John Gall joins friend Byrnes in baseball spotlight
Eric Byrnes and John Gall, both from Portola Valley, have been friends and teammates since childhood. Through two championships with Morey's Little League team, and then a shared stint at St. Francis High School, they excelled, side by side. College ball is where they parted ways. Byrnes left for UCLA, while Gall, two years younger, chose to stay at home and play for the prestigious Stanford Cardinal baseball program. Gall has fared quite well, including playing in the 1997 College World Series (Byrnes's Bruin squad also participated). Recently, Gall, a member of the USA squad playing the world championship qualifier tournament in Managua against host Nicaragua, had the game-winning, two-run single in the 14th inning to propel the U.S. team to the world championship competition, currently being held in Italy. According to John's father Dick, the two young men are still very close. "They talk whenever they can," he says. John will be eligible for the major league draft after his junior year back on The Farm, which begins in the fall.
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