San Benito’s come-from-behind victory over Gilroy last Thursday,
in which the Haybalers trailed by seven runs on three different
occasions, only to leapfrog the Mustangs 14-13 with a walk-off RBI
single in the bottom of the seventh, may have ensured the five-time
Tri-County Athletic League champions the No. 2 seed in Division
I.
HOLLISTER
No one was going to catch Mitty. After it won both the West Catholic Athletic League’s regular season and postseason tournament, earning the No. 1 seed in this week’s Central Coast Section Division I Championship was all but a given for the Monarchs.
But San Benito’s come-from-behind victory over Gilroy last Thursday, in which the Haybalers trailed by seven runs on three different occasions, only to leapfrog the Mustangs 14-13 with a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, may have ensured the five-time Tri-County Athletic League champions the No. 2 seed in Division I.
After all, it all comes down to the power points. While Mitty compiled a 27-3 overall record and 70 power points, San Benito finished with 65.5 power points and narrowly edged St. Francis, which had 64.5 power points and earned the No. 3 seed as a result.
“I was expecting No. 2 or No. 3,” said San Benito manager Michael Luna, whose Balers (20-6) will open the postseason on Wednesday at home against No. 15 Milpitas (14-12).
“But I like where we’re at,” Luna added. “If we do win, if we’re fortunate enough to get by Milpitas, we’ll get Valley Christian or Wilcox, which are two very good teams.”
Getting past Milpitas is the first objective, though. As of Sunday night, Luna said he didn’t know a whole lot about the Trojans, who finished in second place in the El Camino Athletic League — a “B” league — with a 10-5 record.
The San Benito skipper has a couple of TCAL contacts in Salinas’ Art Hunsdorfer and Everett Alvarez’s Troy Sanchez, though, whose teams both battled Milpitas in April.
And for what it’s worth, the Trojans, who boast a 6-1 road record this season, split their games against those TCAL opponents. Milpitas lost to Salinas 7-2 on April 3, then defeated Alvarez 15-8 on April 7.
How his team is playing of late seems to be of greater importance to Luna, though. After they won 13 straight league games, the Balers dropped two of their last five to close out the regular season — and nearly three of their last five if it weren’t for some late-inning heroics by backup catcher Kyle Prewett, who knocked in the game-winning run last Thursday against Gilroy.
“Our last two outings, we haven’t pitched very well and we haven’t played defense very well, which were our strengths the entire year,” Luna said. “So I’m a little concerned with that, especially with the errors and the walks.
“We’re gonna have to make quick adjustments these next two days in practice.”
A win over Milpitas on Wednesday would move San Benito into Saturday’s quarterfinal round against either No. 10 Wilcox (18-12) or No. 7 Valley Christian (17-11), which defeated the Balers 1-0 in the season opener on Feb. 25.
In that game, Warriors starting pitcher Danny Davis tossed a complete game no-hitter against San Benito. Baler pitcher Darin Gillies also had a no-no through five innings of work, but was held to a strict pitch count and was pulled in the sixth inning.
No matter the opponent, however, Gillies is expected to start on Saturday, while Bryan Granger will get the nod on Wednesday.
“It doesn’t matter who you’re playing in the playoffs,” Luna said, “you still need to pitch and play defense to advance.”
Other teams on San Benito’s side of the bracket include No. 3 St. Francis (22-5), No. 6 Bellarmine (17-12), No. 11 Homestead (13-10-1) and No. 14 Menlo-Atherton (15-11), while opposite the Balers is top-seeded Mitty (27-3), No. 4 Serra (23-6), No. 5 Gilroy (17-9-1) and No. 8 Salinas (18-9), among others.
With quarterfinal games to be held at St. Francis in Mountain View, the Division I championship is slated for May 29 at San Jose’s Municipal Stadium.
