Bishop Gorman’s baseball team was already behind by four runs Thursday, and it looked like visiting Faith Lutheran was sure to add to its lead in the top of the fifth inning.
But the Gaels got a break, then got out of the jam before rallying for a 7-5 home win over the Crusaders in the regular-season finale for both teams.
“You need a little bit of luck, and we did,” Gorman coach Matt Stoner said. “We got out of it. It was great. The kids battled today. It was good.”
Faith Lutheran led 5-1 and loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth on an error and singles by Ethan Gordan and Rookie Shepard.
But Gorman starter Jack Stoner got Crusaders cleanup hitter Macen Collura to ground back to the mound. Jack Stoner knocked the ball down and fired to the plate for the first out. He then got ahead 0-2 against Eli Leone, who was lifted after calling timeout and meeting with Faith Lutheran’s third-base coach. Pinch-hitter Cooper Phillips came on and tried to bunt with two strikes, but fouled the pitch off for a strikeout and the second out.
Jack Stoner then got Luke Stringer to ground back to the mound to get out of the jam.
“He made some good pitches, got a couple comebackers, and it worked out for us,” Matt Stoner said.
That set up Gorman’s offense, and the Gaels (25-5, 9-1 Mountain League) scored five runs after two were out in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead.
Connor Long was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force home the inning’s first run, and Logan Grubbs followed that with a two-run single to center to cut the Faith Lutheran lead to 5-4.
Freshman Ajay Hermosura singled up the middle to plate two more runs to give the Gaels the lead for good.
“He’s been amazing all year,” Matt Stoner said of Hermosura, who also had an RBI single in the bottom of the first. “He’s been really good. He’s going to be really good. He just goes. He had two huge at-bats to keep us in it.
“He’s just a really good baseball player, and I’m excited to watch him for the next 3½ years.”
The Crusaders (15-13, 7-3) threatened again in the sixth, getting a leadoff double from Jameson Day followed by a walk. Leighton Canarelli tried to sacrifice, but Gorman first baseman Chase Wilk charged hard and fired a strike to third to get Day for the first out. After a flyout, Christian Balistere came on to face Shepard, and got him to chase a 3-2 breaking ball for the third out to end the inning.
“It was really good, because that’s a really, really, really good team,” Matt Stoner said of closing out the regular season with the win. “They’re scary.”
Shepard broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the fourth with a towering opposite-field two-run homer to left field that made it 3-1. After a base hit by Kingston Kela, Collura crushed another two-run homer to left to make it 5-1.
Hermosura, Grubbs and Alec Kajioka each went 2-for-3 to lead the Gaels.
Shepard was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, and Collura went 2-for-4 with three RBIs for Faith Lutheran.
