Here’s how Central Valley upset Elk Grove, winning its first playoff game in school history
When senior Gabrial Lopez is on the mound for Central Valley High School, the Hawks feel like they can beat anybody. It’s been their motto all year and has stood as the San Francisco State-bound right hander has helped secure seven wins, including three in his last three starts.
It was a no-brainer to have Lopez on the mound for the Central Valley’s second playoff game in school history in Tuesday’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division I first-round game. The Hawks earned 14-seed in the Division I bracket of the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs and were tasked with a first-round matchup with Elk Grove, which has won a combined 11 section titles in Divisions I and II.
“Our mentality was just when he’s on the mound, we can beat anybody,” said Hawks coach Derrick Goblirsch. “If we can keep it close late in the game, we played so many close games this year, we knew that if we were tight late, we got a shot. When we got to that position, I felt like our guys felt really comfortable because we’ve been there before.”
The 3-2 win over the Thundering Herd was the Hawks’ seventh one-run game. They picked up their fifth win in the biggest game of the season. With the victory, Central Valley won its first playoff game in school history.
“Our message to the guys was nobody, nobody outside of this room is gonna expect us to win the game and that doesn’t matter,” Goblirsch said. “Once we believe it, we can make it happen and to do it against a big school like that, that’s a top notch baseball program in this area. They have a bunch of guys scattered around the MLB right now. So if you want to put yourself on the map, you’ve got to beat a team like that and I think for our guys to do it in the way that they did is very special for them.”
Goblirsch and his team prepared well for what the Thundering Herd would throw at them.
The Hawks went into the game expecting a different look from Elk Grove sidearm pitcher Andrew Hutcheson and Lopez knew what to expect from the opposition’s hitters. Central Valley had early success as they held a 1-0 lead for the first three innings.
“It was kind of like, ‘Hey, maybe Coach had a pretty good idea of what we needed to do,’” Goblirsch said. “So when they threw the sidearm guy at us, we were comfortable with that. And with our pitchers, we had talked a lot about hitters and where we wanted to pitch and controlling the inside part of the plate.”
The Hawks adopted a “why not us” mentality and will look to stage another upset Thursday against No. 6 Oak Ridge. Freshman Chris Garcia will get the start and Goblirsch says he has a “calming effect” on the team.
“When him or Gabriel’s on the mound, we feel like we have a really good shot,” Goblirsch said. “That’s gonna be our big push. We slayed the big dragon but we’re gonna try to avoid the letdown tomorrow and try to stay focused and go do it again.”
