Anzar started its baseball season on the right foot Friday,
getting a 4-for-4 day from Adam Wilkinson and earning a 9-1 win
over San Jose High Academy.
San Juan Bautista – Anzar started its baseball season on the right foot Friday, getting a 4-for-4 day from Adam Wilkinson and earning a 9-1 win over San Jose High Academy.
“This is a big win for us,” first-year coach Andrew Barragan said. “It’s a good way to start the year off.”
“I think this really gives us a good jump start for the season,” added Wilkinson, who also finished with two RBIs and two runs scored.
The Hawks (1-0) got terrific pitching performances from Scott Benson and Adrian Monroy, who went a combined seven innings and allowed just two hits and struck out 13 a day before the two will start in Anzar’s Central Coast Section Division V playoff game against Bridgemont.
“This was a good tuneup for (San Lorenzo Valley) on Monday,” Barragan said. “We’ve got to work on our hitting but our pitching was real good. Scott and Adrian both did a real good job.”
The game had the early indications of a pitchers’ duel, with the team’s trading zeros for the first two innings.
Wilkinson reached on a one-out single in the bottom of the third where he moved up to second when the left fielder tried to throw him out at first and threw it away. Monroy followed with an infield single and an error on the throw to first allowed Wilkinson to score the first run.
San Jose got that run back in the top of the fourth, but Anzar countered with three in its half of the inning, highlighted by a two-run single by Wilkinson.
In the sixth, the Hawks broke it wide open.
Austin McKinney drew a one-out walk, Wilkinson singled and Monroy blasted a two-run double to make it 6-1. Monroy eventually came around to score on a pair of wild pitches and Anzar tacked on two more runs before the Bulldogs could retire the side.
“We just needed to be aggressive and make the other team work,” Wilkinson said.
Benson threw the first four innings, striking out eight while allowing the one run and two hits to pick up the win.
Monroy pitched the final three innings and retired all nine batters he faced to get the save. He struck out five, including the final three he faced.
“I’ve been working with the pitchers, I’m glad to see a glimpse of the work paying off,” Barragan said. “We can’t get too overconfident because SLV in a strong team. We’ve got to be prepared.”
The Hawks will host the Cougars at 3:30pm Monday in a non-league contest.
