Craig Slibsager ripped a low liner into left field between third
and short to plate the game-winning run Thursday, as the Balers
mounted a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Salinas in eight
innings.
HOLLISTER
San Benito’s Craig Slibsager had the upper hand on Salinas relief pitcher Jose Ontiveros, even if the setting appeared to be somewhat of a level playing field.
Bases loaded. One out. Extra innings. Tie ball game.
“I knew he had nowhere to put me. It was bases loaded with the winning run on third base,” Slibsager said. “He had to throw me a strike.”
And Ontiveros did — a fastball with a 1-0 count. But Slibsager turned on it and ripped a low liner into left field between third and short to plate the game-winning run Thursday, as the Balers mounted a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Salinas in eight innings.
Slibsager’s walk-off hit — he also had a double in the second inning — vaulted San Benito (5-0 TCAL, 7-2) past one of the Tri-County Athletic League’s main contenders, and extended the team’s winning streak to seven games.
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“It was big because it was a huge learning experience for us,” Slibsager said. “We really grew up in this game right here.”
San Benito actually trailed 2-0 entering the bottom of the fifth inning, and just had their ace, Darin Gillies, knocked from the game. But a two-run homer by Marcus Sabatte in the home half of the fifth knotted the game at 2-all, while 3.2 innings of one-hit shutout baseball by sophomore reliever Robert Soto set up an extra-inning comeback that was sealed with Slibsager’s hit into left field.
“We seem to be a slow-starting team,” San Benito manager Jason Bugg said. “We’re definitely a defense-pitching team first. But we’re gonna be in those tight battles all year long.”
Such was the case Thursday.
With the Balers stranding runners on base in each of the first four innings, including runners in scoring position in the second, third and fourth frames, Salinas instead took an early lead in the third when Nick Leighton drew a walk and then advanced to third on consecutive pass balls.
Teammate Ryan Bangs then connected on an RBI single to score Leighton from third. Salinas would load the bases later that inning as well, but Gillies forced Otto Kramm into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat.
“He was a little off, but he battled,” Bugg said. “He didn’t have he best stuff, but he battled.
Gillies tossed 4.1 innings and gave up two runs on four hits and struck out four, with the Cowboys taking advantage of four walks and several pass balls.
Two walks in the fifth set up the Cowboys’ second run, when Jesse White lifted an RBI single to left field to stake Salinas to a 2-0 lead.
But all was forgotten in the home half of the fifth when, after Nick Stephens drew a one-out walk, Sabatte turned on the first pitch he saw from the starter Bangs and launched a two-run blast over the 310-foot sign in left field.
“That sparked us,” Bugg said.
Then, behind the left arm of Soto, who walked one, struck out six and allowed just one hit over four-plus innings, San Benito escaped from a bases-loaded jam in the fifth behind two strikeouts by the reliever, and again in the sixth when Soto struck out Anthony Teresa, stranding a runner at third base.
“I wasn’t following through,” Soto said. “But I just had to relax and settle down.”
Described by his teammates as the quietest player in the dugout, Soto said enough with his left arm Thursday and held Salinas off just long enough, striking out the last two batters he faced in the top of the eighth.
“He picked us up,” Bugg said of Soto. “I was really happy with his performance. He’s a good hard worker.”
In the home half of the inning, the Balers owned up to their small-ball approach. Shadoe Valenzuela drew a leadoff walk, was bunted over to second by Bryan Granger, then swiped third on a pitch in the dirt. Salinas then loaded the bases on back-to-back walks to Anthony Ocampo and Dustin Rovella, setting up the final at-bat of the game for Slibsager.
“I was looking for the first pitch, but he threw a curve ball so I took it,” Slibsager said. “He walked the last guy (to load the bases), so I knew he had to throw me something.”
Slibsager lined the next pitch into left field.
The loss drops the Cowboys to 1-2 in TCAL, 2-5-1 overall.
Salinas will get a second chance against San Benito, though. The two teams will meet up for the second game of the two-game series on Friday at the Washington Baseball Facility, located at 560 Iverson Road in Salinas. First pitch is 4 p.m.
SALN — 001 010 00 — 2 5 0
SANB — 000 020 01 — 3 6 1
WP: R. Soto
LP: J. Ontiveros
