The San Benito High softball team entered Thursday’s prestigious Spring Jamboree tournament in Las Vegas with a 6-1 record, but longtime coach Scott Smith feels it’ll be a while before he can properly gauge the state of this year’s team.
The reason is simple: health matters. The Haybalers have had the good fortune of having a healthy roster for the last eight or nine years, but the 2015 season has been a different story.
Two of the Haybalers’ three best players—junior catcher and Sacramento State commit Suzy Brookshire and junior shortstop and Hawaii-Manoa commit Callee Heen—are currently nursing ailments.
Smith said Brookshire only recently returned to practice after being sick for the better part of a month, and Heen has a sore right throwing arm, forcing her to be a designated hitter.
One of the best fielding shortstops in the Central Coast Section, Heen’s absence at the position has forced third baseman Isha Gonzalez into that role. Although Gonzalez has filled in nicely, the fact of the matter is the team is minus one of its best fielders for an indefinite period of time while also shifting one of the best defensive third basemans in the section to a different position.
“It’s one of those years where injuries and health could be catching up to us,” Smith said. “We don’t know when Callee can come back (to play shortstop). She’s never had an arm problem, so this is new. We’re in wait-and-see mode, and with Suzy, she’s probably at 70 percent of where she would normally be at this point of the season. We barely got her back after her sickness made her tired to the point she couldn’t practice for a month. We’ve been missing her bat a lot.”
Fortunately for the Balers, senior pitcher/first baseman Adriana Ibarra has been a stalwart as usual. Ibarra, who has been one of the most productive San Benito players in recent memory, had three hits, including a home run and three RBI in a 8-2 win over Salinas last week.
Gonzalez, who recently signed to play at Dickinson State University in North Dakota, has been her usual solid self with both the bat and the glove. The outfield—consisting of sophomore Brittni Rossi and freshmen Noel Chavarria and Chloe Cortez—have been as good as advertised.
“All three of our outfielders are really fast, and it’s been a blessing because they’re tracking down balls that would probably drop for most teams,” Smith said. “They’re going to be a huge asset.”
Rossi has been nothing short of outstanding, hitting nearly .600 while playing tremendous defense. In the Spring Jamboree—the tournament features some of the nation’s top-ranked teams—the Balers will need to use at least two or three pitchers, since they will be playing six games over three days.
Smith said Amanda Moisa, Enedina Canales, Victoria Silva and Hallie Fortney could all receive pitching time in the tournament. After the Spring Jamboree, San Benito plays in another tournament featuring top teams in Tracy, from April 9-11.
“This is the toughest schedule I’ve ever made for the high school for sure (in my 14 years here),” Smith said. “I wanted it to be a challenge. I felt like we faltered a bit down the stretch last year, and maybe it was because we didn’t have a tough enough schedule.”
Smith, who expects his teams to have the highest standard of of mental and physical preparation, had to take a step or two back with this year’s squad. Before the start of an early March practice, Smith talked with his team for 55 minutes.
“We had a meeting and ironed out some things,” Smith said. “Basically it was my approach to coaching. We have a lot of young kids, so we took a step back and at that point took a lighter approach with the younger kids.”
Going forward, Smith wants the team to get off to a faster start. In two come-from-behind victories this season, the Balers got down early only to come roaring back. Those games were against inferior opponents, however, and trailing early against a top-notch team is a recipe for disaster.
“I have to do a better job of getting the kids motivated to start the game strong,” Smith said. “We’ve been a little lackadaisical at times at the start, and I don’t think we’ve found our stride yet.”
It’s been a year of uncertainty for the Balers, who had their eight-year run of CCS Division I playoff championships snapped last year. In time, Smith hopes everyone gets healthy, which would give the team another strong chance for CCS glory.
“I think we’re getting back on track,” Smith said. “Right now we’re just trying to find our way and get everyone healthy.”
