Schiliro, Gilbert shine in Blue Griffins’ win over Dragons
The transformation of Kate Schiliro from nondescript Santa Fe Prep outfielder to neophyte Blue Griffins catcher began almost a year ago.
After Prep spent the 2016 baseball season searching in vain for a solid backup catcher, Schiliro stepped up to the plate — well, behind the plate to be exact. She always had an interest in being a catcher, and the Blue Griffins’ need for a backup gave her the opening she needed.
On Tuesday, she showed what she learned so far, getting her first start at backstop in a District 2/3-3A game against Monte del Sol at the Municipal Recreation Complex. Schiliro helped starting left-handed pitcher Sam Gilbert pitch a complete game with 11 strikeouts, and she went 1-for-2 with the goahead RBI and a run scored in the Blue Griffins’ 4-1 win.
Schiliro was caught offguard by the assignment, as she learned just 15 minutes before first pitch that she was at catcher in place of starter Brandon Durr instead of her normal spot in the outfield.
“I’ve been working to make this moment a reality,” Schiliro said. “I will say I was mostly nervous before the game rather than excited, but it was a lot of fun that it worked out.”
So impressed was Gilbert with Schiliro’s performance that he made a declaration he hopes Prep co-head coaches Mark Bixby and Frank Lucero hear loud and clear.
“I want her to catch all of my games from now on,” Gilbert said.
Some of Gilbert’s exuberance is shrouded in disappointment from his stint Saturday against Raton. He allowed the Tigers nine runs in the first inning, and the Blue Griffins (2-7 overall, 2-2 in 2/3-3A) never recovered in a 16-2 loss. Gilbert said the outing emboldened him to do better against the Dragons.
“It left a bad taste in my mouth,” Gilbert said. “I spent the last two days was just visualizing and working on my mechanics with the coaches. I was came in here ready to go.”
If anything, Gilbert showed resiliency as he pitched his way out of jams every inning. After allowing a run and getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the first, Gilbert forced the Dragons (4-5, 0-3) to strand nine baserunners over the next
six frames without giving up a run. He finished the game allowing four hits, four walks and one hit batsman while compiling 11 strikeouts. It was a high-wire act that he felt Schiliro helped him navigate with her framing of pitches.
“I had a great catcher who painted a lot of [the pitches on the corners],” Gilbert said.
Bixby said Schiliro’s experience in dance — she performs in the Belisama Irish Dance group — made her a natural selection to work behind the plate because of her footwork. She worked with her coaches through this season to work on blocking and framing pitches, as well as setting up behind the plate properly.
“She’s got the mobile hips you really need and she can really move around back there,” Bixby said.
Schiliro’s work didn’t begin and end behind the plate. She also got the team’s first base hit in the third inning — a bloop single to shallow left field with two outs — and that seemed to ignite the Blue Griffins. So, too, was the fact that they got a second look at Monte del Sol starter Isaiah Salazar, who dominated the lineup the first time through.
Still, it took Prep until the fifth inning to break through. It started with Sean Coles’ bloop double to right field, then he advanced on Tim Hilla’s fielding error on Alex Hoback’s grounder to the second baseman. Jack Mitchell followed with an RBI single to tie the score at 1-all, then Schiliro drove in another run on her groundout to shortstop Jorge Morales to give Prep the lead.
A perfectly executed sacrifice bunt by Jose Martinez brought in Mitchell for a 3-1 lead, and Lucero said the play is a reflection of the team’s nature.
“That’s what makes this team so nice to coach,” Lucero said. “You got people who are so unselfish. That really solidify our believe that we’re strong and we’ll stay strong.”
Meanwhile, the Gilbert-Shiliro battery kept fans on the edge of their seat — and leaving Dragons fans frustrated in the process. Gilbert allowed a fourth-inning walk to Santi Archuleta, and Archuleta moved to third on a steal and a throwing error with no outs. Gilbert, though, struck out the next three batters to get out of the inning.
In the fifth, Morales walked and stole second and third bases with one out, but he failed to tag up on Salazar’s fly ball to right field. Brian Munoz then popped up to end the threat.
“We get a chance on multiple days to practice our batting,” Monte del Sol head coach Jared Skillman said. “And they hit the tar out of the ball during batting practice. Then we come out on the field, and we hesitate, just hesitate. That’s been plaguing us all year.”
After Schiliro single-handedly added an insurance run with a walk, a stolen base and advancing home on two Monte del Sol errors in the seventh, the Dragons mounted a desperate rally in the bottom of the inning by loading the bases with one out.
Gilbert, though, recorded strikeouts to the next two batters to seal the win.