LOS GATOS — Several times this season, Watsonville High has shown it has the might to beat the best the Central Coast Section has to offer without the help of any external force.
Pair that overwhelming strength with Lady Luck, and, well…
“We’re pretty tough to beat,” said Watsonville freshman outfielder Anastacia Alba.
A handful of clutch hits, a gritty pitching performance and a couple of lucky bounces in key moments. That was the winning formula for No. 3 Watsonville in its 5-1 triumph over No. 6 Los Gatos High in the quarterfinals of the CCS Open Division playoffs on Saturday.
Watsonville (23-3) junior pitcher Jessica Rodriguez slithered out of a handful of dangerous situations to pick up her 20th win of the season, and Alba all but sealed her team’s sixth consecutive win with a pair of late insurance runs on a two-run double, which took an odd hop over the Los Gatos (19-8-1) third baseman and found its way into the outfield.
“It got the job done,” Alba said of her high-bouncing hit. “I got lucky on that.”
At this point of the season, the Wildcatz will take any advantage they can get.
The degree of difficulty will only get higher in the semifinals for the co-champions of the Monterey Bay League Gabilan division. Watsonville will play No. 2 St. Francis-Mountain View on Thursday at 7 p.m. at PAL Stadium in San Jose.
It will be a rematch of a preseason game from earlier this spring, and a meeting of last year’s CCS Division I champ, Watsonville, and the Open Division runner-up, St. Francis. The Wildcatz won the first game, 3-0, at the Lancers’ home diamond behind Rodriguez’s impressive four-hit shutout.
“Hopefully I can pitch well again,” said Rodriguez, who is verbally committed to NCAA Division I UNLV. “I’m really excited to play them again, because we know what they’ve done and what they can do.”
Rodriguez walked the bases loaded in the first inning but escaped unscathed and got into a groove soon after. She allowed six hits, two of which came in the final inning as the Wildcats tried to claw out a comeback.
Los Gatos, champion of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League’s De Anza division, had the tying run on deck, but Rodriguez finished off her plucky performance with a pair of punch-outs and a pop up to advance the ‘Catz.
“I just told myself that I need to pick up my team because they’re doing their job on offense and I need to back them up on defense,” Rodriguez said. “I thought, ‘if I can’t hit my spots and get strikeouts, then I need to let them hit it and let my defense work.’”
Rodriguez had nine strikeouts, and heavily relied on her stingy infield and sure-handed outfield. Senior shortstop Savanah Quintana made a pair of highlight-reel stops, and freshman Maya Guerrero filled in nicely for senior third baseman Zaira Pena, a four-year starter who missed Saturday’s game because of a family engagement.
Guerrero was one of four freshmen, including second baseman Maliyah Sandin, outfielder Devyn Bugayong and Alba, who started for Watsonville on Saturday. Freshman first baseman Daisy Ortiz also saw action.
None in the quintet was overwhelmed with the moment.
“We go with the flow,” Alba said. “We’re not intimidated.”
Watsonville scored a pair of runs in the second and added three more in the fifth.
Junior first baseman Emily Ornelas brought home sophomore outfielder Angelina Heredia with an RBI double for the game’s first score, and Sandin plated Heredia to put the ‘Catz up 2-0.
Los Gatos split the lead in half in the fourth, but struggled to find success against Rodriguez the rest of the way.
Junior catcher Juliana Wilson recorded her 49th RBI of the year with a double in the fifth inning to make it 3-1. And Alba welcomed in Los Gatos’ new pitcher Erin Kiuttu, a senior, by slapping her unconventional two-run double.
Los Gatos sophomore Mira Sharma got the start and went 4 and 1-3 innings. She allowed six hits and four earned runs in the loss.
Rodriguez, Heredia and Quintana all hit doubles.
“Los Gatos knows what to do to make it close, and they did,” said Watsonville head coach Scott Wilson. “The pitchers made great pitches and got our hitters off-balance, and took us off our sweet spot. After that it was like, ‘what do we do?’ We had to adjust and that’s what our team did today. We made adjustments, and that’s what we’ve talked about all season long.”
Editor’s Note: This article will publish in the May 25 edition of the Pajaronian newspaper.
