The San Benito 16-18 Babe Ruth All-Star team escaped with a 2-1 win over Ripon on Thursday in the first round of the Central California State Championship tournament in Hollister.
In the Central Coast Section Division I baseball playoffs seeds are merely just numbers. Against No. 14 seeded Sequoia, the Balers learned and survived that lesson Wednesday.
As with every season, winning the first game in league play is a must. For the San Benito and Gilroy high baseball teams, a league-opening win meant even more, as the Balers try to earn a seventh-straight Tri-County Athletic League title and the Mustangs try knock their rival off that perch.
With six straight Tri-County Athletic League championships in a row, and a last-inning loss in the Central Coast Section championship game a year ago, the 2012 San Benito baseball team has a lot of history to live up to.