Baseball team will compete at elite Easton Sports Easter Classic
in Las Vegas
HOLLISTER
They may not be old enough to enter any casinos, but the San Benito High baseball team will certainly test their luck this week in Las Vegas.
As the lone representative from Northern California, the Haybalers will be one of 16 teams competing at the elite Easton Sports Easter Classic, hosted by nationally-ranked Bishop Gorman High School in Nevada.
“Obviously the players are excited to be going,” said San Benito manager Michael Luna, whose team has been off the last 11 days. “They’re chomping at the bit to get in some competitive games.”
In Las Vegas this week, where temperatures are expected to be around the low 80s, the ‘Balers won’t have to look terribly far for top-notch talent.
Along with six teams from Nevada, five from Southern California, two from Texas, and one team each from both Utah and Canada, San Benito will play four games in three days in four different venues against nationally recognized competition.
The ‘Balers’ opening game will take place Wednesday at 6 p.m., against Douglas High School, located in Minden, Nev., just south of Carson City.
“Talking with a friend in Reno,” Luna said in regards to Douglas, “he says they always field competitive teams.”
According to MaxPreps.com, Douglas is 10-5 overall and is averaging 8.7 runs per game. One of its losses, though, came by a 7-3 margin to Santa Clara, a team that represents the lone tie on San Benito’s 14-3-1 overall record.
‘Baler Jacob Eichhorn is expected to start against Douglas.
From there, San Benito is expected to have their hands full with host Bishop Gorman, currently ranked No. 19 in the country by USA Today. Luna says the Gaels already have five players signed on to Division I colleges next year.
Previously ranked No. 1 in the preseason, Luna said, Bishop Gorman lost three of their first four games to open the year. Since then, though, the Gaels have rifled off 17 straight victories, and are currently averaging 12.2 runs per game.
“If they’re ranked within the top 10 in some polls, they must be pretty good,” Luna said. “They must have some pretty good talent.”
San Benito will play Bishop Gorman at 8 a.m., on Thursday, then turn around and play at 11 a.m., against Montclair Prep of Van Nuys.
The Mounties, according to MaxPreps, boast a 7-6 overall record.
“I think we’re gonna do well. I like our chances,” Luna said. “We’ve been playing well, our pitching is doing well, and we’re gonna go out there thinking we can win.”
Based on their record through pool play, the ‘Balers will play an additional game on Friday as well.
The tournament games will also factor in to San Benito’s final 22 contests of the season that determine the seeding in the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs. With games against out-of-section and out-of-state opponents, though, Luna said the point system is based on the oppositions overall record at the end of the season.
For instance, if Douglas High School wins 75 percent of their games by the end of the year, they would be considered an “A” league opponent.
And with the competition so strong this week, Luna expects each team to carry “A” league status by season’s end.
“It’s gonna give us an opportunity to see teams from other states play the game of baseball,” Luna said. “It should verify the way we play the game and the way we attack the game is the way the game should be played.”
