The San Benito Haybalers advanced to the semifinal round of the
18th Annual Easter Classic in Las Vegas on Thursday when they
defeated Canada’s Vauxhall Academy of Baseball by an 8-3
margin.
LAS VEGAS
The San Benito Haybalers advanced to the semifinal round of the 18th Annual Easter Classic in Las Vegas on Thursday when they defeated Canada’s Vauxhall Academy of Baseball by an 8-3 margin.
Bryan Granger went the distance for the Balers, tossing seven innings and allowing one earned run on three hits. The San Benito junior struck out three batters to pick up the win.
“He didn’t have his best stuff, but he competed the entire game,” San Benito manager Michael Luna said. “His velocity was down, but his breaking ball and changeup were very good, which kept him in the game the entire time.”
The Balers are now 2-0 in the tournament, 10-2 overall, and will play Newbury Park on Friday.
The Southern California school finished runner-up in the Las Vegas tournament last year, but were crowned tournament champs two years ago. Located just west of Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park has won its last five games.
Kyle Vallejo will get the start atop the mound on Friday against Newbury Park (11-3), with a first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m.
On Thursday, San Benito banged out seven hits, took advantage of four Vauxhall errors, and grabbed an early 2-0 lead it would not relinquish.
Trevor Fabing connected on a double down the right-field line in the first inning, then scored when Ricky Garcia’s grounder resulted in a fielding error. Garcia later stole second to move into scoring position as well, and pocketed San Benito’s second run of the inning when Nick Acosta hit an RBI single to right field.
The Balers made it 3-0 in the fourth when Ryan Sabattini drove an RBI single to right field, scoring Spencer Brann.
Although Vauxhall plated a pair in the home half of the fourth to cut into San Benito’s lead, the Balers took it right back in the top of the fifth — the first run coming on consecutive Vauxhall errors.
Garcia first reached base on an error, while Mark Hurley’s bunt to third base resulted in a throwing error at first base, scoring Garcia and allowing Hurley to move into scoring position. Later in the inning, Brann singled Hurley home, giving San Benito a 5-2 lead.
The Balers tacked on three more runs in the sixth, highlighted by a 2-RBI single by Hurley.
TEAM
SANB — 200 123 0 — 8 7 2
VXBA — 000 201 0 — 3 6 4
