The sights and sounds of Andy Hardin Pitch bordered on the
surreal Tuesday night as eight Hollister High seniors took the
pitch for the final soccer game of their prep careers.
The sights and sounds of Andy Hardin Pitch bordered on the surreal Tuesday night as eight Hollister High seniors took the pitch for the final soccer game of their prep careers.
With Palma as the guest, fans came equipped with noisemakers, including one which sounded like a possessed woodpecker. Screaming girls acted like Elvis Presley was performing as they nearly fainted with yelps for their favorite Hollister player. Some girls even struck up several choruses of “If you want to feel happy, clap your hands!”
Surreal.
What was real was the way the Balers worked the Chieftains to the ‘clap your hands’ tune of 5-0. All five goals were tallied by seniors, including two spectacular goals by the skilled Brian Vargas, an Olympic Development player.
Hollister coach Michael Warner, with his club at 8-4-2 overall and 5-4-1 Tri-County Athletic League, will not lobby this Saturday when the Central Coast Section pairings are delved out. The Balers haven’t been to the CCS playoffs since 1983.
The game was “extra special” for Warner, for it may be his last as Baler coach. Rumors are that he’ll be replaced next year with junior varsity coach Paul Bellar, a full-time teacher at the school.
“If they want me to come back, I’d like to come back,” said Warner, who just completed his third season. “The boys had heard something and we talked about it in practice. To a man, they all wanted me back.”
Warner had to be pleased with the effort of his seniors, some of whom he coached at the club level before they reached high school. Playing their last match and honored in a ceremony at halftime were Vargas, Elias Barocio, Gerardo Lostanau, Pablo Andrade, Isidro Trujillo, Mario Zaragoza, Nick Vandenberg and Ivan Rojas.
The match began slowly with neither the Chieftains (7-9-2, 3-7) or Balers putting up much of a threat for the first 15 minutes. Zaragoza led a Baler rush, but the Balers were guilty of offsides. Then, in the 19th minute, Jorge Lopez beat a defender and delivered a beautiful center from the right side. Lostanau timed it perfectly with his head to beat Palma goalie Charles Park. Lostanau caught a knee to his face on his way to the ground and he came out temporarily.
The pace picked up. The Balers missed some opportunities from a distance, while Palma’s Joey Melo’s direct kick on goal was saved by Jorge Medina.
Not long after that, Vargas, with a defender in front of him, stopped from about 30 yards out, wheeled to his right and powered one to the left of the Chieftains keeper. It was a great shot from one of the most skilled players ever to put on a Baler uniform. Vargas added a second goal about 65 minutes in on a direct kick which spun its way into the net. It was Vargas’ eighth goal in league play and 10th of the year.
“Brian may be the best player I’ve had here all-around,” said Warner. “He’s very talented and plays hard. We built the team around him this year. We asked a lot of him.”
Andrade from Ernesto Lostanau in about the 50th minute had put the Balers up 3-0. Barocio, playing with a separated shoulder, rolled the Balers’ final goal just minutes before the final whistle.
“It was a great way to end my senior season,” said Barocio, who has separated his shoulder eight times, not 11 as originally reported.
It wasn’t a great way for the Chieftains to end the season, however, considering they were coming off a 1-0 win over North Salinas and a 1-0 loss to first place Live Oak.
“We were flat tonight,” said Palma coach Scott Corner, an apt name for a soccer coach. “I told my kids that we had to be up for Hollister for some of them play on that traveling team with Gilroy and Live Oak. I think we took Hollister lightly tonight. Hollister played well.”
For whomever coaches the Baler booters next season, the cupboard won’t be entirely bear. Returning will be Medina, a three-year starter in goal, Jonathan Alonzo, Alfredo Arredondo, Willie Sanchez, Ernesto Lostanau, Lopez, John Hansen, Victor Rosales, Luis Vasquez and Daniel Laguna.
“Arredondo was the star of the game (tonight),” said Warner. “And Laguna is playing real well right now. We’ve lost a lot of leadership after this season, but we’ll have a good nucleus of players coming back next year, plus some talent on the JV’s.”
Baler bits: The Balers dominated the match, outshooting the Chieftains 22-12. – Trujillo suffered a possible spraned right knee when he was tackled by a Chieftains near the northeast corner of the pitch. – Sanchez went down early in the game and lay face down due to a sore back for a few minutes, adding three minutes of injury time in the first half.
JV score: Hollister 5, Palma 1. Gerardo Vaca and Jaime Torres each had two goals, while Sergio Lostanau had a goal for the Balers.
