There was no story-book ending for the Greyhound varsity
baseball squad on Saturday, as McKinleyville held off a furious
seventh inning rally to post a 9-7 victory in the North Coast
Section title game.
The surging Panthers, winners of nine of their last 11
ballgames, erased a 4-1 deficit in the fateful fifth inning that
was helped considerably by three of the Hounds¹ eventual five
fielding errors. Down by five runs in their final at-bat,
Healdsburg¹s comeback bid fell short leaving the team wondering
what might have been.
³It was a good year, but a tough way to end the season,² said
senior hurler Jorge Gonzalez, who posted an outstanding 7-1 record
on the year and tossed two innings on Saturday.
Team photographer Jane Richard, who has witnessed almost every
Hounds¹ game during the last five seasons, perhaps summed it up
best.
³What I¹m saddest about is that all the people who finally came
to watch this team play didn¹t see what I watched day after day for
three months,² she said. ³Their performance on Saturday is not what
should be remembered of this team.²
The NCS 2A championship clash held at Santa Rosa Junior college,
was the first-ever for a Healdsburg baseball team and was the
opening game of a double-header that included the 3A title game
between Analy and Casa Grande. The Gauchos defeated the Tigers, 5-4
to win their third straight NCS crown.
Healdsburg (18-8) came into the contest as the number two seed
and slight favorites to complete a tremendous 2006 campaign that
already represented the most wins ever for a Hounds¹ team. The
Panthers (16-9) entered the game riding a wave of momentum that
included a semi-final win over top-seeded Arcata.
Hounds¹ senior hurler Mitch Sindle, the winningest pitcher in
team history, climbed the hill opposite Panther ace Tom Jaso. The
visiting Panthers drew first blood in the opening frame when their
leadoff batter laced a first-pitch single to right field and later
scored for a 1-0 lead.
The Greyhounds drew even in the bottom of the second as Brooks
Gerstley singled and came home when Brian Bush reached safely on an
infield error to knot the game at 1-1. In the Healdsburg third,
Jake Miller was hit by a pitch and was driven in by Kory Hirtzer
for a 2-1 Hounds lead.
Living dangerously, Sindle miraculously wiggled out of a jam of
his own doing in the fourth, when two Panther sacrifice bunt
attempts were mishandled, loading the bases with no out. A blown
suicide squeeze attempt, sandwiched by a pair of strikeouts kept
the Panthers off the scoreboard.
The Hounds¹, displaying great situational hitting, rallied in
the fourth when Gerstley led off with a walk, followed by a hit and
run by Justin Brandt to put runners at first and second with no
out. Bush laid down a sac-bunt to move both runners into scoring
position, and Rigo Jacinto delivered a sac-fly to score Gerstley.
Miller was hit by a pitch for the second time, setting up a
brilliantly conceived delayed steal. On the play, Miller broke for
second, stopped and was caught in a rundown. Brandt steamed home
before Miller was tagged out and the Hounds led 4-1.
Things unraveled quickly for Sindle in the fifth, when the
Panthers loaded the bases again with nobody out. A hit-batsman made
it a 4-2 game and prompted the Hounds to replace Sindle with fellow
senior ace, Gonzalez. A wild pitch and a fielder¹s choice knotted
the contest at 4-4, but another pair of RBI singles had the
Panthers up 6-4 and sniffing a championship.
McKinleyville plated two more runs in the sixth and added
another insurance tally in the seventh before Healdsburg staged a
seventh-inning uprising.
Symbolic of a team that didn¹t know the word quit, Miller and
Hirtzer ripped singles to lead off the inning, followed by a walk
to Norm Lausten to load the bases. Gonzalez plated Miller on an RBI
fielder¹s choice and Corey Harms walked to re-load the bases with
one out. Gerstley, in the best at-bat of the season, fouled off
several nasty pitches from Jaso before lacing a clutch, two-run
single to make it 9-7. Brandt drew a walk to put the tying run on
second base, but reliever Nick Racines retired the final two
batters to preserve the Panthers¹ 9-7 win and secure the NCS
crown.
Sindle (7-3) took the loss, while Gonzalez (2 IP) and Mike White
(1 IP) finished up in relief. Pacing the Hounds¹ six-hit attack
were: Miller (1 for 1, 2 runs), Hirtzer (2 for 4, RBI), Gerstley (1
for 3, 2 runs, 2 RBIs), Brandt (1 for 3) and Bush (1 for 3).
