Little over a month ago, when Jalen Hernandez broke his right battering hand in frustration to hit something, he had no idea that he would get a chance to make things right.
“I broke my hand and hit something I shouldn’t have done, but I’ve learned my lesson,” he said. “I’ve worked it through, I’ve worked through all of my emotions, and I’m back and better.”
In earnest. Hernandez made his first start since the incident, delivering a clutch performance and delivering a full game to lead Gilroy High to a 4-2 win over King’s Academy in a Central Coast Section Division V playoff semi-final on Wednesday. The Mustangs seeded with No. 8 (4-7) play on Saturday at 11 a.m. in the championship game in Pacific Grove with No. 3 (7-12).
The Mustangs have already made history as this is the first time in program history that they have reached a CCS title contest. However, they want to take home the championship trophy.
“It would mean anything if we could win it,” said Hernandez, who only allowed three hits and no deserved runs while hitting seven. “It will be the last time we seniors wear a Gilroy High uniform. It would be great if we could win the school’s first CCS title. It would be something like a holy Mecca. “
For the second time in as many playoff games, the Mustangs have been embroiled in a nerve-wracking affair. After beating the top seeded Soledad 6-5 in the quarterfinals, Gilroy reached the end of the seventh inning against King’s Academy with a seemingly comfortable 4-0 lead. But that was before the Mustangs – who had played flawless defense throughout the game – suddenly wobbled a little.
Two mistakes led to two runs, and the Knights suddenly had the potential winning run on the home plate with one out and two runners on base. But Hernandez recorded his seventh strikeout before triggering a flyout to seal the result. Credit Mustangs coach Dennis Castro for sticking with Hernandez – most high school coaches would have been hooked if they saw any sort of fade from the starter in the seventh inning.
Even though Hernandez gave up two hits in the last frame – or twice as many as he had before – he was still strong.
“My move and my corner worked really well,” he said. “I threw changeups with 0-2 counts and they swung it straight through. My curveball was on and they didn’t want any of it. It broke everyone and everyone was frozen. I’ve had some good starts this season, especially the one against Valley Christian. But this one was a victory, and that’s all you can ask for. “
The game was goalless until Gilroy took a 2-0 lead at the top of the sixth. Ryan Villanueva isolated with an out and Aaron Valdez left before both double steals advanced one base. Villanueva then scored on a wild place and Valdez moved up to third place. Quinn Larson followed with a prey fly, which Valdez scored.
Gilroy added two critical runs in the sixth run. David Seanez was hit by a pitch, Bryan Walters left, and both advanced one base on a wild pitch. Owen Straub followed with a two-run single with a sharp liner on the left field, the 4-0. Talk about getting through when the team needs it the most. Up to Straub’s hit, the Mustangs were 1 to 12 with runners in the points position.
Seanez made three spectacular plays at second base, none better than throwing a grounder in the middle backhand and in one motion the ball with his gloved hand to shortstop Walters, who stepped on second base and threw to first for a double play to finish the sixth in a brilliant four-pitch inning for Hernandez.
Seanez also covered a lot of ground, making a nice catch over the shoulder with a flyball on flat right field to end the end of the fourth inning. Gilroy’s tablesetter had two hits and hit base three times. Gilroy has come a long way since suffering a grace-ruled 0-0 loss to Christopher on Senior Night on May 17. Two days later, the Mustangs lost 6-2 to Live Oak, earning a 4th place in the Division I Bracket (essentially this year’s Open Division). Due to the long break from the end of the regular season to the playoffs, the Mustangs were able to sharpen things in practice and turn the CHS game into something positive.
“You (Christopher) whipped us in the buttocks,” said Hernandez. “But that flipped a switch in us. It gave us a taste of something we didn’t want to taste. We didn’t like that taste in our mouth, so we spit it out and got back together and fought as a team in training. We fought against everything in training and in the intrasquads. We got closer and closer. Against Christopher we played as a single player; Today we played as a team and we had to work on it all week in training. “
When asked if he was surprised he could deliver a dominant performance after a month out, Hernandez displayed a confidence that prevailed throughout the game.
“No, I’m not surprised,” he said. “In my opinion, when it comes to pitching, it’s a matter of muscle memory. No matter what it is – you can blindfold me – I’ve been doing it for so long that for me it’s muscle memory. My only problem was the pain. If my hand didn’t feel good, could I throw my pitches the way I wanted to? In the beginning it hurt, but you have to overcome the pain, especially for your team. “
Give Hernandez credit for admitting his mistake and just as importantly seeing him come back to make one of his best starts of the season. The cast was not removed from the right-hander until June 11th and he has since done everything to get back on track.
“I was just struggling to get the hand better,” he said. “I tried to strengthen it so that I could do what I did today. I was so sad that I broke my hand and I knew it right away. I was stupid and shouldn’t have. It was a selfish move. I wasn’t thinking about the team; I just thought of myself. In those three weeks I was so sad because you can’t play, you can’t train, you’re standing on the sidelines. But it was good for my arm because my arm came to rest and I felt good today. “
It showed.
