Rain put a damper on Friday’s softball game between Hollister
High and Harbor in the Circle of Champions Tournament at Twin
Creeks in Sunnyvale, so the game was postponed to Saturday and the
Balers eked out a dramatic 2-1 victory over the Pirates in eight
innings.
Rain put a damper on Friday’s softball game between Hollister High and Harbor in the Circle of Champions Tournament at Twin Creeks in Sunnyvale, so the game was postponed to Saturday and the Balers eked out a dramatic 2-1 victory over the Pirates in eight innings.
The Pirates scored in the top of the eighth as the international tiebreaker was implemented. The Balers (4-1) placed Jenny Maheu at second to start the inning and Shelbi Dillon’s bunt was bobbled for an error, putting runners on first and third.
After Dillon stole second, Kim Dabo lined a base hit off the Pirates third baseman’s glove to load the bases. Maheu scored on a passed ball to tie the score, then Dillon tallied the winning run on another wild pitch.
The Balers had four hits, including the first hit of the season for freshman first baseman J.T. Temperino.
“Their pitcher had a good riseball and she was getting some pitches up in the strike zone called strikes,” said Baler head coach Scott Smith. “I thought they were high.”
Smith said the loss of Hillary Williams, who is recovering from a strained ligament, is hurting his club offensively.
“We miss that extra bat of Hillary’s,” said Smith. “But, we’ve been playing stellar defense and the pitchers are hitting their spots. I can’t recall an error we’ve made this season.”
Next up for the Balers is Burlingame on Tuesday at home at 3:45 p.m., pending rain. Then it’s the Tri-County Athletic League opener at Live Oak on Thursday. The Balers return to the COC this Saturday against Westmont this Saturday at 9 a.m.
The Balers defeated Westmont last Thursday 6-0.
Nathan Rowe pitched a complete-game three-hitter last Friday as the Balers evened the score with Live Oak, topping the Acorns 5-1 in Morgan Hill.
Rowe (3-1) also helped himself with the bat with two hits and two RBI. Eric Diaz, Jr. and P.J. Galvan had two hits apiece for the Balers (6-3), who evened their T-CAL record at 1-1. The Acorns made three errors to aid the Balers’ cause.
Hollister is at Gilroy on Wednesday then hosts the Mustangs this Friday.
The Baler track and field program sent seven boys and seven girls to the West Valley Relays in Saratoga on Saturday and came away with some outstanding marks.
Senior Justin Tungate won the 400-intermediate meter hurdles with a time of 58.79. Tungate shot out of the gate to lead from start to finish. And the boys 4×400 meter relay team of Tamar Elbanhawy, Steve Bianchi, Chris Pratt and Tungate clocked a rapid early season time of 3:31.66, good for second place behind Bellarmine.
“That surprised me,” said Baler boys coach Randy Logue. “The results for the boys were very positive.”
Bianchi placed second in his specialty, the triple jump, with a mark of 43-0. Jonathan Rivera cooked in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:11.67.
As a team, the Balers placed fourth with 52.5 points. The Bells, who will be the Balers’ stiffest competition at the Central Coast Section meet in late May, won with a total of 77 points.
The Baler girls had a winner in the discus with Naomi Ruiz tossing the platter 111-0. Stephanie Starritt vaulted 10-0 in the pole vault for third place.
The Balers had athletes at the Don Franklin Invitational in Turlock and did well there, too. The varsity boys took third, while the frosh-soph boys were second. Willie Sanchez enjoyed a big day with a 2nd in the 200, a 3rd in the 100 and a 3rd while running a leg with the 4×100 relay team.
Siljef Tabancay ran well in the 100-hurdles and 300-hurdles and 4×100, plus excelled in the long jump. Clay Peer won the shot and is “having a great year”, according to Logue.
At the frosh-soph level, Albert Sandoval ran a 4:52 1,600 meters, which would have been fourth in the varstiy race. Victor Hernandez contributed a 4:56 in the 1,600.
The Baler girls were led by sophomore Jamie O’Brian, who ran well in the 100 and 200, while Amanda Boyd clocked 63 seconds in the open 400-meters.
The Balers’ first T-CAL dual meet is March 27 vs. Live Oak.
Greg Henneman sizzled in the 50-freestyle with a time of 22.40 as the Balers clocked Gilroy 112-65 last Friday in a T-CAL swim meet in Gilroy. The Mustangs won a tight junior varsity meet 70-66.
Henneman doubled in the 100-free at 51.58. Robbie Shattuck qualified for CCS in the 100-breaststroke with a time of 1:05.46. The Balers swept the 200-free and 400-free relays. Danny Valenzuela and Ben Dietrich went 1-2 in diving, though the Mustangs didn’t put up any opposition.
In the JVs, Brian Rocha won the 100-IM with a time of 1:18.22. Rocha doubled with a 1:25.21 in the 100-breaststroke. Nick Caprino won the 100-free with a time of 1:06.56.
The Baler girls clobbered the Mustangs 121-54, while the JV’s also won 89-80.
The 400-free relay team of Britta Nordstrom, Juliana Sih, Janelle Brandon and Stacey Lass qualified for CCS with a time of 3:56.20.
The Baler girls are at Notre Dame on Thursday.
The Baler boys volleyball team is slated to make its home debut Wednesday in a T-CAL match with Monterey. First serve is at 6:30 p.m. The Balers host Gilroy Friday night.
