Last season, San Benito carried the underdog role on the way to
its first Central Coast Section softball championship.
San Jose – Last season, San Benito carried the underdog role on the way to its first Central Coast Section softball championship.
This season, the Haybalers took everybody’s best punch and still came out on top, concluding their back-to-back title run Saturday with a 2-1 victory over top-seeded Carlmont in the Division I finals at PAL Stadium.
“This year we had all the pressure,” junior shortstop Elena Fata said. “That made it more fun.”
“That makes it a lot better,” sophomore second baseman JC Clayton added. “Carlmont wanted it bad. Winning (the title) is just amazing.”
“It was a lot more fun,” junior third baseman Lizzy Gatto agreed. “We knew our goal. Now we hope we can come back and do it again.”
The second time around is all the more sweeter for coach Scott Smith, who missed last year’s 1-0 championship game victory over Watsonville while attending his step-daughter’s wedding in Texas.
“This is just unbelievable,” said Smith, who had a cooler full of ice dumped on him and, along with the rest of the coaching staff, was showered with silly string in the celebration. “To get hyped up for the game, knowing it’s the last game and to just be here and watch how calm the girls were … I couldn’t put it into words.”
While last year’s game was scoreless until the bottom of the ninth, the ‘Balers (32-3) got on the board in the first inning this time.
Clayton led off with a walk and Rachel Maheu sacrificed her to second. With two outs, Gatto singled up the middle and Clayton raced toward home. Carlmont’s relay throw came to senior pitcher Ashley Chinn, but her throw home was wild as Clayton scored the first run.
“That eased a lot of tension,” Gatto said of the early run.
But for Smith, it raised some concerns.
“I was hoping to keep it scoreless for the first six innings,” Smith said. “I was actually worried about it. We thrive when games are really tight. Luckily it worked out for us and putting them behind early put pressure on them.”
Chinn, who is headed to Stanford next season, settled down after Gatto’s hit. She struck out the next five batters and then escaped a one-out, bases loaded jam in the third by striking out Gatto and getting Lindsey Clay to hit into a fielder’s choice.
But in the fourth, the bottom of the order helped San Benito get on the board again. With two outs, Nos. 8 and 9 hitters Alyssa Ashford and Danielle Scibuola got back-to-back singles and pinch-runner Kelsey Russell scored on a single by Clayton.
The two-run advantage didn’t last long as the Scots (30-2-1) rallied in the fifth.
Lauren Kilburg led off the inning with a single and Kristin Lippi and Katelyn Endow both followed with fielder’s choices as Endow stood on first. Leadoff hitter Katy Suko then blasted a ball over the left fielder’s head for a double to score pinch-runner Paulina Swenson and cut the lead to 2-1.
Tr-County Athletic League Pitcher of the Year Marisa Ibarra (32-2) ended Carlmont’s hopes of tying the game there when she got Kelly Cunningham to pop out to Gatto at third to end the inning.
The final nine ‘Balers were all retired in order by Chinn, who reached the 300-strikeout plateau with her 10 punch outs on the day, and the Scots looked for one final threat.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Endow hit a bloop single to right field. But Ibarra clinched the ‘Balers title in style by recording her fifth strikeout of the day to secure the title.
“I knew I had to have a really good game,” said Ibarra, who rebounded from her toughest outing of the season in Thursday’s 13-7 semifinal victory over Gilroy. “(Chinn) wasn’t going to give up many runs.”
The sophomore right-hander, whose record is now 56-4 in her first two seasons, said she never expected to find this kind of success at the high school level but is enjoying every minute of it.
“It’s really awesome,” Ibarra said. “When I came into high school, I was just hoping to get some wins.”
She’s done that and more, and because of it, the ‘Balers are the champs again.
San Benito 100 100 0 – 2 6 1
Carlmont 000 010 0 – 1 3 2
Ibarra and Perreira. Chinn and Steele.
WP – Ibarra, LP – Chinn.
RBI – Clayton (SB), Suko (C). 2B – Suko.
