After opening the 18th Annual Easter Classic in Las Vegas with a
pair of wins, the San Benito Haybalers dropped back-to-back one-run
contests to close out the 20-team tournament to finish in fourth
place last weekend.
LAS VEGAS
After opening the 18th Annual Easter Classic in Las Vegas with a pair of wins, the San Benito Haybalers dropped back-to-back one-run contests to close out the 20-team tournament last weekend and finished in fourth place.
The Balers advanced to the semifinal round after earning a 3-2 victory over Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) and an 8-3 win against Canada’s Vauxhall Academy of Baseball. But they couldn’t keep the win streak in tact when they dropped their final two games of the tournament, losing 4-3 to Newbury Park in the semifinals, then 13-12 to Utah’s Juan Diego Catholic in the third- and fourth-place consolation.
“In both games, we came from behind again,” San Benito manager Michael Luna said.
Against Newbury Park, which won the tournament two years ago, San Benito fell behind 2-0 through the fifth inning, but managed to knot the game in the sixth when, with runners on the corners, Ryan Sabattini connected on an RBI single to left field.
The run-scoring single placed runners on first and second with two outs, but a wild pitch by Newbury Park advanced both runners into scoring position. A second wild pitch by the Southern California school then scored Nick Acosta from third base, and tied the game at 2-all.
The Balers then grabbed the lead in the top of the seventh when Darin Gillies, Bryan Granger and Trevor Fabing all reached base with no outs, and Ricky Garcia followed on a sacrifice fly to center field to score Gillies.
It was the only run San Benito managed to score in the inning, however.
In the bottom of the seventh, with San Benito leading 3-2, Newbury Park got its first two batters on base, then laid down a sac bunt to move both runners into scoring position. San Benito then opted to walk Newbury Park’s No. 3 hitter to load the bases.
“I still thought we were gonna pull it out,” Luna said.
However, Newbury Park’s No. 4 hitter battled with an 11-pitch at bat, finally connecting on a walk-off double to left field that supplied the SoCal school with a 4-3 win.
“We should have produced more than one run (in the top of the seventh),” Luna said. “Unfortunately, all we got was one run.”
The one-run loss placed San Benito into the consolation game against Juan Diego Catholic, and the Utah high school jumped out to a 7-0 lead through four innings of play.
The Balers got one run in the fifth to break up the shutout, then plated six runs in the sixth to tie the game at 7-all.
“We didn’t pitch very well and they didn’t pitch very well,” said Luna, adding that there were 18 walks combined in the contest.
The 7-7 game was short lived, however, as Juan Diego scored six runs of its own in the bottom frame of the sixth inning, and took a 13-7 lead to the seventh.
San Benito didn’t go down without a fight, though. Gillies, Fabing and Kyle Vallejo all reached base to start the inning, and Mark Hurley followed with a grounder to third base that resulted in a throwing error, scoring one run. Nick Acosta then cleared the bases with a grand slam, bringing the Balers back to within one run, at 13-12.
But with one out and no one on, San Benito was unable to tie the game a second time, despite having the tying run at the plate.
“Our team is very resilient,” Luna said. “One of our biggest strengths is the ability to come back and not give up until that last out is recorded.
“We gave ourselves a chance in the bottom of the seventh. We just came up short again.”
Mark Hurley finished the game 3 of 5 at the plate with a double, Dustin Rovella was 2 of 4 with a double and an RBI, and Acosta finished with five RBI. Trevor Fabing, Ricky Garcia, Jacob Cabral, Cooper Sepulveda and Anthony Ocampo all pitched for San Benito in the consolation game.
The Balers finished the tournament with a 2-2 record.
Meanwhile, with spring break now over, the Balers will return to Tri-County Athletic League play on Tuesday. Darin Gillies will receive the start on the mound when San Benito visits Salinas to take on Palma at 4 p.m.
San Benito v. Newbury Park
SANB — 000 002 1 — 3 7 2
NPRK — 100 100 2 — 4 9 2
San Benito v. Juan Diego Catholic
SANB — 000 016 5 — 12 12 3
JDCH — 302 206 X — 13 10 3
