For the second year in row, the San Benito High baseball team’s season ended in excruciating fashion last spring.
After finishing one win away from the school’s first Central Coast Section title in baseball – for the second consecutive year – the Balers are fully prepared for another season with heightened expectations and goals. But for them, it starts with the last game.
Once again, the Balers simply want to win the last game of the year.
“That was our goal last year and that’s our goal this year,” SBHS head coach Billy Aviles said.
And with so much talent – including at least one player signed to play college Division I baseball in shortstop Michael Breen – the Balers have every reason to believe that the third time is the charm.
“I have a good group of kids and hard working kids,” Aviles said. “They are grinders. They want to win. They know what it takes to win.”
And the outfield wall showcases just that. San Benito’s league title streak reached seven consecutive years last spring, and despite a new league format the Balers don’t plan on ending that run just yet.
“We don’t want to break that tradition,” SBHS junior Greg Steinbeck said. “We don’t want to be the team that doesn’t win league. We want to win league. We have to.”
He continued: “There are going to be better teams than the other league but I think we will stack up well against those teams.”
That doesn’t mean the Balers will have an easy road. After a senior-heavy pitching staff led the way for San Benito a year ago, new blood will be on the mound for the Balers this spring.
San Benito will need to rely on Jacob Tonascia, Breen, Steinbeck and Conner Menez to carry the load for the departed Anthony OCampo and Jake Cabral. They should be up for the challenge, Aviles said.
“Last year, numbers wise, our senior pitchers were phenomenal,” Aviles said. “This year we are going to be pretty good as well with Greg Steinbeck and Conner Menez. We also have some really good arms we never used last year in Michael Breen and Jacob Tonascia. Those are two outstanding pitchers that didn’t have much of chance because our seniors ate up all the innings.”
He continued: “We are gong to use Breen and Tonascia. I feel really good with our pitching. I definitely think we are strong.”
Despite the losses, the Balers have no doubt about the pitching strength.
“This year we want to work on good quality teamwork and to help us get back to the CCS (championship),” Menez said. “We have good pitching. Our hitting should do well. Hopefully, we will be able to get back there.”
At the plate, the Balers can be even better. With Breen fully ingrained at shortstop, Tonascia behind the plate and with another year under Josh George’s belt, San Benito’s offense should be dynamic.
“They know what it takes to win and they come out everyday working hard giving 110 percent,” Aviles said.
For George, he hopes to build off an impressive sophomore year that included a .370 batting average while playing stellar defense in center field.
“I played a lot of summer ball and learned a lot of things,” he said. “I have more of a mental game going now. So lets see what I can do with that.”
George knows the type of role he’ll have to play with the team at the top of the order, he said.
“We play a really simple side of baseball,” George said. “Our coach teaches us the simple things. We play scrappy – that’s what the scouts have told us and so we kind of just attack and play our game. We get things done and do the things the right way.”
And with no pitcher that throws in the 90s and no hitter that will hit double-digit home runs, that’s exactly how the Balers have sustained their long-term success.
“I have expectations for these kids,” Aviles said. “And they have high expectations of themselves. They know the players that came before them. There are 26 players that went though here to college. We have high expectations of them and they have high expectations of themselves. They have a lot to live up to. This is a baseball town.”
San Benito’s season opens up Friday against Valley Christian at 3:30 p.m. Friday. The Balers first home game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday against Gilroy High at the Babe Ruth field at Veterans Memorial Park.
