The San Benito High baseball team begins the quest for its first-ever Central Coast Section playoff championship when it hosts Bellarmine of San Jose in an Open Division first-round game on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
The No. 3 seed Haybalers (20-7), league champions for the ninth time in the last 10 years, take on the No. 14 seed Bells (17-10), who finished a respectable 7-7 in the vaunted West Catholic League.
The Balers are familiar with playing WCAL teams in the section playoffs; since 2009, they’re 4-5 against WCAL teams, including an 8-1 loss to Bellarmine in the 2009 quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, the Balers (21-5) softball team earned the No. 1 seed in the Division I bracket, and plays either No. 8 Monta Vista (21-6) or No. 9 Los Gatos (16-11) in the quarterfinals on Saturday at a place and time to be determined.
San Benito earned a share of the Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division championship with Notre Dame-Salinas this season, and enters the postseason on an eight-game winning streak, including a critical 7-4 win over Notre Dame on May 11.
In other San Benito High sports playoff news, athletes from the track and field team will be competing in the CCS Semifinals on Saturday at San Jose City College. The top qualifiers from each event advance to the CCS Finals on May 29.
