Alisal baseball

Graham Santiago looked for small steps when he took over the program seven years ago.

"It was like we went from lets win a few games to can we get to .500, to having a winning season,’’ the Alisal coach said.
Those goals changed this year.
"The first thing we said during our first practice is lets win a title,’’ Santiago said.
The 22-year drought is over as the Trojans won the Monterey Bay League’s Pacific Division title  with a 5-1 win over Alvarez.
Alisal’s last title was a co-championship in 1995.
"It feels great,’’ Santiago said. "When you take a job like this, you see this as the peak. You dream about it. To have your dreams come true is unbelievable.’’
The Trojans needed every pitcher they had this week as they were forced to play four games in five days, with two make-up games after weather postponed them last month.
"There was nothing we could do about it,’’ Santiago said.
Except win.

Beating Alvarez 1-0 in eight innings on Monday got them pointed in the right direction

"JC Maravillo set the tone for the week,’’ Santiago said.

Freshman Sal Lopez followed with a 1-0 eight inning shutout on Thursday over Seaside.
Now it was Ruben Gomez’s turn, who has been the ace of the staff and arguably the teams best hitter all season.

"Not to many people believed we could get it done,’’ Santiago said. "What this team has that teams in the past haven’t is it has the desire to fight and come back from deficits.’’

That wouldn’t be needed as Josiah Ramos’ two-run double in the second staked the Trojans to a 2-0 lead. Gomez added a pair of RBI later in the game as Alisal took a 5-0 lead into the seventh inning.