No. 1 seeded Baler softball team looks to three-peat
The games don’t get under way until next week but already
there’s a clear-cut favorite to win the Central Coast Section
Division I softball tournament: San Benito High School.
In fact, it’s hard to imagine any team ousting the Balers
– a team that not only went undefeated in league but one that’s
looking to win its third Section title in a row.
No. 1 seeded Baler softball team looks to three-peat
The games don’t get under way until next week but already there’s a clear-cut favorite to win the Central Coast Section Division I softball tournament: San Benito High School.
In fact, it’s hard to imagine any team ousting the Balers – a team that not only went undefeated in league but one that’s looking to win its third Section title in a row.
“In all the years I’ve coached I don’t remember any team going undefeated. Even those North Salinas teams that had Monica Abbott (Team USA pitcher) lost a few games. I don’t know how to research it but I don’t think anyone has gone undefeated,” said San Benito High coach Scott Smith, who is in his eighth year with the Balers. “This is probably the most talented team we’ve ever had here.”
Although that’s saying a lot, Smith has plenty of reasons for making such a bold statement about the 2008 squad. For starters, his Balers are ranked No. 1 in the Section. His club is batting .414 as a team – an astronomical number for such a typically low-scoring sport.
His starting pitcher, Marisa Ibarra, has an almost un-hittable ERA of .068 in league and has a mark of .085 overall. And up until last week she hadn’t given up a single run – earned or unearned – in league.
As of The Pinnacle’s press time, the Balers had a 24-4 overall record. Three of those loses came in the Nike Invitational tournament – a tournament that took place in Los Angeles which included only teams that were nationally ranked.
The Balers other loss came against league rival Notre Dame in the Charlie Miguel Invitational tournament. The Balers were able to avenge those two losses to the Sprits by ousting them 4-0 early in league play and then following that up with a 5-4 win on April 29.
Since Notre Dame will compete in another division at CCS, Smith said the biggest roadblock to the title could be the Mustangs of Gilroy High – another rival squad with a strong lineup. This season the Balers beat Gilroy by 7-0 and 3-2 margins, but Smith is fully aware of records going out the window come playoff time, especially against the Mustangs – a team that finished in third place in the Tri County Athletic League this year.
“Going into the tournament, we want to be on the opposite side of Gilroy,” Smith said. “They have faced us twice now and know what we do better than anyone else. Of course, we would be rooting for our league and would like to face them in the championship game. They are very solid and a real good hitting team. I have the most concern about our teams in league because they are the only teams that we’ve lost to in CCS, with the exception of the 2004 loss to Monte Vista.”
Although the Balers won the last two Section titles, there seems to be more pressure on this year’s team to win it all.
“We were the No. 2 seed last year behind Carlmont and the year before that we were the No. 3 seed,” Smith said. “Last week, we seemed like we slipped a little in our level of play and took things a little easy after the win over Notre Dame. We know that going into CCS undefeated everyone will be watching us. We don’t want to do what the New England Patriots did. Hopefully, we can prepare well and play our best.”
In addition to the solid play of Ibarra, the Balers are getting strong efforts from a number of clutch players. Freshman catcher Jessica Best has picked up game-winning hits in the last two games and appears to be peaking at the right time.
First baseman Bri Romero is playing solid defense and picking up some timely hits, scoring the tying and winning runs in two contests last week.
Second baseman J.C. Clayton is batting .580 and has the speed on the base paths to help the Balers manufacture a number of runs.
Shortstop Elena Fata, the league’s MVP of a year ago, is batting .545 and leading the team in RBIs – and has made only one error all year playing the demanding position.
At third base, Lizzy Gatto is batting .435 and provides the Balers with good power in the lineup, while centerfielder Rachel Maheu is batting .500.
“Why have a coach with numbers like these?” Smith said.
