Despite falling to Modesto in the championship game of the 16-18 Babe Ruth All-Star Central California State Tournament on Sunday, the San Benito baseball team advanced to Thursday’s Pacific Southwest Region tournament in Watsonville thanks to an at-large bid.
San Benito fell two wins short of winning the state tournament at Veterans Memorial Park on Sunday, losing to Modesto for the second time in three days.
San Benito started the tournament with back-to-back 2-1 wins over Ripon and Hanford.
Against Ripon to open the tournament, San Benito recorded only four hits in the 2-1 victory. They never trailed in the game as starting pitcher Skyler Shaw-Fuss limited Ripon to no runs in five innings.
Ripon, though, did threaten throughout the game, stranding 12 runners in seven innings.
“They gave us the game,” San Benito manager Andrew Barragan said. “We didn’t win the game.”
Ripon could never get the big hit, despite loading the base twice – once with no outs. On offense, San Benito took the lead in the third inning after Shaw-Fuss opened the inning with a single. After a sacrifice bunt, shortstop Marcus Sabatte singled to center field to give San Benito a 1-0 lead.
San Benito added one more run in the sixth inning with a solo home run by first baseman Jacob Tonascia.
In the bottom of the inning, Ripon had its greatest chance to score. After Ripon loaded the bases with no outs, Kevin Salvas entered the game for San Benito and quickly exited the threat. He struck out the first batter and forced a double play at home after a failed Ripon squeeze play.
In the bottom of the seventh, San Benito’s Salvas once again ran into trouble but limited the damage.
Against Hanford, San Benito once again took the lead because of strong starting pitching. Robert Soto threw 6 2-3 innings and allowed only four hits and struck out eight batters.
San Benito took a 2-0 lead into the final inning before Hanford scored and threatened to tie the game.
Salvas, though, once again closed the door.
The San Benito poor offensive output finally caught up to them on Saturday against Modesto, who overcame an early deficit and pushed San Benito to the elimination bracket with a 5-4 win.
In San Benito’s first game in the elimination bracket, the All-Star team scored four runs in the fifth inning to overcome a 4-1 deficit to beat Ripon 6-5.
Dylan Ito and Salvas each knocked in two runs in the inning to help propel the San Benito offense.
In the seventh inning, with the game tied at 5-5, San Benito won when Ito scored on a fielder’s choice to the shortstop.
“It was a great win for us,” Barragan said. “It was the best game we played in.”
San Benito, though, was eliminated Sunday by Modesto in a 9-2 loss.
“They really took it to us,” Barragan said.
The regional tournament begins at 8 p.m. Thursday at Watsonville High. San Benito will play East Sacramento.
The San Benito 13-year-old team kicks off its state tournament at 7 p.m. Friday at Veterans Memorial Park. San Benito will play the winner of District 3. Look for an update.
