Without its No. 1 pitcher, and only two home runs all year long, the Live Oak High baseball team lives on one simple word: grit.
That mindset caused the Acorns to stumble out of the gate, but as the calendar turns to the second half of the Blossom Valley Athletic League season, Live Oak knows it is finding its way. Thanks to Kyle Quadros, who has stepped into the No. 1 role after an injury to Mitch Hickey, and timely hitting, Live Oak has won its past three games, including victories over Gilroy High and cross-town rival Sobrato.
“This is a group of kids who have faced adversity all season long,” Live Oak coach C.J. Goularte said. “Our best pitcher goes down with an injury, so we’ve moved lineups. We’ve had guys step up.
“We got off to a slow start. There are missing pieces and guys aren’t sure how to fit. They are understanding that good things are going to happen. That win (over Sobrato) is evidence of that.”
Against the Bulldogs, Live Oak took seven walks and six base hits and earned a come-from-behind 4-3 home win Saturday. It was the Acorns’ third consecutive victory over their cross-town rival.
After losing a one-run lead in the top of the sixth inning, Live Oak took the lead for good after John Forestieri led off the inning with a ground-rule double over the left-field fence. He eventually scored on an RBI single by Adrian Garcia.
For the Acorns, the win was a microcosm of their season.
“I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Goularte said. “What this win means to them really is just evidence of that. They stepped up and made a lot of progress to get to that ultimate goal for us. Now, it’s just about momentum. We talk about that in the game. We talk about the momentum in the game and (to) sustain it. That’s what this win does. It gives you a big win, and we were scratching and clawing to get the win.”
Both teams opened the scoring in the second inning. Sobrato jumped on top 1-0 thanks to an RBI single by Bradley Higgins, who drove in Tanner Disibio from third base. Live Oak, though, didn’t take long to respond.
After a leadoff walk by Zach Riveron, Quadros flipped a ball just over Sobrato’s Andrew Bueno for an RBI single.
Sobrato took the lead once again in the fourth inning, but in the fifth, Live Oak scored twice to regain the advantage. Matt Bergantz was the only Acorn to finish with multiple hits, going 2-for-2. Ben Nuno, who went 1-for-4, knocked in two runs for the Acorns.
Disibio was 2-for-3 for the Bulldogs to lead their offense.
The game, though, came down to pitching for both teams. Quadros pitched seven strong innings, allowing five hits and no earned runs. He struck out four.
The victory was a confidence builder for the Acorns, Quadros said.
“This picks up our confidence and we will start winning games more,” he said. “It brings us back up. They are rivals for us. That’s a big fight there. It gets us playing better. Nobody can play like that against us. We just have to keep getting better.”
Quadros’ quiet confidence has helped stabilize the Acorns, Goularte said.
“Mitch is a good player and a lot of guys were looking around when he went down,” Goularte said. “And then Kyle said, ‘It’s my turn.’ That’s what good players do. And they step up when the team needs them. He has taken it and he has given us a quality start every outing, pretty much.”
