Shea Adams stroked a first-pitch two-out RBI single into center
field, and the Sobrato Bulldogs held off a late charge by Live Oak
to win 5-4 in eight innings Thursday at Sarich Field
MORGAN HILL — Sobrato’s Shea Adams conversed with Chris Bradley several times Thursday, keeping Bradley’s mind at ease as he pitched the decisive finale of a three-game series with Live Oak.
Their roles reversed in the sixth inning after Adams whiffed on Connor Sutton’s 3-2 offering with two outs, the bases loaded and the score 3-3. It was Adams’ third strikeout of the day.
“You’ll get another time when it counts even more,” Bradley told his catcher.
Through a series of thrilling twists that sent the Mount Hamilton Division contest to an eighth inning, Adams was given another chance to be the hero — again, versus Sutton with two outs, a runner in scoring position and the game tied.
Rather than strike out, Adams struck gold. The senior stroked a first-pitch fastball into shallow center field, scoring Kaleo Correa from second base and sending the Bulldogs to a 5-4 triumph at Sarich Field.
“I needed to make something happen,” said Adams, who finished 1 for 4 at the plate. “I couldn’t let my team down again. It feels unbelievable.”
Adams was on the other side of the spectrum in Game 2 when he threw the pitch that led to Rich Martinez’s seventh-inning RBI single, the difference in a 1-0 victory for Live Oak. Adams also pitched four solid innings for no decision in the Bulldogs’ 9-7 win in Game 1.
“To see Shea come through like this feels great,” Sobrato’s fifth-year coach Ulises “Shorty” Gutierrez said. “He struggled today, but we’ve always relied on him. He handled adversity and regrouped.”
With their first two victories in program history over the cross-town rival Acorns, the Bulldogs sacked the season series. They secured an outright second-place finish in the Blossom Valley Athletic League ‘A’ division and ended the regular season 17-13 overall and 12-9 in league.
Winners of five of their last six, the Bulldogs will learn Saturday whom they will face in the CIF-Central Coast Section Division II Playoffs.
“Even though it didn’t mean much for us as far as wins and losses, we needed this win to feel good going into the playoffs,” Gutierrez said. “So it was a must-win for us.”
The Bulldogs were one out away from winning in the seventh, but Live Oak’s Dylan Davis blooped an RBI single into right off Bradley to tie it 4-4.
“I wasn’t too thrilled about that. I wanted that win so bad,” Bradley said. “I saw that ball pop up and thought, ‘that should be the game!’ Then it fell. My heart just dropped.”
Bradley matched a career high with a dozen strikeouts, walked six and gave up two earned runs on six hits in a brilliant 6 2-3 innings. The junior lefty threw more than 130 pitches.
With men at second and third, Billy Birrell (1-2) struck out Cody Casino on four pitches to end the seventh.
“We tried to push another run across, but it wasn’t meant to be,” said Live Oak coach Mark Cummins, whose team has lost six straight. “We had a lot of situations where we just didn’t come through. It’s kind of the story of our last six or seven games. We just haven’t gotten the big hit we had in the beginning of the year.”
Sutton (7-5), the Acorns’ senior closer, got two quick outs to begin the eighth, but Correa lined a pinch-hit single into left to set up Adams’ game-winning knock.
“I’m not disappointed with how we played. We should have had that game won, but there were a lot of mistakes,” said Sutton, alluding to the combined seven errors in the game. “We do a couple of things here and there, we would have had it.”
Sutton struck out five in relief of starter Rich Martinez, who last five strong innings. Martinez, a sophomore, allowed five hits and three walks.
“Connor and Richy both pitched very well today,” Cummins, now in his 23rd year with Live Oak, said. “Richy did a great job for us. He deserved better.”
The Acorns led for most of the game. Michael Schreiber snuck a run-scoring single up the middle in the first, and Davis and Gabriel Mancias delivered RBIs in the fourth to push Live Oak ahead 3-1. Davis finished 2 for 4, and Ryan Muir singled, drew a walk and scored twice for the Acorns (15-14, 8-12).
“It hurts,” Davis, a senior, said. “It’s all about how we do as a team. We have players do big things here and there, but it’s a team effort. We win and lose as a team.”
Sobrato got on board in the fourth with Tim Giles’ ground-rule double that scored Birrell. An inning later, the Bulldogs pulled even on back-to-back RBI singles by Bradley and Birrell. Aaron Wallace scored on Bradley’s infield single, narrowly beating the throw from first baseman Ken Hall to catcher Tony Austin.
Ryan Williams plated Birrell on a double to deep left-center in the seventh to push Sobrato ahead 4-3.
“We never felt out of it — even after we fell behind,” Muir said. “We stayed focused just by knowing we’ve done this before. We’ve come back lots of times this season. We were determined.”
Martinez helped the Acorns stay alive in the seventh, drawing a walk after Muir smacked a first-pitch single off Bradley’s glove. Davis’ big hit came next.
“I was thinking fastball; he threw me a lot of those today,” Davis said. “Unfortunately, I got under it, but the wind dropped it. It was nice — a huge sigh of relief for me. We still had a chance.”
Mancias and Sutton lined out on back-to-back plays in the eighth as Birrell retired the side in order.
“Everyone stepped up today,” Bradley said. “When you’re playing the Acorns, you have to finish the job.”
Live Oak’s regular season ends today with a make-up game against Branham. The seventh-place Acorns desperately need a victory to stay alive in the postseason race. The reigning Division III champions have not missed the playoffs in 17 seasons.
