Sobrato’s Williams goes the distance in 2-1 victory
MORGAN HILL — The third out was called, and Ryan Williams quietly stood up, made his way to the mound and began warming up for the eighth inning.
The Sobrato junior had already pitched a gem, but his job wasn’t done yet; not with his team headed to an extra inning against first-place Santa Teresa.
“He didn’t say anything. He knew he wasn’t coming out. He’s our guy,” Sobrato coach Ulises “Shorty” Gutierrez said.
Williams sent the Saints down in order with 11 pitches, Shea Adams scored on an overthrow to home plate in the bottom half, and the Bulldogs reaped a gritty 2-1 triumph Tuesday at Sobrato High School, moving within a game of Santa Teresa in the Mount Hamilton Division standings.
They became just the second team to beat the Saints this season, joining Live Oak.
“In this league, the team that makes the least mistakes is going to win,” Santa Teresa assistant coach Wayne Taylor said. “And that wasn’t us. I think we looked past these guys. They showed us how good they are.”
The Bulldogs (5-6 overall, 4-3 league) earned their fourth win in five games — and pulled out all the stops for it. They mustered several momentum-changing plays, including a pair of snow-cone catches by Bryan Bradley at third base, and capitalized off four Saints errors.
That was all the edge Williams (3-0) needed to collect his second straight complete-game victory. The 6-foot-3 right-hander struck out seven and gave up four hits.
“I’m actually not that tired right now,” Williams, who threw 76 pitches, said afterward. “It’s always nice to get the win as a the pitcher, but I’m just happy we played well. Today came down to who can play small ball better and earn their keep.”
Williams looked only stronger as the game went on. Using a four-seam fastball and a deceptive changeup, he fanned five batters in the last four innings.
“He threw strikes and really spotted the ball well today; a little better than he has normally,” Gutierrez said. “He had great success.”
Williams also had plenty of support behind him. Shortstop Billy Birrell made two long throws to first for putouts in the sixth and eighth innings, and left fielder Deric Huron threw out Steven Miller on a one-hopper to Adams at the plate in the seventh, saving a potential game-winning run.
“Defense and offense came through came through in the end,” Williams said. “When Deric made that play, we knew we had all the momentum. We just needed to score a run.”
Fittingly, Adams provided that after reaching on an infield single — Sobrato’s third of the day. The senior advanced to second on a passed ball, then moved to third when Saints reliever Spencer Koopmans intentionally walked Williams to load the bases with one out.
“I thought, ‘no matter what happens, I need to score,’ ” Adams said.
Kaleo Correa fouled off an attempted squeeze bunt, but drove a hard ground ball to third baseman Thomas Vaca, whose throw home went wide.
“They made a few errors, and we made things happen,” Gutierrez said. “So we had to put the ball in play, put guys in position to score and make plays.”
Santa Teresa (9-2, 5-2) scored on a hit-and-run play in the first inning, as Jacob Molina doubled home leadoff man Zach Jones. Sobrato tied it in the fourth with Correa’s RBI double to left, scoring Birrell from second.
Correa got on base in three of his four plate appearances. Birrell singled and reached on an error, and Rauley Cambra batted 1 for 2 with a walk for the Bulldogs, who are tied with Live Oak and Leigh for second place in the division.
Santa Teresa’s starter Joseph Bettencourt struck out four and gave up five hits in 4 2-3 innings.
Tuesday’s win was timely, considering Sobrato will face Jones, the Saints’ heralded ace pitcher, Thursday in a rematch at Santa Teresa’s Dave Gigliotti Field in San Jose.
“We’re excited to go against him,” Adams said. “He’s supposed to be all that,” Adams said.
Added Gutierrez: “Winning today was big because our goal is to at least take 2 of 3 from each team in league. The pressure’s on them now to beat us.”
