Ibarra’s arm and Gatto’s bat lead San Benito to title
San Benito sophomore pitcher Marisa Ibarra allowed only one earned run over three outings and Lizzy Gatto rediscovered her bat as the Haybalers softball team won the Watsonville Tournament with a trio of victories Saturday.
After coasting to a 6-1 win over Carmel in the tournament opener, San Benito won a 2-1 thriller over Notre Dame-Belmont to advance to the title game, where it beat Capuchino 3-0.
Gatto, who is expected to provided offensive pop this season, had made a change to her swing and stance during her travel ball season and before the tournament. ‘Balers coach Scott Smith had her move back to her old ways.
That moved paid off.
With the game against Notre Dame – last year’s Central Coast Section Division II runner-up – knotted at 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Gatto blasted a home run over the fence in left-centerfield to give San Benito the lead.
Ibarra then fired a scoreless seventh to seal up the win and advance to the title game.
“It was good to get her back and she is back,” Smith said of Gatto, who also had a pair of doubles in the tournament.
Lindsay Clay also had a big tournament, delivering the double that tied the game with Notre Dame in the bottom of the fourth. JC Clayton also was a spark, getting on base several times.
Smith was happy to see his team perform well against three solid teams.
“All three were very good competitors,” Smith said. “So to come out and only give up one earned run was nice.”
Danielle Scibuola shined defensively in right field, making a pair of diving catches and senior catcher Ashley Perreira was a rock behind the plate.
“She just did a phenomenal job,” Smith said of Perreira. “I don’t think Marisa had her ‘A’ game. But in all three games, the opposing coach made comments that we had a great catcher back there.”
The ‘Balers will kick off the Circle of Champions Tournament on Friday at the Salinas Sports Complex when they face San Lorenzo Valley at 3pm. They’ll continue by taking on Milpitas at 4pm Saturday. The tournament resumes the following Friday when they play Burlingame.
San Benito’s frosh-soph team will also seem some tournament action when it plays in the Watsonville Tournament on Saturday.
