustangs (3-11, 2-7 TCAL) came into the game on opposite ends of the league standings, but it was the Mustangs who did the little thing like a double steal and a suicide squeeze to get the job done.
It looked as if the Acorns offense was going to explode for a first-inning rally, but the Acorns got just one run. After Andrew Cummins had picked up two strikes, he led off the inning with a hit that the shortstop stopped but had no play. Scott Hayslip dropped a ball in front of the left fielder to get on base, and Ryan Muller walked to load the bases with one out. Cummins scored on a wild pitch. Gilroy got an out at home and a fly ball to end the threat.
Sophomore starter Peter Mickartz retired the next 11 Acorns that he faced. The Acorns did mount a couple of two-out rallies after being down 6-1.
After the Acorns knocked Mickartz out and loaded the bases in the fifth inning, Muller, who went 2-for-3 with a walk, knocked in two runs with a base hit to right field. Sean Nourie launched a two-run jack over the left field wall in the seventh inning to keep it exciting.
“We had nothing to lose against the front runner,” said Gilroy coach Clint Wheeler. “We just wanted to put the pressure on them. They’re a real good team, and they have some dangerous guys. We should have thrown Nourie a curve ball to maybe put him on first base.”
The Mustangs got a run in the second inning, three in the third and two in the fourth.
“Gilroy’s a real scrappy team,” said Live Oak coach Mark Cummins. “You got to give them credit for executing the plays.”
After a double steal in the third inning, Gilroy’s Todd Gimenez laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt on a high ball to score Marty Sustaita.
“We saw it right away,” said catcher Chase Perez. “We kind of expected them to bunt because they like to bunt. I didn’t think he would get it because it was over his head.”
Dylan Regan pitched the final two innings for the Acorns and didn’t give up a run.
Regan was aided in the fifth inning by a nice diving snag by shortstop Dave Newton. Newton ran down a fly ball just behind Muller at third and slid to his knees to make the catch.
Muller will get the start on Friday as the Acorns try to re-establish their status in the league as the No. 1 team.
“We never gave up,” Cummins said. “It’s not the end of the season. We can either go two directions. Either we can learn from this and improve or we can do the opposite, which I won’t let happen.”
