Sobrato's Danny Nelson, left, Billy Birrell, center, and Ryan Williams celebrate winning the Bulldogs' first division title Friday at Sobrato High School.
Ulises "Shorty" Gutierrez dreamed about this moment the day he became Sobrato's baseball coach in 2004.
On Friday, Gutierrez watched his Bulldogs storm Sobrato Baseball Field; his starting pitcher exchanging a sweaty handshake with his catcher and chest-bumping an assistant coach; his designated hitter hugging his shortstop; his players sharing one common title - champions of the Santa Teresa Division.
The Bulldogs secured the program's first division championship that day, beating Prospect 5-2 in a regular-season ending battle for first place outright. Sobrato was guaranteed a share of the division, having beaten Lincoln two days earlier on the same afternoon Prospect was upset by Del Mar. The Bulldogs still needed to beat the Panthers on Friday, though, to win the tie-breaking season series.
"We're selfish - we wanted it all for ourselves," Gutierrez said with a smile afterward. "It feels like everything I hoped it would.
"When I took over this program four years ago, I told the freshmen's parents, 'by the time your sons are seniors, they will be champions.' Today they got there. We got there."
The Bulldogs improved to 23-7 overall and 18-3 in Blossom Valley Athletic League play - their best finish in program history. Prospect (18-8-1, 16-5) settled for second place in the division.
Friday's contest had all the makings of a championship game, with dueling ace pitchers, Sobrato's Kevin Sullivan and Prospect's Curtis VanWaardenberg, plus an explosive first inning by the home team and nail-biting rally by the visitors - all in front of a standing room-only crowd.
"It was the perfect way to win," Gutierrez added. "We had 'Sulli' pitching, Danny Nelson hitting and the rest of the team playing great defense. That's how I wanted this to be."
It took one pitch for Nelson to set the tone for the afternoon. Sobrato's leadoff man laced a gratifying single to center off VanWaardenberg - the powerful righty who no-hit the Bulldogs during their previous meeting.
"That felt great," said Nelson, who went 1-for-3 batting with a walk and one run. "We wanted to hit (VanWaardenberg) for so long after that last game.
"We remembered he likes to throw the heat. So I went up there looking for a fastball and got one right down the middle. I jumped on it."
And Sobrato jumped on the Panthers - physically and mentally. Prospect's poise was unwound as the Bulldogs batted through their lineup, scoring three runs off four errors in the process.
After a Rauley Cambra sacrifice bunt and errant throw moved Nelson to third base with one out, Billy Birrell scored Nelson with the help of another miscue - this time a bad bounce at shortstop. Sobrato's cleanup man, Tom Buich, singled home Birrell, who had advanced to third one an overthrow by VanWaardenberg. Prospect had a chance to end the threat when Sullivan grounded into a would-be 4-6-3 double play. But the throw to second got by shortstop Nick Kinder and, after a Ryan Williams single to left field, Andrew Langone drew a full-count, bases-loaded walk, scoring Buich.
"You couldn't have asked for a better start," said Sullivan, who took the mound with adequate peace of mind. "I was in my comfort zone right away - no problem."
Sullivan (10-1) delivered his 11th complete-game effort in as many starts, striking out four batters and surrendering four hits through five scoreless innings. He ended the regular season with an ERA of .897
Sullivan ran into trouble in the first after VanWaardenberg doubled and advanced to third, but was bailed out on a line drive hit right to Langone in left field.
"Kevin Sullivan wanted this win more than anything," Gutierrez said. "He's had a phenomenal season, and this was the biggest part. He pitched a great game."
Prospect broke through in third inning after VanWaardenberg advanced to first on a passed third strike, and crossed home on a fielder's choice hit into by Alex Juull, who reached first. Cambra helped squelch the rally when he threw Juull out at home during the next at-bat.
"Everyone played great behind me," Sullivan said.
The loss was just the second of the year for VanWaardenberg (7-2), who also went the distance. VanWaardenberg struck out seven, walked three and gave up seven hits. None of his runs came earned.
"He's one of the toughest pitchers in league to hit, if not the toughest," Gutierrez said. "Our guys were prepared for him."
Prospect cut the deficit to one in the fifth inning, when Juull drove in Joel Palmero on an RBI-single, making it 3-2.
Sobrato countered with two more runs in the bottom half, though, when Williams scored Birrell and Tim Andrade with a fielder's choice and throwing error - Sobrato's daily special.
"The pressure of this game might have gotten to them," Nelson said. "We were nervous, too, everyone was - even Sullivan and he never gets nervous.
"We went into that last inning just saying, 'three more outs, guys, three more.'"
The final two came in one play - a 6-4-3 double play turned by Nelson and Birrell. The post-game celebration waited until Andrew Commons squeezed the throw to first - game over, history made.
"The perfect ending," Gutierrez echoed.
Sobrato's skipper smiled talking about the championship but was all business again when asked about the Bulldogs' next hurdle, their first CIF-Central Coast Section playoff run.
Sobrato hosts its first-round game with North Monterey County, the third-place finisher from the Monterey Bay League, at 4 p.m. Thursday.
"My only expectation is for us to play our hardest," Gutierrez said. "Our attitude all year has been to take the season one game, one pitch at a time - and that's not going to change now."
Scott Adams Scott Adams covers Morgan Hill sports for South Valley Newspapers. Send him an email or call him at 779-4106.
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Legend of the fall
