No-hit through eight innings, No. 3 San Benito stuns No. 2
Carlmont in ninth to win 7-0; Lady ‘Balers to play No. 12
Watsonville for title
San Jose – One moment, they were on the doorstep of seeing their season end. And the next, they were walking off the field in jubilation.
The Lady ‘Balers hadn’t registered a hit against Carlmont ace Ashley Chinn through eight innings. And though they had held the Scots scoreless into extra innings as well, the ‘Balers faced a first-and-third, no out-jam in the bottom of the eighth. But somehow, some way, the San Benito softball team survived.
In a stunning turnaround, No. 3 San Benito got out of the eighth thanks to a seldom-invoked ruling by the umpires, and then, even more improbably, throttled Chinn and the Scots once they came to bat in the ninth. When the dust had cleared at PAL Stadium on Tuesday night, the ‘Balers defeated No. 2 Carlmont 7-0 in nine innings in the Central Coast Section Division I semifinals and now stand just win away from the school’s first-ever softball title.
“Oh my god. It was so exciting,” San Benito right fielder Lizzy Gatto said of the ‘Balers’ seven-run ninth inning. “Wow. Every player contributed. Once one person steps up, the whole team comes after and follows.”
After handing Carlmont just its second loss of the season, the Lady ‘Balers advanced to the CCS championship game and face No. 12 Watsonville on Saturday at PAL Stadium at 11am.
But San Benito needed a great escape in the eighth just to prolong the scoreless contest in hopes that its bats would somehow awaken against Chinn (24-2). Once Carlmont’s Caitlin Steele crushed a triple into the left-center gap to lead off the bottom of the eighth, the Scots looked sure to push across the winning run. After winning three CCS titles in the past five years, and seven overall, Carlmont (29-2) was in prime position to shake the spirited challenge of San Benito and go after Championship No. 8.
But ‘Balers freshman starter Marissa Ibarra, who impressively matched Chinn by putting up the same long string of zeros on the scorecard, saved her best for when she most needed it. Ibarra reached back to strike out Kristin Lippi on a 3-2 count for the all-important first out, and then, after head coach Scott Smith elected to intentionally walk Kelly Suko, fate smiled on the ‘Balers’ season.
With Carlmont’s Kelly Cunningham at the plate, Suko broke for second as Ibarra delivered a pitch. But ‘Balers catcher Ashley Perreira snapped the ball back to Ibarra and Steele found herself momentarily frozen a step off third base. The third-base umpire called Steele out on a play described as the ‘look-back’ or ‘pitcher’s circle’ rule, as the runner off the base has but one second to commit to a base. That second out – removing the winning run from third base with one out – proved to be the turning point of the game. Ibarra promptly got Cunningham to fly out to first, giving San Benito’s beleagured hitters a second life.
Despite getting just one runner on base through the first eight innings – on a two-out walk by Perreria in the fifth – the Lady ‘Balers delivered in the ninth. On a 1-1 count, first baseman Ari Romero broke up Chinn’s no-hit bid by dropping a bunt single down the third-base line, and then sophomore Rachel Maheu followed with another bunt single on the first pitch she saw. After both runners advanced on a wild pitch by Chinn, San Benito loaded the bases when Carlmont third baseman Lippi chose to hold onto a fielder’s choice grounder by Elena Fata.
San Benito notched the first run of the game when Jacqueline Clayton drew a walk from Chinn, forcing in Romero. When ‘Balers second baseman Kristen Archuleta followed with a fly to center, it appeared that San Benito would push its lead to 2-0, but Scots center fielder Cunningham dropped the ball, allowing two runs to cross the plate.
After seeing her masterpiece unravel in rapid fashion, Chinn gave up a walk and three more singles before getting out of the inning, and San Benito pushed across four more runs to secure the decisive 7-0 advantage.
Seeing his team’s season end in such heartbreaking fashion, Carlmont head coach Jim Liggett could only shake his head afterwards.
“A no-hitter through eight and you lose 7-0?” Liggett shared. “It was like it wasn’t in the cards.”
In a pitcher’s duel for the ages, Ibarra matched Chinn pitch for pitch deep into the game. While Chinn relied on the strikeout, fanning eight in a row at one point, Ibarra used the ‘Balers’ stout defense to her advantage to work out of the few jams she got in.
Though Carlmont’s Suko opened the game with a single up the middle and moved to second on a sacrifice, Ibarra stranded her by retiring Ashley Nicholes and Chinn on a flyout and a groundout.
The Scots put a runner in scoring position in the second following a walk and a stolen base, but Ibarra coaxed a pop-up to third baseman Jacqueline Clayton.
Carlmont threatened again in the fourth when Nicholes hit a leadoff single to center, just the Scots’ second hit of the game. Chinn, Carlmont’s clean-up hitter, sacrificed her to second, and then Nicholes stole third to give the Scots a grand scoring opportunity. But Ibarra calmly retired Jillian Bou on an infield pop-up and then got a huge assist from her defense. Carlmont’s Alexa Daines popped Ibarra’s first pitch up into foul territory and Clayton turned while tracking the ball. With her back to the plate, the ‘Balers third baseman caught the ball to preserve the scoreless game.
Ibarra allowed a one-out single to Kelly Cunningham in the sixth, and, after she stole second with two outs, Carlmont again threatened when Chinn stepped to the plate. But the San Benito ace got the Carlmont slugger to hit a harmless fly to Fata at short.
“It made me work harder,” said Ibarra of the challenge of going head-to-head with Chinn. “It made me throw harder.
Asked her thoughts on the mound, Ibarra said they were simple.
“Don’t let ’em score,” said the freshman after her nine-inning shutout. “Let the defense work for you. Give our team a chance to win.”
After leadoff hitter Elena Fata grounded out to open the game, Chinn struck out the next eight Lady ‘Balers. The Carlmont ace retired the first 14 batters she faced, before allowing Perreira’s walk. Carlmont’s star junior pitcher also threw the nine-inning complete game, striking out an incredible 17 batters.
Smith said the win was especially rewarding because it came against such a talented team and pitcher.
“You face a team like Carlmont with their record and probably the best pitcher in CCS on the mound … it was huge,” the San Benito coach said.
With San Benito set to face Watsonville on Saturday, Gatto said the ‘Balers were in the exact position they wanted to be in.
“This is exactly what we worked for all year,” Gatto said, “just to get to the championship game. It feels so good.”
