San Benito’s Jessica Steigelman connected on three-run triple in
the bottom of the sixth to lead the Lady Balers to a 4-3 victory
Saturday in the CCS Division I championship over Gilroy; the
victory is the 12th straight for San Benito over Gilroy, while the
win supplies the Lady Balers with a record fourth straight Division
I championship
SAN JOSE
San Benito manager Scott Smith asked sophomore Jessica Steigelman a simple, rhetorical question during Saturday’s Central Coast Section Division I championship against Gilroy.
“I asked her how she wanted to remember her last at-bat at CCS,” Smith said. “Nervous and scared, or just having fun?”
And even though the situation was tense, to say the least – the Lady Balers were trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth, and the San Benito first baseman was up with two outs and the bases loaded – nothing of what transpired revealed that the second-year slugger was anxious at the plate Saturday at PAL Stadium in San Jose.
“I was just hoping to get something good out of it,” she said.
Trailing by two, Steigelman turned on a 1-1 inside fastball from Mustang Samantha Parraz (2.2IP, 4H, 3R, 1K) and lifted a bases-clearing triple into left field, scoring Jessica Vest, Paige Miguel and Bre Fata as the Lady Balers vaulted past rival Gilroy in the sixth inning and eventually emerged with a 4-3 victory in the CCS championship Saturday.
“It hasn’t really clicked,” said Bre Fata, a four-year varsity member. “I can’t even explain what it’s like. I can’t explain it.”
Topping the Mustangs in the title game for the second straight season – San Benito defeated Gilroy in last year’s championship, 8-3 – the Lady Balers earned a record fourth straight Division I title with the win.
Nervous, scared or just having fun, it’s safe to say Steigelman’s at-bat will be remembered, no matter what.
“I was a little nervous at first. But toward the end of the game, I was relaxed and having fun and taking the swings I should have started off with,” she said. “It was an inside fastball, and I was looking to pull the ball. It was the pitch that I wanted.”
San Benito hurler Marisa Ibarra (7IP, 5H, 3R, 7K, 1BB, 2HBP) allowed a single up the middle to Emily Castro to lead off the seventh inning, but the four-year starter made sure her final game against Gilroy didn’t end the way it all started four years ago – with a loss.
Ibarra got Lindsay Holt to ground out, Casey Lester to strike out, and sealed the win when Alissa Castro hit a slow-roller down the first base line to an awaiting Steigelman at first.
“It’s amazing – four straight,” Ibarra said. “It’s amazing and unheard of in San Benito history.”
Ibarra officially completes a rather unheard of prep career as well. Attending SF State in the fall, Ibarra finishes four years of high school with a 108-11 overall record, fourth all-time in California state history.
And after falling to Gilroy in her very first game as a freshman on March 21, 2006, Ibarra has led the Lady Balers to 12 straight victories over the Mustangs, including four this season alone.
“We knew we were gonna have to score to compete with them,” Ibarra said. “They’re a good team. They had the confidence and they essentially had nothing to lose in that game.
“We just had to keep it going.”
A late-in-the-game surge is almost to be expected from the Lady Balers. Of the 24 runs scored against the Mustangs this season, 16 have come in the fifth and sixth innings alone, leading to games that end in all too familiar fashion.
“We didn’t expect them to lay down for us,” Ibarra said. “We expected it to be a close game.”
And the Mustangs were brimming with confidence early on. Having upset top-seeded Carlmont 5-3 in the quarterfinals, and fresh off a 7-6 victory in 10 innings over league rival North Salinas, Gilroy struck first Saturday with two in the top of the third when Jasmine Perez ripped a two-out, full-count fastball into dead center field, scoring Lindsay Holt and Stephanie Rodriguez from first and second base, respectively.
“We were just hoping for the best,” Steigelman said. “We were trying pick our pitcher up and everyone else when we were down.”
San Benito cut the lead in half in the fourth when Marissa Adame’s fielder’s choice to second base scored courtesy runner Aly Ocampo from third, who advanced from first on a Jessica Vest double, and knocked Gilroy starter Ashley Harrington (3.1IP, 1H, 1R, 1K, 1BB, 1HBP) from the game. But Perez reclaimed Gilroy’s previous two-run lead in the sixth when she drove a pitch over the 230-foot left field fence for a solo home run and a 3-1 Mustangs lead.
“It wasn’t her so much. I was calling pitches early in the game, and it was probably out of character,” said Smith, in reference to Ibarra. “We tried to mix it up with Gilroy and it was my fault, more so than hers.
“Later in the game, we decided to go back with what we’ve been doing, and she got into a groove again.
But the game appeared bleak for San Benito. And when JC Clayton and Taylor Powell opened the home half of the sixth with consecutive groundouts, the Lady Balers were down to its final four outs.
“There was always that hope that they’d come through,” Ibarra said. “I knew the game wasn’t over.”
A two-out rally sparked when Vest and Adame both singled on. Bre Fata then hit a soft grounder to third baseman Stephanie Rodriguez, who attempted to get the force play at third base rather than making the throw to first. Vest beat Rodriguez to the bag, extending the inning and setting up Steigelman.
“We were amped up,” Steigelman said. “We just wanted to show everyone we could do it four years in a row.”
And with a single swing, a four-peat was accomplished.
“I could tell on her first swing that the kid was zoned in,” Smith said. “I thought, man, if she can get a pitch to hit, she might do something with it. And, boy, did she ever.”
San Benito finishes its season at 27-4, while Gilroy wraps up with a 16-13-1 record.
The Lady Balers’ four straight CCS titles, meanwhile, is unmatched in Division I. Only North Salinas (2002 and 2003) and Monta Vista (1987 and 1988) have earned consecutive titles.
Said JC Clayton, “I’ll be telling this to my grandchildren, for sure.”
GILR – 002 001 0 – 3 5 0
SANB – 001 003 X – 4 5 1
WP: M. Ibarra
LP: S. Parraz
More to come.
