Sobrato travels to Leigh today
SAN JOSE — Putting all the right pieces together, the Sobrato baseball team claimed its first win of the season Monday.
Chris Bradley collected four RBIs, Shea Adams scored three runs and Ryan Williams pitched a solid six innings, as the Bulldogs pounded out an 8-1 victory over Leland in a Blossom Valley Athletic League-Mount Hamilton Division game in San Jose.
Sobrato (1-3 overall, 1-0 BVAL) evened the series with Leland (2-4, 1-1) and, for the moment, moved into a six-way tie for first place.
“It’s a huge win for us,” Sobrato coach Ulises “Shorty” Gutierrez said. “Our goal is to try and beat everyone two out of three. The loss to them in our last game meant this is a must-win situation this early in the year.
“People saw us at 0-3 and might have thought that’s where we’re supposed to be. I think we showed them something today.”
Williams set the tone. The junior right-hander earned his first decision of the year, striking out seven and surrendering one unearned run on nine hits and one walk.
“He was very efficient,” Gutierrez said. “He gave up some hits, but they didn’t hurt us.”
The Bulldogs rallied for four runs in the third inning after Leland scored off two errors in the second.
Sobrato’s Andrew Commons drove in David Rotter on a hard groundball that trickled into right field, and Billy Birrell and Williams added RBI base hits. Williams advanced home Adams and Kaleo Correa.
The Bulldogs poured in two runs during the fifth and seventh innings — each off the bat of Bradley. The junior brought in Adams and Williams in the fifth, then doubled home Adams and Birrell in the seventh.
“It was the same thing just about,” Gutierrez said. “Chris Bradley came up huge for us.”
Batting in the No. 2 spot, Adams finished 2 for 3 with one walk and stole a base.
“Shea gave us a boost at the top of the order,” Gutierrez said. “He helped us overcome those early mistakes.
“We played all seven innings today. It was a good all-around team effort.”
Sobrato begins a two-game series on the road Tuesday against Leigh.
