Oh, that senior hijinx. Add water and presto! Absolute
zaniness.
Oh, that senior hijinx. Add water and presto! Absolute zaniness.
Hollister High boys water polo celebrated its homecoming with a 26-8 frolic over Carmel in a match that had just about everything. There was even Baler cheerleaders at the match, arranged by Baler goalie Brannon Wynn’s mom.
With 10 seniors playing in front of the home folks one final time, the Balers (17-3, 5-0 Tri-County Athletic League) motored up 10-2 after the first seven minutes and coasted from there. Carmel, in its defense, was missing three starters due to undisclosed reasons, according toBaler head coach Tom Agan, who was a Padre when he attended high school.
That may explain why Carmel head coach Ed Sigourney joked about the Balers running up the score when Agan wanted his players to keep an eye on the clock with a 20-4 lead.
“Come on! Make it 21,” said Sigourney late in the third. Seconds later, Lucas Zepeda fed Greg Wilson, who scored on a power play for 21-4.
It’s tough to keep the Balers down these days. Plus, it looks like they’re having fun doing it. At one point in the match, Hollister’s Greg Henneman went under water to lift up teammate Danny Valenzuela high in the air. Valenzuela received a pass mid-lift and fired it past Padres goalie Dylan Jones. The goal was disallowed.
“We were fooling around with the play in practice and coach said it looked good,” said Henneman. “So we decided to try it.”
Nik Barr, who led the Balers with seven goals and two assists, went into goal for the fourth quarter, replacing Brannon Wynn. Barr had a highlight reel goal for 24-6 when he threw the ball the length of the pool past a stunned Jones.
And late in the match, the Padres Covie Gonzales even joined in the festivities. Gonzales broke free with the ball behind the final Baler defender and had a one-on-one with Barr. Gonzales probably would have scored if he played it straight, but he tried a blind reverse effort on the swim and it went high over goal.
Henneman ended up with four goals, as did Wilson. Zach Gautney was content to feed with three assists and two goals. Valenzuela contributed three goals and two assists.
Ten different Balers found the scoring column, including Travis Fowles, Christian Smith, Chris Pringle and Wynn, who had a goal apiece.
“Hollister’s one of the strongest teams we played,” said Gonzales.
The Balers plan to be more serious next Wednesday when they attempt to stay perfect in the TCAL in a road match at Live Oak.
The TCAL tournament is Nov. 6 and Nov. 8 at a site to be determined.
Baler bit: Ex-Baler water polo star Kris Barr, older brother of Nik Barr, was home from Loyola Marymount University and attended Tuesday’s match…..The Central Coast Section seeding meeting is Nov. 10 at the CCS office in San Jose. The Balers will play in Division I and are a good bet to be seeded second behind Bellarmine, pending what happens with Live Oak the next three weeks.
