SAN JOSE, CA – Will Johnston is doing all he can to earn Sacred Heart Prep its first Central Coast Section title, and that was certainly evident by his performance in the Gators’ 1-0 victory over Monterey in Tuesday’s D2 CCS semifinal.
The senior left–hander extended his scoreless–inning streak to 17 innings as he went the distance in the win, allowing just four hits while striking out seven. He walked two hitters, both in the first inning, when the first three batters of the game reached base, but retired the next three hitters of the inning in order to work his way out of the bases–loaded jam.
“It was definitely something I wasn’t expecting; it definitely wasn’t part of the plan,” said Johnston of loading the bases in the first. “I have trust in my defense 100 percent. If I can throw strikes and we can make some plays, we can get out of it, and that’s what we did.”
From there on out, Johnston put hitters away in order in the second, fourth, fifth and seventh innings, and only allowed four batters to reach base. Monterey left runners in scoring position in both the third and sixth innings.
“I told them ahead of time we were going to see movement away, and that’s what we got,” said Monterey coach Mike Groves. “We just still couldn’t execute. We had a couple opportunities; it just still wasn’t enough.”
Johnston also went 2-for-3 with a pair of base hits.
Sacred Heart Prep’s one run came in the bottom of the first with Cole March on first base and two outs. Stanford-bound Andrew Daschbach stepped up to the plate and knocked a double to deep left center field, with the ball rolling all the way to the wall in the deep confines of San Jose Municipal Stadium, allowing March to score from first and give the Gators a 1-0 lead.
“I was just lucky to jump on one early, and I didn’t think that would be the hit that would make the difference,” said Daschbach. “I knew that Will Johnston was going to have a great performance out there and I knew that guy was going out and would throw a bunch of great innings, so I was happy to have an opportunity to give us a chance to win the game.”
“That guy” was Gavin Jarvis for Monterey, who had a performance as fine as Johnston’s, with the one blemish being the double to Daschbach, the only extra base hit of the game. Jarvis also went the distance, allowing one run on four hits and four walks, all while striking out five.
“I think in the fifth or sixth inning, [Jarvis] was at 57 pitches. He was throwing a gem,” said Groves. “He just gave up a double to the big boy (Daschbach), and that was it.”
Unfortunately for Jarvis and Monterey, the gem was not enough to send the Toreadores to Saturday’s CCS Final. Monterey finishes the season with a 19-14 record and a third place finish in the MBAL-Gabilan division, in addition to the trip to the CCS semis.
“It was a great team. We had more one run losses (seven) than any other team I’ve been with, and I’ve been doing this for 35 years,” said Groves. “It was crazy. The team is a great team, I think they did a great job, and I think of any team this team had a chance to win the title.”
As for SHP, the Gators take on Carmel on Saturday. The time of first pitch is still to be determined. Coach Anthony Granato said he would entertain the idea of throwing Johnston on Saturday, who is still eligible to throw three more innings this week.
“If I needed him in a pinch, then absolutely that’s a guy I would go to,” said Granato. “I have confidence in a lot of my guys, and I think we have a lot of guys that contribute, and that’s a great thing about us, is that every game is seems like a different guy steps up. Whatever we decide to do, I have confidence in them.”
