Wednesday, May 28, 2003 | 9:59 a.m.
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- The bear hug, outside Room 223 on a balcony overlooking the Mesa Inn pool, said it all late Tuesday afternoon.
Community College of Southern Nevada baseball coach Tim Chambers lumbered up a staircase, turned a corner and found Coyotes starting pitcher Jino Gonzalez waiting for him.
They embraced like long-lost friends after Gonzalez struck out five in the Coyotes' 10-0, mercy-rule victory in five innings against Spartanburg Methodist (S.C.) College in the Junior College World Series.
"I had to redeem myself," Gonzalez said.
The Coyotes (53-10) are off today, then they face a foe, to be determined today, on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. (PST) at Suplizio Field for a spot in Saturday night's championship game.
Gonzalez, a 6-foot-2 sophomore lefty from Cimarron-Memorial High, got tagged for seven earned runs in 4 1/3 innings of CCSN's first World Series game on Saturday, a 7-6 defeat to Seminole (Fla.) Community College.
That sent the Coyotes to the losers' bracket in the double-elimination tournament, but they have stormed back into title contention by scoring a total of 36 runs in three consecutive victories.
Monday night, Gonzalez walked up to Room 223, knocked on Chambers' door and pleaded to start Tuesday.
Gonzalez, who was drafted by Tampa Bay a year ago even though shoulder surgery sidelined him for the entire 2002 season, told Chambers he was 100 percent, physically and mentally.
He promised there would be another game to play if he were given the ball Tuesday. Chambers gave him the ball, but a deep and rested bullpen would have enabled Chambers to employ a quick hook with Gonzalez.
That wasn't necessary after Gonzalez tailored his style to suit the shorter-than-normal Suplizio mound by shortening his stride. He also concentrated on his over-the-top delivery, instead of slinging the ball.
"I was just hungry," Gonzalez said. "I wanted this, and coach gave it to me. I had a really bad outing Saturday. I left the ball up, and I got hit around. Got beat up pretty bad. I knew what I did wrong, I just couldn't fix it during the game.
"I mean, that's the hardest time to fix something."
Spartanburg (50-16) couldn't fix any of its problems against Gonzalez (8-2) and limped home with its second loss of the tournament. Gonzalez has said he is set to play in the Devil Rays' system, rather than honor a commitment to Texas Tech.
He allowed five hits, but no runner reached third base. He walked only Chuck Biggerstaff, to start the third inning, but Gonzalez caught Biggerstaff napping with a slick pick-off move.
Gonzalez finished with strikeouts. He retired Dwayne Lynah, to cap the third, with a dastardly slider.
"That was the most disgusting pitch I've seen all week," said Coyotes center fielder Justin Sibley. "A dirty pitch. That's how he was all day today, just hitting his spots. His first game, he missed spots. Today, it looked like he had all his stuff. Just dirty"
Sibley and shortstop Sean Kazmar helped sully the Pioneers early with back-to-back home runs to lead off the bottom of the first inning, when the entire Coyotes lineup batted.
Sibley and Kazmar both slammed 2-2 pitches by Spartanburg starter Justin Bors (8-1) over the left-field fence.
"Once Sibley hit that jack, I kind of knew we were going to roll, that everyone would hit," Kazmar said. "Then I hit mine, and it was just high emotion after that. You can't start better than that."
Bors had yielded six runs by the time he was yanked in the second inning.
Gonzalez threw only 61 pitches.
"That's just a light bullpen (session) for me," he said. "I've been throwing 130, 140 pitches, so my arm feels great. We're definitely pumped, in a zone. Our sticks are swinging and our pitchers are hitting their spots. We're definitely ready."
Gonzalez made that clear Monday night in his coach's hotel room and on the mound Tuesday.
archive
