Balers split two at Watsonville softball tourney

The Hollister High softball team enters tournaments such as the
Watsonville High Varsity Softball Tournament to have a respite from
the dynamic Tri-County Athletic League. The Balers did just that
Saturday in the tournament’s opening day, shutting out Capuchino
4-0 and getting blanked by Milpitas 1-0.
WATSONVILLE – The Hollister High softball team enters tournaments such as the Watsonville High Varsity Softball Tournament to have a respite from the dynamic Tri-County Athletic League. The Balers did just that Saturday in the tournament’s opening day, shutting out Capuchino 4-0 and getting blanked by Milpitas 1-0.

The Balers took second in Pool E by run differential and will play Aragon this Saturday at 11:30 a.m. as single-elimination rounds begin with the 24-team field paired down to 16 teams. The Balers lost to the Dons 4-3 in the preseason Watsonville Tournament.

Should the Balers (13-5) defeat the Dons, they’d be right back into the T-CAL fray with either Live Oak or Gilroy, whichever team should win its 11:30 matchup. And such is the strength of the T-CAL that all five teams from the league entered are still alive. Notre Dame, which now has 14 straight shutouts, plays Watsonville, while Salinas takes on Soquel. North Salinas did not participate in the tournament.

For the first three innings of Saturday’s contest with the Mustangs of Capuchino (San Bruno), the Balers had trouble solving Mustangs hurler Roxanne Hannan. Hannan was effectively wild and when she got ahead, she’d throw a riseball and the Baler batters often flailed away at it.

In the top of the fourth, Nashia Alvarez singled to start the inning. Amy Baxter’s perfect sac bunt moved Alvarez up a base. With two out, Liz Stewart walked. After Alvarez and Stewart executed a double steal, Megan Smith singled sharply through the box for two runs.

The Balers added two more in the sixth. Baxter walked to lead off the frame, then pinch-hitter Johni Kiesewetter singled off Mustangs shortstop Christine Oikawa’s glove. Stewart laid down a beautiful bunt and no one covered first. The throw went to first anyway and down the line, letting Baxter score and Kiesewetter to get to third. The relay into the infield was wild for another error on the play as Stewart advanced to second. Smith hit a soft liner to second base and it wasn’t handled, allowing Kiesewetter to touch home.

That was all the support Dani Hernandez needed. Hernandez gave up five hits in 5.2 innings before making way for Jessica Temperino. Temperino was brought up for the tournament as an insurance policy because Alyssa Baker, Hollister’s other oft-used hurler, turned an ankle in practice last Wednesday and was unavailable. Temperino walked a batter and yielded a double to Jessica Lucero to put runners on at second and third. Temperino got out of the jam with a nice change-up to Kristy Krsulich, who flied out to Baler center fielder J.T. Temperino, younger sister of Jessica.

“We left too many baserunners on,” said Capuchino coach Marty Jenkins. “Then we made too many mistakes.”

The Mustangs’ best opportunity to score was in the bottom of the fourth. Kim Welch doubled and Monica Romero singled on a bunt which had backspin a few yards in front of home plate as Baxter had no play. After Lucero walked to fill the bases, Krsulich hit a liner to Shelbi Dillon in right field. Dillon hustled in a few yards to make the catch then rifled to first base in an attempt to nail Lucero. The throw looked to beat Lucero to the bag, but the base umpire, who was stationed near shortstop, initially called Lucero safe. Stewart, the Balers’ first baseman, stayed with the play and tagged Lucero out when she wandered off first. The base ump, to his credit, hadn’t given up and called Lucero out for the second out of the inning.

Then, one of the finest defensive plays of the year by a Baler player, Jenny Maheu motored far to her left to field a threatening ground ball from pinch-hitter Jen Broock. The fluid Maheu, who made two other tough chances on short-hops, threw out Broock to complete the gem. Had the ball gotten through, two runs would have scored.

“That was huge,” said Baler coach Scott Smith of Maheu’s play. “The whole game changes if that gets through.”

“It’s hard to play against a shortstop with that much range,” said Jenkins, whose club is now 9-7. “It takes away a lot of things you can do.”

The Balers return to T-CAL play this Tuesday at North Salinas. Monica Abbott’s first pitch will arrive at approximately 4 p.m.

Baler bits: The game with Capuchino was called after six innings because of the 90-minute tourney time limit. – The Balers had just two hits in the loss to the Trojans – one by Smith and one by Baxter. Maheu walked all three times, stole second each time and ended up on third base every time, but couldn’t score. – The Balers defeated MIlpitas 5-4 in the 2001 semifinals of CCS Division I. – At one point of the game with Capuchino, Jenkins tossed a ball awry into the infield. He penalized his bad throw by doing about 20 push-ups in the Mustangs’ dugout. After the loss, he and his assistant coach ran liners on the infield with his club. – Not only was Baker missing, but Kim Dabo didn’t show because of a regional club volleyball qualifier in Reno. – The tournament brackets are such that Carlmont and Notre Dame, the two best teams in the field until proven otherwise, won’t meet until the championship. If the Balers and the Spirits win their first two games, they would meet in the semifinals. Carlmont is looking at a possible semifinal matchup with Monterey (15-1, 8-0 Monterey Bay League). – The Spirits’ lengthy run of shutouts was in jeopardy in the first inning against Mills, but the Spirits gunned down a Vikings runner at the plate. – Here are the matchups for Saturday: Carmel vs. Aptos, Notre Dame vs. Watsonville, Monterey vs. Pacific Grove, Salinas vs. Soquel – 11:30 a.m.; Milpitas vs. Mercy-Burlingame, Aragon vs. Hollister, Carlmont vs. Hillsdale, Live Oak vs. Gilroy. The championship game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

Frosh update: The Baler freshmen, coached by Steve Grimsley, are now 16-3 on the year. Sam Filice has been the star pitcher, according to Grimsley. Jamie Huston has four home runs, including two grand slams.

“We have a lot of talent on this team,” said Grimsley. “You’ll be (hearing) a lot about them in a couple of years.”

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Hernandez, Je. Temperino (7) and Baxter; Hannan and Calpatura. WP-Hernandez. LP-Hannan. 2B – Maheu (H); Welch, Lucero (C). 2 hits – Maheu (H); Welch (C). 2 RBI – Smith (H).