San Benito, after receiving a first-round bye, will play
Piedmont Hills in Saturday’s CCS quarterfinal; the Pirates
previously defeated the Lady ‘Balers 4-1 earlier this season at the
Charlie Miguel Invitational
HOLLISTER
The No. 3 San Benito Lady ‘Balers will open the CIF-Central Coast Section Division I softball playoffs on Saturday against No. 6 Piedmont Hills.
The Pirates (21-8) defeated No. 11 Mount Pleasant (18-11) 4-2 on Wednesday in Salinas, advancing to Saturday’s quarterfinal round against San Benito (24-4), which received a first-round bye after it was named one of the top three seeds.
Saturday’s quarterfinal match-up is scheduled for 12:45 p.m. on Field 1 at the Salinas Sports Complex.
One of San Benito’s four losses this season was to Piedmont Hills – a 4-1 defeat at the Charlie Miguel Invitational in late March. The Lady ‘Balers recorded four errors in that game, despite starting pitcher Marisa Ibarra allowing just three hits.
In other games on Wednesday, No. 7 Fremont (16-9) defeated No. 10 Leland (15-12-1) 4-1, and will move on to the quarterfinals against No. 2 Wilcox (20-5).
Meanwhile, No. 12 Salinas (16-11-2) upset No. 5 Watsonville (22-7) 3-2 and will play Saturday against No. 4 North Salinas (17-6), which defeated No. 13 Homestead (13-12) 11-0 in five innings. No. 8 Gilroy (14-12-1) also advanced when it beat No. 9 Evergreen Valley (15-12) 3-0, placing the Mustangs in Saturday’s quarterfinal round against top-seeded Carlmont (22-5-1).
Of the eight teams in the Division I quarterfinals, four hail from the Tri-County Athletic League.
A complete story will appear in The Weekend Pinnacle on Friday.
