In a game with league title and playoff implications, Gunn took a close SCVAL El Camino Division game from visiting Milpitas on Tuesday afternoon, 7-6. With the win, Gunn has clinched at least a tie for the best record in the league and, a win in any of the final three games, will clinch the title. Gunn improved to 10-2 in league (18-6 overall) while Milpitas dropped to 6-6 (10-13-1).
Milpitas had been one of three teams with 6-5 records, tied for second place. And, given the implications, both teams played extremely tight. Going into the bottom of the fifth, Milpitas had a 3-1 advantage. On Trojan errors, junior Connor Dang and senior Jake Verhulp both scored to tie the game at 3. Then, Gunn senior Graham Fisher hit a go-ahead three-run homer, his sixth of the season, to give the Titans a 6-3 lead.
But, the Trojans wouldn’t go away, scoring two runs in the top of the sixth and one in the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh with one out, Fisher hit a sharp single to left for his third hit of the game. Freshman Matthew Sandor singled pinch-runner Scott Ziebelman to second, and junior Chris Rea had a ground-rule double to deep left to score Ziebelman for the win.
Gunn senior ace Ryan Gorman got the start, but was a little off balance in the first inning, walking the leadoff batter, who junior catcher Ben Sampson then threw out at second attempting to steal. In the second, Gorman settled down to strike out the side on 12 pitches. Gorman gave up five runs (four earned) on seven hits, and had seven strikeouts. It was Gorman’s first non-decision start since Feb. 28. Fisher took the mound in the seventh and gave up one unearned run, but got the win, pushing his record to 3-1.
Gunn travels to Fremont to take on the Firebirds on Thursday. Next week, Gunn hosts Monta Vista and Cupertino.
