San Benito keeps high-scoring Cowboys at bay with 10-4
victory
Hollister
San Benito starting pitcher Miles Sanchez admittedly didn’t have his best stuff – he graded himself a B-minus, in fact – but the Hollister hurler delivered a passing grade against the Salinas Cowboys Tuesday and helped keep the Haybalers undefeated in league with a 10-4 victory at home.
Plating 121 runs over their previous 16 games, the Cowboys entered the contest as the highest scoring team in the Tri-County Athletic League. Despite windy conditions, though, Sanchez allowed just three runs on six hits through five innings of work, and helped keep the ‘Balers out in front in league.
“They showed they can play with us, which is pretty big … We need to show that we can outplay them,” Sanchez said. “It was a good way to come back in league. Our team showed a lot to come back from that loss (to Valley Christian) and put up 10 runs.”
San Benito is 5-0 in the TCAL, 12-4 overall.
The ‘Balers capitalized on 15 free bases, including three hit-batsmen and 12 walks, to win their fifth game in their last six.
Manager Michael Luna feels that although his team won with a six-run cushion, the ‘Balers could have perhaps put the game away earlier, and even 10-runned the Cowboys.
“I thought we could have had some big innings where we could have played five (innings) instead of seven,” Luna said.
The Haybalers left 14 runners on base against Salinas, nine of which were in scoring position. Added Luna, “That’s a big win, don’t get me wrong … I’ll take that win, but we still have a ways to go. We’re halfway through the season and I think we should be further along … We’re just not getting the fat part of the bat on the ball …”
Brian Haggett’s leadoff triple in the bottom of the sixth inning with no one out was a microcosm of the game, Luna said, as the Haybalers were unable to plate Haggett from third base.
“It’s not any one player,” Luna said. “We just didn’t get that one hit where maybe we play five instead of seven.”
After San Benito scored a pair in the first, highlighted by a high chopper from Kyle Zozaya that cleared the infield and scored Zach Canez from second base, the Cowboys responded in the third.
Having already stranded five runners on base through the first two innings, Salinas broke through in the top half of the third with two runs on two hits.
“I couldn’t control my changeup,” said Sanchez, who struck out five for the win. “That’s my bread-and-butter pitch.”
The ‘Balers answered by reclaiming the lead in the bottom half of the inning when Canez connected for a two-run single that nestled under a diving Eddie Wright in center field.
They added four more runs the following inning on just two hits, taking advantage of two hit-batsmen and three walks by Salinas, not to mention a warning-track double by Zozaya to center field as well as a perfectly-placed bunt by Steve Cabral.
After Ronnie Fhurong lined an RBI single to center field in the fifth, reliever Jacob Eichhorn pitched the remaining two innings for San Benito, and allowed one run on two hits while striking out two.
Fhurong was 2-for-2 while Canez was 1-for-3 with three RBIs. Zozaya finished 2-for-4 with an RBI.
The two teams will meet up again in Salinas on Thursday. Although the Cowboys used four pitchers to San Benito’s two, Luna said Salinas still has three quality pitchers on its staff.
“It’s a must-win for them,” Luna said. “They’ve got to come out like it’s Game 7 of the World Series.”
First pitch is at 4 p.m.
SAL 002 011 0 – 4 8 2
SB 202 420 X – 10 8 2
