San Benito tacked on five runs to its five-run lead in the
sixth, and posted a slow and methodical 10-0 victory over No. 15
Milpitas Wednesday to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal round of
the Division I playoffs.
HOLLISTER
Before the sixth inning, before the San Benito baseball team grabbed a 10-run lead against Milpitas and prevented the seventh inning from ever being played, the Haybalers had just four hits from two different players.
For the most part, Milpitas starting pitcher Cris Harlin lived up to the definition of a crafty left-handed hurler.
“I knew he was gonna give us some trouble,” San Benito manager Michael Luna said. “But we talked about it after a few innings — making adjustments. Try to be a little more aggressive, especially with the fastball pitch.”
And the No. 2 Balers were plenty aggressive on Harlin’s fastball in the sixth inning when they tacked on five runs to their five-run lead, and posted a slow and methodical 10-0 victory over No. 15 Milpitas to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal round of the Division I playoffs.
The Balers (21-6) will square off against No. 7 Valley Christian (18-11) at St. Francis High in Mountain View — the Warriors coming off a 3-0 win against No. 10 Wilcox (18-13).
First pitch is 4 p.m.
While the Trojan defense didn’t help much Wendesday in Hollister — San Benito took a 5-0 lead through four innings with four runs scored as a direct result of Milpitas errors — the Balers made the proper adjustments by the sixth as Justin Schlie belted a solo homer to left field, Mark Hurley ripped a 2-RBI single into left and Nick Acosta golfed a two-run, walk-off homer over the center-field fence — each hit coming in the sixth, and off a Harlin fastball, no less.
With San Benito starting pitcher Bryan Granger tossing six shutout innings in the process, the game was called following Acosta’s homer as a result of the 10-run rule.
“I had heard a lot of good things about him,” Luna said of Harlin. “A crafty lefty, deceptive. He gave us some trouble with the breaking ball. He wasn’t afraid to throw the breaking ball at anytime in the count, which caught us off-guard a little bit.
“And if that second baseman doesn’t make those errors, it’s a different ball game.”
Trojan second baseman Cody Davis had a rough go from the start. He threw home late on a Ryan Sabattini grounder with two runners in scoring position, giving the Balers a 1-0 lead in the second, and had a throwing error to first later in the inning that scored Sabattini from third.
Another fielding error in the third off a Ricky Garcia grounder allowed Schlie to score from third base, while Garcia stole both second and third, then advanced home when the throw by the catcher skidded into the outfield.
“We put up some crooked numbers,” said Luna, whose Balers posted five runs on four hits. “And with the way Bryan (Granger) was throwing with that five-run lead, I thought we were pretty much in control.”
Granger allowed just two hits — each coming in the first two innings — and induced a pair of double-play balls in the second and third frames with Garcia and second baseman Trevor Fabing as the main beneficiaries.
“I felt like I wasn’t throwing a lot of first-pitch strikes and I should have been ahead in the count more than I was,” Granger said. “But the defense was solid. You can always count on them to get those ground outs and double plays. They take a lot of hits away.”
Justin Schlie and Isaak Ramos each provided two hits apiece for the Balers prior to the sixth inning, while Schlie added a third with a solo shot in the sixth.
San Benito will now square off against Valley Christian on Saturday in a rematch of the season opener for both teams on Feb. 25 when the Warriors edged the Balers 1-0.
Valley Christian pitcher Danny Davis tossed a no-hitter in that game, while San Benito pitcher Darin Gillies had a no-no through five innings but was pulled after reaching his pitch-count limit.
Gillies is expected to start on Saturday in Mountain View.
“Oh yeah,” Granger said. “I want to face Valley again.”
MILP — 000 000 X — 0
SANB — 030 205 X — 10
