San Benito retains focus with 4-0 victory over Santa Cruz in
Crown Classic at Valley Christian High School; Canez homers and
tosses six shutout innings
San Jose – As the wins continue to pile up for the San Benito baseball team, head coach Michael Luna is glad that his team has kept its focus and determination. After a 4-0 defeat of Santa Cruz in the Valley Christian/San Jose Sharks Crown Classic on Friday, Luna likened the ‘Balers’ performance to another successful day at the office.
“It was a workmanlike effort today,” Luna said. “All business.”
After defeating the Cardinals 2-1 in last Saturday’s opening game of the tournament without throwing ace Breyon Canez, San Benito had to like its chances with Canez taking the mound for Friday’s consolation championship. Perhaps a bit less expected was that the senior would propel the team as much with his bat as with his arm.
After ‘Balers right fielder Josh Torrise walked on five pitches to open the game, Canez stepped in against Santa Cruz fireballer Drew Gagnier and, with one swing of the bat, gave himself all the cushion he would need to record the victory. On a 1-0 count, Canez crushed a fastball over the 345-foot mark on the leftfield fence to give San Benito a 2-0 lead two batters into the game.
The southpaw said scoring right off the bat was exactly what was on his mind during his pregame warm-up.
“I was thinking to myself, ‘All we need to do is get a lead,'” Canez related. “I just figured we needed to get a few runs and then I would adjust.”
In assessing Canez’s pitching performance that followed, ‘adjust’ was something San Benito’s starter never allowed the Cardinals’ hitters to do. Canez didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning, and finished by limiting Santa Cruz to three hits in his six shutout innings.
“Their pitcher was extremely dominant,” Cardinals head coach Bob Kittle said. “Canez is a helluva pitcher.”
San Benito benefited from Gagnier’s wildness, especially in a two-run third inning. After Canez drew a one-out walk and Karson Klauer singled, the inning started to get away from Santa Cruz. After a pickoff throw sailed into centerfield to give the ‘Balers runners at second and third, sophomore Brian Haggett made the Cardinals pay by slapping a full-count pitch to the opposite field for an RBI single.
Gagnier appeared on the way to getting out of further trouble by inducing an infield pop-up for the second out, but then he struck San Benito’s Kevin Medeiros with a pitch to load the bases. Then, the ‘Balers capitalized on a wild pitch that sailed to the backstop as Klauer raced in to push San Benito’s lead to 4-0.
Medeiros spoke of the ‘Balers’ mindset at the plate.
“You’ve got to stay patient and wait for your pitch,” the left fielder said. “We got on base more and got more free passes.”
Kittle said the 11 free bases – either walks or hit batters – that his three pitchers gave up on the afternoon played a large role in putting the Cardinals in too deep a hole to climb out of.
“When you spot ’em four runs right off the bat, it’s tough to come back,” Kittle noted. “That’s why they’re 18-3 and we’re 9-11.”
Santa Cruz finally touched Canez in the fifth, when second baseman Ben Nordstrom broke up the ‘Baler’s no-hit bid by singling to right. On the heels of Alex Taku reaching base after being hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, the Cardinals had a golden opportunity to cut into San Benito’s lead. But ‘Balers catcher Travis Ross alertly pounced on Max Myers’ one-out bunt and threw out Taku at third, the best defensive play in another error-free game for San Benito.
Santa Cruz threatened again in the sixth with two singles a batter apart, but Canez recovered with a strikeout and an infield groundout to finish his day on the mound.
Canez struck out seven and walked one in pushing his record to 7-0.
Senior Ryan McFall tossed a perfect seventh to wrap up the victory for San Benito.
Torrise again set the table well at the top of the lineup, drawing two walks and singling in the sixth. Canez also reached base three times, finishing 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs.
Gagnier, who moved to centerfield after being relieved by Taku to start the fourth, had the most effective day at the plate for the Cardinals. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound senior was hit by Canez pitches twice and slammed a single that took a high hop into leftfield in the sixth.
After completing the Crown Classic with a 3-1 record – the ‘Balers defeated Harbor on Tuesday and fell to Wilcox last Saturday – San Benito has now played its last non-league, regular season game of the season. With one game each remaining against all six of its Tri-County Athletic League rivals, Luna said maintaining a firm grasp on first place is a must.
“We’re trying to get a good seed in the (Central Coast Section) playoffs,” Luna shared. “Every win is important if we want to get a high seed to get a home game in the first round.”
San Benito (11-1 TCAL) returns to action with a visit to Gilroy on Thursday.
