Offense pounding out hits; pitching near top of league stats
The San Benito High baseball team is on fire. So far this season
the Balers are 14-4 overall and haven’t lost a single game in
league play. In the process they’ve outscored their opponents by a
whopping 108-43 margin
– giving up the second least amount of runs in the entire
Monterey Bay region, an area that stretches from Gilroy to King
City.
Offense pounding out hits; pitching near top of league stats
The San Benito High baseball team is on fire. So far this season the Balers are 14-4 overall and haven’t lost a single game in league play. In the process they’ve outscored their opponents by a whopping 108-43 margin – giving up the second least amount of runs in the entire Monterey Bay region, an area that stretches from Gilroy to King City.
As things stand right now in the Tri County Athletic League the Balers hold a two-game lead over both Gilroy and Palma and appear to be in the driver’s seat to defend their league title.
“I’m still concerned with our hitting. We have pretty good numbers but we’re not swinging the bat well,” San Benito High coach Mike Luna said. “We’re getting on base as a result of a lot of walks and being hit by pitches, but we’re still not hitting well with runners in scoring position. There are one or two guys who are hitting the ball well but I don’t think I’ve played the same lineup twice this year.”
The players that are hitting well as they make their way into the heart of league play are junior catcher Kyle Zozaya and senior second baseman Brian Haggett. Zozaya, who typically bats in the No. 3 spot, is batting .375 overall and is third on the team in hits. Haggett is batting .350 after struggling a bit the past few games but still leads the Balers in hits, doubles and homeruns with three.
According to Luna, one major blow to the Baler offense came when former starting first baseman Bryan Scott, the team’s clean-up hitter, became ineligible.
“He was our number four hitter – the big RBI guy for us,” Luna said. “He hit right behind Haggett. Now guys are just pitching around Haggett and before they didn’t. That loss hurt us a lot.”
One thing that has only helped the Balers this season has been the strong outings of starting pitching aces Zach Canez and Miles Sanchez. This year the two senior hurlers have identical 4-1 records. And even if they get into trouble, Luna has the luxury of having one of the deepest bullpens in the Section.
“They are our number one guys,” Luna said. “But I have four other guys that I use as committees. We’ve only had a couple of complete games all year because I have six guys that I’m not afraid to put out there.”
Luna went on to say that the key to successful pitching this season has been his squad’s ability to throw strikes on a consistent basis.
“They make you swing the bat,” he said. “We’re only averaging four or five strikeouts a game but they put a lot of balls in play.”
A year ago, the Balers advanced all the way to the Section finals before falling 2-1 to San Jose’s Valley Christian High School in the Division I championship. Luna believes that this year’s team could go all the way, if and when the hitting becomes more consistent.
“I think if we start hitting the ball well we are going to be a scary team, especially with the pitching and defense that we have,” he said. “This year, we are definitely better on the bump and our overall team defense is better than it was a year ago. But we are noticeably not even close to what we were a year ago offensively. Once that turns around, we should be able to go a long way.”
