The No. 1 priority for Hollister High in Thursday’s Central
Coast Section Division I semifinal vs. Carlmont is to play solid
defense.
The No. 1 priority for Hollister High in Thursday’s Central Coast Section Division I semifinal vs. Carlmont is to play solid defense.
The fifth-seeded Balers (22-9) dropped a 6-1 contest to the No. 1-seeded Scots (29-5) at the Circle of Champions in Sunnyvale on March 22, thanks to six errors.
The Balers have much more at stake this time around when the third and fourth-ranked teams in the CCS lock horns at PAL Stadium in San Jose at 7 p.m. – a berth in Saturday’s championship game.
“We have to play errorless defense to beat Carlmont,” said Baler head coach Scott Smith. “And we have to have our pitchers hit their spots. I also feel either Kim Dabo or Nashia Alvarez is going to have a big at bat. Nashia has been hitting the ball well in batting practice. So has Kim.”
Smith expects a tight game.
“I think it will be 1-0 or 1-1 going into the seventh inning,” said Smith. “I’m feeling very confident about this game. I expect Carlmont to bunt a lot and we’ve been working hard on bunt defense in practice. Their strategy will play right into our strengths. Offensively, we’ll try to put some pressure on them early. And that’s what they’ll try to do to us.”
Sophomore Dani Hernandez, who went the distance in the Balers’ first round victory against Milpitas, gets the nod vs. the Scots in, undoubtedly, her biggest game yet. As a freshman last year, Hernandez took the loss in the Balers’ CCS semifinal at the hands of Wilcox.
“Dani always starts a little slow,” said Smith. “Seems like the other teams always gets a couple of hits in that first inning and then she settles down. She has to get us into the fifth inning, at least.”
The top hitter on the Scots and one of the best players in CCS is catcher Celina Castillo, who is also tough to run on. The Scots have a couple of good bats in the bottom of their lineup with third baseman Elena Wong and right fielder Bernadette Pasani.
The Balers’ main problem will be dealing with junior hurler Jerica Castagno. Castagno is a fireballing competitor, not unlike Notre Dame’s Kim Reeder.
This will be the third straight season the Balers have reached the CCS DI semis. Dabo has been there each year.
“I thought we had the team to win it last year,” said Dabo. “I was real disappointed when we lost. This team is better all-around than last year, but we need to wake up our bats to win.”
“We’ve played Notre Dame close three times and beat North Salinas twice,” said Smith. “Our competition should have helped us get ready for a game like this. Our girls are the type to stay calm in a game like this, which will be a plus on our side.”
The Scots won the CCS Division II title the past two years, while the Balers fell to Live Oak two years ago in the D-I title game.
North Salinas and Santa Teresa play in the other D-I semi at 4:30 p.m. The two winners meet Saturday at 10 a.m. at PAL Stadium for the section championship.
