Morgan Hill Mustang ‘C’ team advances in winner’s bracket
Tuesday with 18-16 victory
MORGAN HILL — Morgan Hill Mustang Gray manager P.J. Rochon was on to something when he said it would take all 12 of his players doing their best for six innings to be successful in their host section tournament.
That was certainly the case Tuesday, when his young group of All-Stars overcame a six-run deficit to upset Fremont’s No. 2 team 18-16 at Britton Middle School.
Morgan Hill trailed 14-8 after the fourth inning before putting together a 10-run fifth to go ahead for good.
“We batted around the order that inning and, looking at stats, everyone had a base hit in the game. It was an exciting and fun win,” said Rochon, who played his entire lineup. “It took every one of us contributing. It was a total team effort.”
As the only ‘C’ team in the double-elimination tournament — one of two Morgan Hill Mustang Sectionals being played this week — Rochon’s group still faces an uphill battle, but with newfound confidence. The Gray All-Stars will take that into Thursday’s 5:30 p.m. matchup with Lakewood.
“You could see it in them after that game,” Rochon said. “They understand we’re going to be underdogs each game, and they understand they all need to contribute and believe in each other.”
Ethan Crawford and Christopher Knopf pitched for Morgan Hill but did their best work at the plate, collecting four and three singles, respectively. Derek Petersen and Joey Gustaveson also have three singles apiece for Gray, which snuffed out rallies with two putouts at home.
“Those were critical plays,” Rochon said. “The kids really stepped up.”
