Marisa Ibarra was perfect Tuesday. So was her defense. The San
Benito sophomore retired all 21 batters she faced as the Haybalers
beat Alvarez 3-0.
Marisa Ibarra was perfect Tuesday. So was her defense.
The San Benito sophomore retired all 21 batters she faced as the Haybalers beat Alvarez 3-0. And when the Eagles came the closest to spoiling Ibarra’s perfect game bid, senior right fielder Danielle Scibuola came to the rescue.
With one out in the sixth, there was an apparent base hit to the outfield. But Scibuola charged hard after the ball and came up firing to retire the batter at first.
“Danielle really sold out and kept the perfect game intact,” San Benito coach Scott Smith said.
From there, Ibarra took care of the rest. The final out came on her 11th strikeout of the game.
Coupled with Notre Dame’s 5-1 loss to Gilroy, the ‘Balers took over sole possession of first place in the Tri-County Athletic League.
“That’s sweet for us,” Smith said when he learned of the Spirit’s loss. “Now, we just need to take care of business.”
Smith also credited the efforts of senior catcher Ashley Perreira.
“Perreira is really catching well for her,” Smith said. “She makes subtle moves for her behind the plate and helps her get strikes.”
The last time the ‘Balers squared off with Alvarez, they went to extra innings and finally earned a 1-0 win in eight innings. Because of that, Smith emphasized getting on the scoreboard early.
San Benito did so when JC Clayton led off the game with a single, stole second and third, and scored on a two-out hit by Lizzy Gatto.
“We had talked about we needed to score in the first inning,” Smith said. “When (Alvarez pitcher Brittan Larsen) feels real confident, she can be tough. I think we carry a bit of a mystique that teams think it’s hard to score on us, so when we score first they kind of let down.”
The ‘Balers scored again in the second when Audra Brown tripled and came home when Alyssa Ashford hit a ball back to the pitcher and her throw to first was wild.
Clayton then made it 3-0 when she singled home Kelsey Russell, who was courtesy running for Perreira, in the top of the third.
That was all more than enough for Ibarra, who was part of a perfect game for the second time in her high school career. Last season, she and Sam Felice combined for a perfect game against Sobrato.
The ‘Balers are on the road again Thursday when they face Alisal at 4:30pm. They’ll also play Saturday in the Watsonville Tournament, taking on Soquel at 9:30am in the semifinals with the finals to follow.
San Benito 1 1 1 000 0 – 3 7 0
Alvarez 000 000 0 – 0 0 1
‘Baler Freshmen Rally to Defeat Monterey
Staff Reports
San Benito’s freshman team scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Monterey 8-7.
The Toreadores took advantage of four first-inning errors by San Benito to score three runs. The ‘Balers fought back with a run in the second inning when Alyssa Cabral singled, stole second and scored when Alicia Chavez reached base.
Monterey scored single runs in the second, third and fourth, while San Benito added a run in the third.
The ‘Balers started their comeback in the fifth when Ally Leitzel singled. Andrea Hernandez doubled to put runners and second and third, and Lauren Adamek singled home a run. Tiana Butler drove in a run with a fielder’s choice to make it 6-5 Monterey.
The Toreadores added a run in the sixth, but San Benito averted further damage. Monterey had a runner headed home and Alicia Chavez threw to Adamek at home to get that runner. Adamek then fired to Francesca Duran at second for another out.
After holding Monterey in the top of the seventh, the ‘Balers got to work in the bottom of the inning.
Hernandez hit a leadoff single and Adamek reached on a bunt. Hernandez was cut down trying to take third on Adamek’s bunt. Adamek reached third on a pair of stolen bases.
Butler followed with a ball hit to third that was not fielded cleanly and went into left field to score Adamek. Butler stole second and Stephanie Young singled and stole second to put two runners in scoring position.
Duran then hit a ball to short that scored Butler and when Young was waved around to home the throw was wild as she scored the winning run.
“I am proud how the girls came back and fought until the end,” coach Rebecca Gutierrez said. “They made a lot of physical errors in the first few innings. They were not playing good defense or hitting the ball until late in the game. I am glad they got that spark towards the end, but we cannot start off every game like that.”
