SBHS softball trumps Presentation in finals of Mission City
Invitational behind bat of JC Clayton, arm of Marisa Ibarra
SANTA CLARA
With JC Clayton at the plate and Marisa Ibarra atop the mound, the San Benito Lady ‘Balers weren’t going to surrender their crown at the Mission City Invitational in Santa Clara.
One year removed from a near-flawless performance at the Mission College tournament, where San Benito went 6-0 and outscored its opponents by a 56-1 scoring margin to take the crown, the Lady ‘Balers did it again this past weekend behind college-bound seniors Clayton and Ibarra.
After compiling a 3-0 record in pool play last weekend, San Benito extended its winning streak to six straight Saturday when it topped Presentation 4-1 in the championship final to repeat as Mission City champs.
Ibarra allowed one run in the first inning following four walks, but was otherwise dominant for the remainder of the game, allowing just three hits while striking out 10 Presentation batters.
Ibarra didn’t allow a base on balls after the first inning.
“She shut them down after that,” San Benito manager Scott Smith said.
“And Presentation hits the ball pretty good.”
Clayton, meanwhile, was a thorn in Presentation’s side, going 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBI, four stolen bases and two runs scored.
With the Lady ‘Balers trailing 1-0 in the third, Clayton singled on before she stole both second and third base. On the throw to third, however, Presentation fumbled the softball and Clayton took advantage, scoring the tying run.
In the fifth, Clayton’s infield hit resulted in a throwing error to first base. The wild throw sent the softball all the way into the outfield, past the right fielder, and Clayton sprinted around the bases and scored the go-ahead run to make it 2-1.
But she wasn’t done yet. The BYU-bound Clayton then connected on a two-RBI single up the middle in the seventh inning to supply the Lady ‘Balers with a commanding 4-1 lead late in the game.
“She kind of took care of things herself that game,” Smith said. “A pretty good day.”
San Benito, which went 3-0 in pool play behind victories over Lynbrook (7-2), Homestead (11-2) and Valley Christian (5-1), defeated Fremont 3-1 on Friday night to kick off bracketed play of the Mission City Invitational.
Clayton, swinging a hot bat even then, was 3-for-3.
In Saturday’s semifinal game, the Lady ‘Balers continued to dominate Valley Christian with a 5-0 victory behind a 2-for-3 performance from Paige Miguel. It marked the third victory over Valley Christian this season.
The Lady ‘Balers are now 17-3 overall. They’re scheduled to return next Tuesday at North Salinas at 4:30 p.m.
