Coach is upbeat about next season
The weather was perfect and the course conditions were benign
but that didn’t help the San Benito High School golf team, and the
players struggled at Monday’s Tri County Athletic League
championship tournament at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley. When all
was said and done only one member of the Baler golf team was able
to break 90 on pristine par-71 layout and none of the players
earned spots in next week’s Central Coast Section tournament.
Coach is upbeat about next season
The weather was perfect and the course conditions were benign but that didn’t help the San Benito High School golf team, and the players struggled at Monday’s Tri County Athletic League championship tournament at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley. When all was said and done only one member of the Baler golf team was able to break 90 on pristine par-71 layout and none of the players earned spots in next week’s Central Coast Section tournament.
“We just didn’t play very well,” Baler coach Andy Parra said. “Going into the tournament we were fourth in points. I knew we weren’t going to be able to qualify for CCS as a team, but I was hoping we could send three individuals to the tournament.”
Palma High School captured its ninth league title in a row on Monday. The Chieftains were followed by Salinas High School, which edged Gilroy High for second place by just a single stroke. The Balers finished fifth in the team standings.
In order to qualify as an individual it turns out that the Baler golfers would have had to break 82 on Monday. As it turned out the lowest score by any San Benito High player was posted by sophomore Robby Sanchez, who carded an 88 over the challenging track. During the season, Sanchez had been the team’s No. 4 golfer.
The biggest surprise of the day for the Balers was when the team’s No. 1 golfer, Derell Aton, came into the clubhouse with an uncharacteristic 24-over-par 95.
“I’m not sure what happened to him out there,” Parra said. “I think the whole team expected him to play really well. It just didn’t go well for him out there. All season long, Derell was the anchor of our team. He consistently put up low numbers.”
Parra went on to say that had Aton had a typical afternoon on the links, he not only would have made CCS but also would have earned All-League honors.
“Considering he is a sophomore in this league that is saying a lot,” Parra said. “Overall, he did have a solid season and that is something to build on for next year.”
Coming into the clubhouse with the exact same number as Aton, was the Balers No. 2 player, Joey Amaral, another sophomore on the young team.
“Joey was the guy who was really consistent,” Parra said. “You could always predict what his score would be. He was really solid for us all year as well.”
Fortunately for Parra, both players along with a slew of underclassmen as well as incoming talented freshmen will be in the Baler lineup next year. The one player who won’t be is senior Chad Stange, who carded a 93 on Monday.
“Speaking for the team, they all say that they will miss Chad next year. He made all of our van rides entertaining,” Parra said. “Unfortunately, he wasn’t as consistent as he would have liked to have been this year.”
Finishing in fifth place on the Baler team Monday was sophomore Josh Greenwood, who carded a 101 – a number that Parra is expecting to be dramatically lower next year.
“I look forward to having Josh come back. He’ll really work at it in the off-season,” he said. “A 101 is not something that he is proud of because he’s kind of a perfectionist. He’s not going to want that bad taste in his mouth for very long.”
While the Baler team finished overall about where Parra expected, next year he is expecting a huge turnaround.
“We were trying to reach CCS this year, but we fell short of that goal,” he said. “We have a lot to build on. We’re young, and we’ll have five sophomores coming back with varsity experience. We also have a few great incoming freshmen next year. Next year, the goal is not to just qualify guys for CCS – we want to win league. We want to be the team that stops Palma from making it ten in a row.”
