New faces graced the waters of the Baler Splash Center Wednesday
as San Benito High hosted Gilroy in the Tri-County Athletic League
opener for both teams. Baler head coach Tom Agan challenged his
team to go out and do the things his club has been fastiduously
been working on the past month or so.
New faces graced the waters of the Baler Splash Center Wednesday as San Benito High hosted Gilroy in the Tri-County Athletic League opener for both teams. Baler head coach Tom Agan challenged his team to go out and do the things his club has been fastiduously been working on the past month or so.
Agan’s Balers executed the game plan to perfection, swimming away from the Mustangs 17-8. The nine-goal margin was the biggest of the afternoon as the Balers held leads of 11-2 and 15-6, as well.
“I’m really proud of the JV program,” said Agan, whose brother, John Agan is its coach. “I only had two returning starters and these kids came out and played awesome. It’s early. I didn’t like our conditioning and we were sloppy on occasion, but that gives us something to work on.”
The Balers (1-0, 1-0 T-CAL) shared the ball extemely well for the first game of the year. Team defense was also exceptional, often stifling the Mustangs (0-1, 0-1) without a good shot.
Both teams, as might be expected, struggled offensively the first 1:20 of the match. Joel Smith tallied the first goal of the year on an adept reverse shot which floated past Gilroy goalie Nick Van Winkle.
The Mustangs Lee Walton hung in the air for a goal to tie the score 1-1 at the 4:04 mark of the first period. Smith, working in the 2-meter, scored once more from a Lucas Zepeda assist. The Mustangs Travis Gamble uncorked a blind reverse beauty from about seven meters out which stunned Baler goalie Nick Dain at 3:05 for 2-2.
That was it for the Mustangs for the next 13 minutes of the match. During that span the Balers, taking advantage of poor defensive transition by the ‘Stangs, ran off nine unanswered goals.
After Sean Russell notched his first of three goals, junior Zach Bainter, rattled off three consecutive goals to end the period, putting the Balers up 6-2. Bainter, swimming well without the ball, ended up with a match-high six goals in his varsity debut.
Russell rifled a shot which tipped off Van Winkle’s arms and floated into goal with 4:17
left in the half. Tom Agan was more than impressed with the play of Russell, a senior out for polo for the first time.
“Sean was awesome,” said Tom Agan. “I wish he had been out since his freshman year. He was really heads up out there, plus he has a cannon arm. He doesn’t usually miss, either.”
The second half was virtually the Lucas Zepeda Show. The junior had all five of his goals in the final 14 minutes. Showing flashes of last year’s leading scorer NIk Barr, Zepeda was like a lightning bug in the pool, shedding defenders on the way to putting the ball into the net. Zepeda also had four assists, second on the team to Robbie Shattuck, who had a match-high six.
“Nik showed me some tricks this past summer,” said Zepeda. “This was just the first game. We have a lot of young guys here. We just need to play together and we’ll improve.”
“Lucas has been playing a lot of polo,” said Zepeda. “I remember when he was in seventh grade and he was just a little guy. Now look at him. Here he is.”
Agan also praised Shattuck for his defense.
“Robbie was effortless guarding people on the perimeter,” said Agan. “He’s a finesse player, but he gives them nothing.”
Not to be lost in all the hoopla was the goalie play of Dain, who finished with 15 saves. Dain played his first three seasons on the junior varsity team. Some of his saves were of the brilliant variety.
“I know when to go for the block,” said Dain, who played taller than his six-feet in height. “This was a good win for us.”
The Balers host the Monterey Bay League invitational this Saturday. The eight teams are divided into four-team pools. There is no championship. The Balers play Pioneer at 7:30 a.m., Mt. Pleasant at 10:30 a.m. and Aptos at 2:30 p.m. The other four teams are Monterey, Harbor, RLS and Valley Christian.
JV score: Balers 17, Gilroy 3
Rory Block, Blaine Curtice and Nick First led the Balers with three goals each. Joe Flook donated two goals, including a half-the-length shot as the crowd went wild. Duffy Barret, Greg Valenzuela, Jesse Rice, James Schafer and Curtis Wall had a goal each. Baler goalie Alex Marks had five saves in three periods, then scored a goal while playing in the field in the fourth period.
