Janitz keys Gregori rally past Lodi in first round of Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs

Tyler Janitz ranged to his right, gathered the ball and fired a rocket across the wind-swept diamond at Mastagni Family Field, pumping his fist toward the home dugout.

Just like that, No. 7 Gregori High was bound for University of the Pacific, the site of Wednesday’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division I South tournament.

Janitz flashed quality leather at shortstop throughout Monday’s 3-2 victory over No. 10 Lodi, but it was his patience at the plate that triggered the decisive rally and kept Gregori’s season alive.

The Jaguars (20-6) will face No. 2 Pitman on Wednesday in the double-elimination portion of the D-I South tournament at Klein Family Field. First pitch is at 7 p.m.

The teams have met once, but coach Rob Steves didn’t put much stock in a 6-3 victory in March.

“We beat them, but we’re two different teams now,” Steves said. “We’re both better than we were two months ago. We’re better and they’re better. ... It will be a good time.”

Gregori, which stumbled to the No. 10 seed after a narrow loss to Beyer in the Modesto Metro Conference regular-season finale, hasn’t lost consecutive games in more than two months.

On Monday, the Jags showed their resiliency.

Janitz reached base three times and drove in Gregori’s first run with a sharp single to right field. Leadoff hitter Jimmy McClenaghan went 3 for 3, and Johnny Alltstatt went 1 for 1 with a run.

“This group right here, you can see it in their eyes, they’re pretty close,” Steves said. “They didn’t want the season to be over. They didn’t want to say goodbye to each other.

“That loss to (Beyer) was good. We played a good game against a good team, and you know what, we got to play again. They’re ballplayers – they love to play the game.”

It was evident in the clutch.

Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Janitz drew a leadoff walk, his second of the game. He advanced to second on a bunt by Roberto Flores and scored the tying run on Dominic Carrillo’s single to center.

Flores raced home with the eventual winning run when Lodi dropped a fly ball in shallow left field.

Steves praised the discipline in the middle of his lineup against Lodi left-hander Dawson Lewis, who kept the Jaguars off balance early with a looping curveball.

“We led off with a walk by being patient. (Flores) put down the perfect bunt on the first-base side. All those little things allowed Dom to do what he did,” Steves said. “All of those little things added up to a big, big hit.”

Jefferson Gray notched the win in relief.

Anthony Dugo was effective but wild. He pitched into the sixth inning, allowing two runs and three hits. He plunked one batter, skipped three more balls to the backstop and worked around three walks.

Lodi (14-14) jumped on him earlier. Mason Blansett flipped a ball into a strong left-to-right wind and watched it carry off the foul pole in right field for a 1-0 lead.

The senior shortstop made it 2-1 in the top of the sixth with a double to the right-center field gap, chasing Dugo.

Gray, who has been slowed by the flu, worked out of the jam. He gave up only an intentional walk in relief and retired the side in order in the seventh.

The final two outs were recorded by Janitz, who punctuated the victory with a fist pump.

“I thought it was a playoff baseball game,” Steves said simply. “Everyone’s level rose.”

This story was originally published May 11, 2015 at 8:48 PM with the headline "Janitz keys Gregori rally past Lodi in first round of Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs."