SAN JOSE – Hunter Bigge was one hit away from perfection on Thursday night during Los Gatos’ 3-0 victory over Carlmont in the CCS Open Division Semifinals at San Jose Municipal Stadium.
That one hit came in the top of the fourth inning off the bat of Julian Billot. Unfortunately for Billot and the Scots, the next batter grounded into a double play, and not another hitter reached base for Carlmont the rest of the way.
Bigge faced 21 batters, struck out five, and got 13 of the remaining 15 to ground out, all while allowing just one hit. Of the 71 pitches thrown in the complete game effort, the junior threw 56 strikes - a 76 percent strike rate.
“That’s him. That’s him and (Los Gatos catcher Aidan) Finch,” said coach Nate Andersen. “He’s really good. He throws tons of strikes, and if he’s down, he is really tough to hit.”
“I just had to get ahead in the count with my fastball, make them get hits, and let my defense make plays,” said Bigge. “I have complete trust in (my defense) and I know that if I throw strikes and get them to put the ball on the ground, my defense is going to back me up.”
In addition to being stellar on the mound, Bigge also played a big factor at the plate for the Wildcats during Thursday’s contest.
Already leading Carlmont 1-0 in the third, Grant Rosenbaum led off the inning with a single up the middle off Carlmont starter Joe Pratt. After a Riley Wilcox fly out to left, Ryan Gault came through with a single up the middle to put two runners on, and Bigge quickly followed with a rope down the left-field line, an RBI double to extend the lead to 2-0.
“We knew that this guy (Pratt) was going to work outside and throw strikes, so I was just trying to attack the inside part of the ball, I got in front and knocked it down the line,” said Bigge.
Los Gatos added some insurance in the bottom of the fifth with a similar sequence. Rosenbaum singled to lead off the inning, Wilcox flied out, then Gault reached on an error on an attempted sacrifice bunt, with Rosenbaum advancing to third. Bigge then knocked a sacrifice fly to right field, which brought in Rosenbaum to make the score 3-0.
As the lead continued to grow, Bigge continued to pick up the pace, throwing as few as four pitches in the fourth inning and as many as 16 in the sixth.
“We talked to our guys about sniffing a finish, and as soon as you get a lead you can play faster, you can pitch more aggressively in the zone, knowing you have seven guys behind you with gloves on,” said Andersen. “That kind of feeds the energy. We like to work fast.”
In total, the game lasted just one hour and 30 minutes, a quick outing for the Wildcats (30-5) to send themselves to the Open Division Final on Saturday, where they will take on St. Francis. Los Gatos defeated the Lancers 13-12 at home earlier this year.
“That was a windy day at Los Gatos, first five games of the season, it seems like a lifetime ago,” said Andersen. “We play in a graveyard here (at San Jose Muni), so who knows. I hope our guys are ready; I know they’re going to be ready. It’s a lot of fun.”
As for Carlmont, the loss drops the Scots to 24-8 to finish the year, which included a PAL-Bay division title.
“It was an unbelievable ride,” said coach Rich Vallero. “We had great leadership, guys came to work every single day. There was no going through the motions with this group. It’s a group of 13 seniors that hung three consecutive PAL titles.”
