Hollister High baseball wins in CCS semifinals, heads to championship

Lea este artículo en español aquí.

Hollister High’s baseball team routed Menlo-Atherton High 8-2 to advance to the championship game of the Central Coast Section (CCS) Division II playoffs on May 31.

No. 3 seed Hollister (20-8) wil play No. 5 Wilcox at 5 p.m. at Excite Park in San Jose. 

Despite being limited to three hits, the Balers kept reaching base by inducing walks, getting hit by pitches, or taking advantage of defensive miscues by the Bears. 

Six Balers worked walks and four were hit by pitches to keep the line moving. Seven batters also reached base safely as a result of throwing errors by the Bears. 

“They couldn’t play catch and we got a key hit once in a while, too,” Hollister coach Michael Luna said. 

Two of those key hits came in the third inning when the Balers scored five runs to take a 7-0 lead. Catcher Gavin Rodriguez hit an RBI single to center field with runners on the corners and one out. Three batters later, third baseman Jake Esparza drove in two runs with a single to center field. 

The Balers scored their last run in the sixth inning on first baseman Wes Aviles’ ground ball when the throw to second base was dropped.

Playing with a lead from the start, Hollister pitcher Drew Gastelum threw four scoreless innings, allowing a hit and two walks. He finished the game with two strikeouts.

“Defense helped me, backed me up,” he said. “I tried to throw strikes, really.”

The Bears posed a threat in the second inning when the first two batters reached base but Gastelum induced two fly balls and a ground ball to end the inning. 

Luna said Gastelum was able to make pitches when he needed them the most.

“He threw four solid innings for us, which allowed us to put up four zeroes,” Luna said.

Luna brought in Evan Mendoza from shortstop to pitch the last three innings. Mendoza allowed three hits, two walks and hit two batters. 

The Balers were seeking their fourth consecutive shutout but errors in the seventh inning contributed to the Bears’ two runs. 

Menlo-Atherton scored its first run after Rodriguez tried to pick off pinch hitter Max Brubacher at third base. The ball, however, hit Brubacher and rolled to left field, allowing the runner to score.

The Bears’ second run came after a hard-hit ball bounced past Aviles. Two batters later, Mendoza induced a fly ball to center field to end the game. 

Luna is seeking his first CCS title. He said this is the eighth time one of his teams has reached the championship game, and the third in a row. The Balers’ opponent, Wilcox, has lost only two games in the last two months.

“Should be a really good game no matter who we face,” Luna said before Wilcox defeated Capuchino 8-2 on May 28.

The good news is that Hollister’s ace Trent Roach, who has not allowed an earned run all season, will be on the mound.

“When our guys are playing behind him there is an added confidence on their part because they know he is not going to give up too many runs, if any,” Luna said. “So we only have to score a few runs in order to win.”

In other CCS postseason action, the Hollister High softball team lost 3-2 in extra innings to The Kings Academy in the Division I playoffs on May 24, while Baler long jumper Hannah Vincent took first place in her event and Golda Demby took first in the shot put and second in the discus at the CCS finals with both advancing to the CIF State Track & Field Championships on May 30-31 in Clovis.

BenitoLink thanks our underwriter, Hollister Rotary, for helping expand the sports coverage around San Benito County. Rotary is a nonprofit organization that conducts humanitarian projects, encourages high ethical standards, and works toward world understanding. All editorial decisions are made by BenitoLink.