What a difference a year makes.
Last season, the San Benito High girls water polo team was solid but lacked the swimming endurance and general technical skills to contend for a Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division championship.
Although it’s still early in the 2014 season, the Haybalers’ 21-5 whipping of visiting Carmel on Thursday showed they’ll in the very least be a player for the title. It’s apparent the Balers (2-2 overall, 1-1 in league) are physically superior and a more skilled squad from a year ago.
Ronni Gautschi, the first-year San Benito coach, said the players on the team deserve credit for putting in the work.
“The girls know if they want to win, they have to train hard,” she said. “That’s what athletes do—they train.”
The Balers opened league play with a narrow 6-4 loss to perennial Central Coast Section power and two-time defending MBL champion Soquel on Sept. 4. Last year San Benito lost to Soquel by scores of 10-3, 12-4 and 11-2, respectively.
“The Soquel (outcome) I’m totally OK with it,” Gautschi said. “It was the first game of the season, and I think we’ll get them in the end.”
San Benito overwhelmed a clearly overmatched Carmel team as the match wore on. Leading 6-3 after the first period, the Balers outscored the Padres 15-2 the rest of the way. Erin Hepner, a senior hole-set, outscored Carmel all by herself with a career-best seven goals.
Senior driver Riley Drexler and junior driver Grace Larson scored four goals each, and Heather Smith and Shannon Stephens had two goals apiece. Freshman Ceily Hepner and junior defender Hayleigh Smith rounded out the team’s scoring by tallying a goal each.
As is often the case when one team is vastly superior to another, the winning squad doesn’t tend to be as sharp as it should be. That was certainly the case with San Benito, which played well but left a lot to be desired with the 6-on-5 advantage, finishing just 2-for-8 in that category.
“I don’t like 2-for-8,” Gautschi said. “I’d be good with 4-for-8 because 50 percent is what I shoot for.”
The Balers are a superior swimming team from last year because, well, they swim a lot more. They swim at least an hour a day, or for half of their practice. Sometimes the team will have two practices a days.
“They told me (Wednesday) that they never swam this much before,” Gautschi said. “Swimming ability is more than half of the battle when it comes to winning water polo matches.”
San Benito displayed strength down low with Erin Hepner, a physical hole-set player who demands double teams. By working hard for position, Hepner was able to station herself in front of the Carmel goal, and twice scored from point-blank range.
Heather Smith had three assists, displaying a deft touch with pinpoint passes throughout the contest. Goalie Rachel Smithee was her usually solid self, using her long 6-foot-1 frame to repel most of the Carmel shots that came her way. With just eight players available—meaning there was just one substitute on the bench at all times—the Balers used a total team effort in the victory.
All seven field players scored for the Balers, whose dramatic turnaround can be traced to the players’ hard work and a coach who has put them in the best position to be successful.
“Ronni is a breath of fresh air,” Hayleigh Smith said. “She’s very passionate, and I like her coaching style a lot. Every girl on the team has a unique and loving relationship with her.”
