The Morgan Hill All-Stars didn’t need a heroic effort to finally
beat Paso Robles and avenge last week’s loss in the Morgan Hill
Section finals, just a complete game and the same gumption that
carried them to the 2010 Pinto World Series
BRENTWOOD
The Morgan Hill All-Stars didn’t need a heroic effort to finally beat Paso Robles and avenge last week’s loss in the Morgan Hill Section finals, just a complete game and the same gumption that carried them to the 2010 Pinto World Series.
Now they are two wins away from returning to the big stage.
Tommy Troy singled home the tying run and scored on an overthrow to third base in the same at-bat during the fifth inning, and Morgan Hill won 5-4 Thursday in the Mustang-9 Central Regional at Sunset Park for its second win in as many days against a section champion.
“It was great because we exorcised some demons from last weekend and showed we can play with anyone,” Morgan Hill manager Vince LaGatta said. “Paso Robles is a good team. They have a lot of heart, and they don’t go away. We finally beat them. Now we’re in the same spot we would have been if we did it last week.”
Morgan Hill was coming off an 11-0 triumph over East Bay champion Bel Passi, who on Thursday was eliminated from the seven-team qualifier for the West Zone World Series in a 9-5 loss to Blossom Valley. Morgan Hill plays host Brentwood or Orinda at 10:30 a.m. Saturday with the winner advancing to Sunday’s championship round.
Should they make it, the locals are confident they can go out on the winning side this time.
“I’m so proud of these kids,” LaGatta said. “But it’s only Step 2. We can’t get cocky here. There’s plenty more baseball left.”
The winning rally started with a single by Gio Saso, who then stole second and came home on Troy’s single in a close play at home. Saso was originally called out, but the ball had been jarred loose from the catcher’s mitt, and the call was overturned. Amid the confusion, Troy took off from second and scored on the errant throw to third.
“That’s exactly how we wanted to be on the basepaths,” LaGatta said. “We had to be aggressive.”
Morgan Hill also received RBI singles by Zack Gieg and Cooper Callison.
Vinnie LaGatta made his first pitching appearance this All-Star season and worked his way out of a jam in sixth inning for the save. He took a hard-hit grounder to the chest with runners at second and third and two outs but recovered in time to throw to first for the final out.
