The Morgan Hill No. 1 team watched its offense get rolling and
score just enough to hold on for a 7-5 win over San Jose PAL in the
semifinals of the Bronco Division Sectional All-Star tournament
Wednesday at Britton Field.
Morgan Hill – The Morgan Hill No. 1 team watched its offense get rolling and score just enough to hold on for a 7-5 win over San Jose PAL in the semifinals of the Bronco Division Sectional All-Star tournament Wednesday at Britton Field.
Morgan Hill advances to the championship game today at 10am at Britton.
Both teams plated runs in the first inning and were held scoreless in the second. In the top of the third, Morgan Hill scored three times to take a lead it would never relinquish.
Morgan Hill stretched the lead to 6-1 by the fifth inning, but San Jose mounted a threat.
With two runs already in and with only one out, San Jose had a runner on third and there was a hard hit ball to the shortstop Alex Hagiperos, who fielded it and fired home to gun down the runner and prevent a run from scoring.
The next batter grounded into a fielders choice to end the inning and Morgan Hill held a 6-3 lead.
In the top of the sixth inning, Hagiperos did some damage with his bat and he drilled an RBI single through the infield to give Morgan Hill a much-needed insurance run.
Morgan Hill maintained the 7-3 lead entering the bottom of the seventh and with two outs and a run already in, San Jose’s Gonzalo Garcia ripped an RBI double to deep right field to cut the lead to 7-5.
But that would be it for San Jose as Morgan Hill held on for the win to move to the finals.
MUSTANG DIVISION
WIth a berth in the finals on the line, Blossom Valley No. 1 capitalized on its opportunities early and often to beat Morgan Hill A 11-0 in four innings on Wednesday.
Morgan Hill had its chance in the first inning to take an early lead. Ben Hughes led off with a walk and Kyle Quadros delivered a single and both runners moved up on a wild pitch.
With one out, Blossom Valley pitcher Casey Conforti recorded a strike out for the second out, but the ball squirted away from the catcher, Matthew De Quirroz. De Quirroz picked it up, fired down to first to get the out and Hughes bolted for home, where De Quirroz fielded a return throw and tagged out Hughes for the final out of the inning.
Blossom Valley immediatlely took advantage and took the lead. De Quirroz led off the bottom of the first with a triple and scored when Bryson Brigman grounded out. Nathan Diamond then made it 2-0 Blossom Valley when he crushed a towering home run.
Blossom Valley scored five more runs in the second, with De Quirroz lacing another triple and Diamond delivered a two-run single and Blossom Valley added four in the third to win via the 10-run rule.
De Quirroz finished 3-for-3 with three runs scored, Brigman went 1-for-3 with a double and four RBIs and Diamond was 2-for-3 with four RBIs for Blossom Valley.
The loss dropped Morgan Hill to the loser’s bracket, where it played Friday night with a second chance to advance to the finals. The results were not available at press time.
