Mosher Hit Breaks Up Pitchers’ Duel

Jose Gallegos vs. Robert Cardenas was not exactly the pitching duel many expected to see when Hilltop High and Castle Park got together for a Metro Conference baseball game Tuesday afternoon. But it did nicely.

Hilltop’s Chad Mosher was not exactly the masher fans expected to see win the game either. But he did nicely, too.

Mosher’s game-winning hit--a lined single to left-center field that drove in Johnny Garibay from third--came with two strikes and two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Hilltop a 2-1 victory at home.

To add spice, Mosher had been in an 0 for 13 slump since another game-winning seventh-inning hit against Granite Hills earlier this year.

“I was hitting the ball, just at everybody,” Mosher said. “I knew something was going to fall in sooner or later.”

Hilltop (8-3, 3-0) and Castle Park (7-4, 2-1) came in tied for first with Montgomery High (9-3, 3-0), a 2-0 winner over Sweetwater (8-4, 1-2).

Many thought the pitchers for this important league game would be junior fireballers Jose Silva (Hilltop) and Benji Gil (Castle Park). Both coaches--Hilltop’s John Baumgarten and Castle Park’s Bob Korzep--decided otherwise, but neither was disappointed.

Gallegos, a junior right-hander, used a curve ball, a drop and a straight ball (“You can’t call it a fastball,” he said) to limit Castle Park to four hits and keep the Trojans off balance for six innings.