San Benito throttles Salinas 7-0; ‘Balers wrap up regular season
on 17-1 run
Salinas – The way they are playing right now, the Lady ‘Balers wish the Central Coast Section playoffs began today. After wrapping up its regular season with a 7-0 victory at Salinas on Thursday, the San Benito softball team hits the postseason with a 17-1 record in its last 18 games.
Despite the outstanding finish, San Benito had to settle for second place in the Tri-County Athletic League, one game behind champion Notre Dame. After early-season losses to the Spirits (25-4, 11-1 TCAL) and Gilroy, the ‘Balers rebounded to go on the tear that has the team thinking about a CCS title.
After seeing his squad defeat Notre Dame, 3-0, in Hollister on Tuesday, San Benito head coach Scott Smith knows the ‘Balers (26-3, 10-2 TCAL) narrowly missed out on a league championship.
“In hindsight, I wish we could’ve gotten on track earlier because I think we could’ve won league,” Smith said. “(But) if you’d told me at the start of the year that second place was ours, I would’ve taken it without looking back.”
Taking the field at Salinas knowing that they would need a victory and a Notre Dame loss to share the league championship, the ‘Balers methodically shut down the Cowboys. Freshman Marissa Ibarra hurled her third straight shutout, holding her opponent to just one hit. Left fielder Audra Brown doubled and scored the only run San Benito would need in the second inning.
The Lady ‘Balers scored four runs in the fourth and two more in the sixth to post its second shutout of Salinas in eight days.
Right fielder Lizzy Gatto enjoyed a strong day at the plate and in the field. Gatto finished with 2 hits and 3 RBIs, but drew even more praise from her coach for throwing out four Cowboys at first base.
“It was phenomenal,” Smith said of Gatto’s defense. “Two of the four plays were just phenomenal plays.”
Senior Kristen Archuleta and sophomore Elena Fata recorded RBI singles.
Ibarra finished with five strikeouts and no walks. Her only blemishes were hitting a Salinas batter and allowing one hit in the fifth.
In a game being played across town at the same time, Notre Dame defeated North Salinas on Thursday to secure the TCAL title.
The ‘Balers finished the regular season on a four-game winning streak, beating those opponents by a combined score of 32-0.
San Benito now awaits its seed in the CCS Division I playoffs. With Smith believing a top-three seed is likely, the ‘Balers are primed to host a first-round game.
After completing the team’s best overall and TCAL season, the San Benito coach said that his players enter the postseason with the mindset that the championship is theirs for the taking.
“They really believe there’s no one out there that’s going to beat them,” Smith related. “I think they have this fire in their belly that if we don’t make it to the championship game, this season doesn’t mean much.”
