Live Oak graduate C.J. Goularte had one final chance last
weekend to watch from the sidelines as he coached his U11 Garlic
City Bandits to a second place state finish.
Live Oak graduate C.J. Goularte had one final chance last weekend to watch from the sidelines as he coached his U11 Garlic City Bandits to a second place state finish.
Goularte, an intense gamer in his own right, would be on the field if could – if no one would notice. But he had to be content on guiding the team into the championship game last Sunday after sweeping a triple-header sweep the day before.
There did not seem to be enough left in their tank though, as the Bandits were defeated by the Arsenal, out of Los Gatos, by a score of 13-0.
“This game really doesn’t reflect the way we played all weekend,” Goularte said “In this game, we made a couple crucial errors and those kids can flat hit the ball. As far as the rest of the weekend went, the Bandits played superbly.”
The 2001 graduate will be attending Abilene Christian College in Texas as a junior on a partial academic scholarship after finishing with a 4.0 GPA at Gavilan.
He will be leaving on Wednesday. When camp opens on Aug. 19, Goularte will try to make the team as a walk on.
Goularte, who was named the captain of the Gavilan baseball team at the start of the season, broke the inside part of his right tibia when he tried to beat out a bunt and collided with the first baseman during a game. Because of the injury, he didn’t have a chance to post the numbers he needed for an athletic scholarship.
Goularte has regained full use of his leg and has been practicing at the batting cages and has been working on fielding without any difficulties.
Goularte plans to rent in apartment while in Texas. He will be joining his girl friend Christen Alvarado, another Live Oak graduate who will be playing softball on a full scholarship there.
Chantiel McDonald, who played for Live Oak and coached the team to a Central Coast Championship, will be taking over as the new head softball coach for the program. She is a graduate of the school.
Goularte’s Bandits defeated the Woodland Dawgs by a score of 6-5 in the first game of the triple-header.
The Bandits held a 6-3 lead heading into the sixth inning when Woodland put together a rally.
Game-two on the day saw a less dramatic and subtle victory as the Bandits defeated the Solano Stingrays, 5-2. Jon Carin pitched four shutout innings.
It was the night game that presented the game of the tournament. The nightcap matched the Bandits up with the one team that has eluded them the past year.
On the mound for the Bandits was Ryan Williams – who pitched a gem. Williams pitched four shutout innings – allowing only a bloop hit. Williams had an uncharacteristically low strikeout total with just one.
It was the Bandits defense that came through making nine groundball outs through four innings. Offensively, the Bandits got on the board early courtesy of a two-run triple and a perfect suicide squeeze.
“That first inning was big for us,” Goularte said. “We needed to set a tone and get on the board early because we knew those guys would come back.”
A tone was certainly set as the Bandits controlled the first four innings and led 4-0. In the fifth inning Goularte faced a crucial decision.
According to USSSA rules, any pitcher who pitches more than four innings on one day can not come back to pitch the next day.
As the bracket turned out, the Bandits were already in the semifinal game win or lose. So Goularte decided to pull Williams – a move that put parents and fans on edge.
“I know that Ryan was shutting them down,” Goularte said. “But we needed him in the finals. It was a decision I didn’t actually make, I let the kids decide if Ryan continued and not pitch tomorrow or pull him, and the kids decided they should save him for the next day.”
Apparently, the Bandits were willing to get after it when they decided to pull Williams.
With two outs in the seventh inning, the Bandits had the tying run at third and the winning run on first. After a Campbell walk, Ryan Muir strolled to the plate with the game on the line.
“I thought about having him drag bunt for a hit, but in that situation you have to let players be players,” Goularte said.
With one strike on him, Muir hit the next pitch towards the hole between first and second base – drawing the first baseman far off the bag and out of position.
The first baseman bobbled the ball and Muir scorched down the line beating it out. In the meantime, the tying run scored and rounding third heading for home from second base was Briones. As the first baseman flipped to the covering pitcher, Briones jetted for home and slid past the catcher to give the Bandits a dramatic 9-8 walk-off victory.
“That is what baseball is all about,” Goularte said. “Moments like this not only build character but it builds great memories, especially for these kids.”
