It wasn’t pretty, but the defending Tri-County Athletic League
champion San Benito baseball team opened the league schedule by
downing Palma 16-10.
It wasn’t pretty, but the defending Tri-County Athletic League champion San Benito baseball team opened the league schedule by downing Palma 16-10.
The host Chieftains took a 5-1 lead after the first inning, led again at the end of five and tied it going into the seventh, but a big final inning propelled the Haybalers.
“Obviously we didn’t put our heads down or give up,” said San Benito coach Michael Luna, whose team came in on the heels of a 8-7 win over Wilcox where it scored seven runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. “(The players) know exactly now that things happen. We just keep on getting after it like we have been.”
The ‘Balers looked set to have a quick first inning, as starting pitcher Michael Garcia retired the first two batters on four pitches. On the eighth pitch of the inning, Palma hit a shallow fly ball to centerfield that carried past the second baseman and dropped in.
That kept the inning alive and the Chieftains took advantage.
“Twenty-two pitches later, we’re down 5-1,” Luna said. “They got some key hits, walk and errors.”
After Palma added a run in the second, the ‘Balers tied the game with a five-run third, sparked by a two-run single by Ronnie Fhurong and RBI singles from Kevin Medeiros and Kevin Burley.
A run in the top of the fourth gave the lead back to San Benito, but Palma pushed three across in the fifth to take a 9-7 advantage. The ‘Balers answered with a three-run sixth to make it 10-9, but a sacrifice fly by Chieftains’ No. 3 hitter Michael Dinner tied it at 10.
However, San Benito had another rally in it. Dane Lamanna and Justin Andrade were hit by pitches and after a Kolton Klauer sacrifice, Brian Haggett was intentionally walked to load the bases. Bryan Scott was hit by a pitch to give the ‘Balers the lead. Another run scored on an error and Medeiros delivered a three-run double to break it open.
Miles Sanchez pitched the final 2 2/3 innings to get the win, while Medeiros led the offense by going 3-for-5 with five RBIs. Andrade was 2-for-4 with three runs scored.
The ‘Balers return to action at 4pm Tuesday for their league home opener against Salinas.
San Benito 105 103 6 – 16 10 2
Palma 510 031 0 – 10 11 6
Garcia, Cabral (4), Sanchez (5) and Zozaya. Houston, De Los Santos (4), Creecy (6), Caraccigli (7), Ohmann (7) and Jackson. WP – Sanchez, LP – Caraccigli.
2B – Andrade (SB), Klauer (SB), Haggett (SB), Medeiros (SB), Dinner (P). 3B – Vega (P), Ohmann (P).
