Hollister baseball winning with pitching and defense

Last year’s Hollister baseball team sparkled in the Central Coast Section Division III playoffs. The eighth-seeded Balers shocked top-seeded Aptos 11-0 and mauled fifth-seeded Pioneer 13-0 on the way to a 3-2 loss in the title game to No. 2 seeded Christopher.

It was Hollister’s third championship appearance in the last four seasons. And this year’s squad has title aspirations once again and are right on track. In the ultra-competitive Pacific Coast Athletic League, Gabilan Division, Hollister is in a four-team battle for the top. 

The Balers stand at 9-5 overall, 5-3 in Gabilan action, in a dogfight with Carmel, Palma and St. Francis.

Last week, the Balers split with the league-leading Padres, losing 1-0 on the road on April 2 and unloading the lumber all over the home field in a 12-9 victory the next day. 

Add in an earlier sweep of Palma and it is the Balers, the Padres, the Chieftains and St. Francis in a dogfight. Monterey, Salinas and Soledad are a few steps back.

“Our strengths are our pitching and our defense,” said Hollister coach Michael Luna, at the game against Carmel on the coast. “Trent Roach is our leading pitcher. The last four games he has not given up an earned run. Our No. 2 pitcher is Daniel Martinez. We have two sophomores that come in in relief, Evan Mendoza and Ami Lopez.”

Gavin Rodriguez starts at catcher. The infield defense features Jake Esparza at third, Braydon Barone at shortstop, Mendoza at second and Wes Aviles at first. 

The outfield includes Martinez, Jordy Quezada, Joaquin Casillas and Anthony Bolin. Infield depth comes from Roach (if not pitching), Lopez and Quin Zanger, with Donovan Price the backup catcher. Outfield depth includes Drew Gastelum, Marcus Vasquez, Gabe Trevino and Silas Guerra, along with the versatile Nate Alves.

“Trent and Gavin can change the scoreboard in one swing,” said Luna, at the first Carmel game. “We’ve been struggling to score runs. We need to have quality at-bats with runners in scoring position.”

That was a problem in two close losses to St. Francis and in the 1-0 defeat to the Padres.

On a sunny cool day on the coast, the opener of the two-game series with first-place Carmel was a big game. It was also a future Cal-Stanford “Big Game” as training partners Matt Maxon of Carmel, a Stanford commit, faced Hollister’s Roach, a Cal commit. 

It was a fierce pitchers’ duel, as expected, and Carmel plated the only run in the fourth.

“Whenever Trent is on the mound, we think we can win,” Luna said. “We hit the ball hard and we had our chances. The way Trent pitched, it’s unfortunate to take the loss.”

Roach mixed up the pitches, utilizing his arsenal including his sinker, curveball and fastball.

“I’ve got a great defense behind me too,” Roach said.

Defensive highlight plays came via the athletic Barone. He charged two infield bouncers to throw out possible baserunners and made the defensive play of the day in the fifth. With two runners on base with one out, he grabbed Maxon’s slow grounder, pivoted to tap second base and then fired to first for a double play. 

“I thought we played great today,” Barone said. “We battled throughout. Coach tells us to attack the ball and that’s what I did on defense. I take pride in my defense.”

The resilient Balers found the “on” switch on the offense after that tough loss. Luna had to be thrilled. 

In the 12-9 win over Carmel at home a day later, Hollister scored five in the first on the way to a 15-hit game which included scoring in all six innings. Barone went 3-for-4 and Rodriguez was 3-for-5. Roach, Esparza, Mendoza and Bolin each had two hits.

Hollister next traveled up to Piedmont Hills for a non-league game on April 5 and the bats continued hot in a 15-1 victory. 

The slate continues after Easter break with a road trip down to Soledad on Monday April 14, along with a visit to Monterey the next day and a home contest against the Toreadores two days later.

“We’re young and talented,” Luna said. “The players are confident in themselves and I’m proud of them. Carmel is the head of the league. St. Francis has played well. Palma has six shutouts in their last seven games. We’re right there.”

Over the last 20 years, Hollister is 420-157 and has 18 seasons of 19 wins or more.

“I think we’re doing great this season,” Barone said. “We’re going to bounce back (from the 1-0 loss to Carmel). We’ll make a run for CCS for sure.”