Lady ‘Balers one win from CCS title after season-altering
defensive play
Hollister – It was just one play. But on it swung the fate of two teams.
With Carlmont getting the winning runner just 60 feet from the plate on Tuesday – a run that would vault the Scots to the Central Coast Section championship game and eliminate the San Benito softball team – it would take a Houdini-esque escape for the Lady ‘Balers to survive. But thanks to an alert defensive play – a simple exchange between catcher Ashley Perreira and pitcher Marissa Ibarra – San Benito not only got out of that inning, but then exploded for seven runs in the ninth to snatch victory from the clutches of defeat.
“Huge. It was huge,” ‘Balers head coach Scott Smith said after his team nailed Carlmont’s lead runner on a seldom-invoked ‘look-back’ or ‘pitcher’s-circle’ rule.
“The turning point,” San Benito center fielder Rachel Maheu called it after her team’s 7-0 win.
After battling through seven and a half scoreless innings, the ‘Balers finally blinked when Scots catcher Caitlin Steele hammered a triple to lead off the eighth. San Benito was finished.
But just as quickly as their title-game hopes appeared to vanish, the Lady ‘Balers turned the tables. Using a defensive play it had practiced all season but never executed, San Benito caught Steele and Carlmont off-guard and grabbed all the momentum the Scots had just taken.
With runners at first and third with one out, Carlmont’s Katy Suko took off from first base as Ibarra delivered a pitch to the plate. Instead of gunning the ball to second in hopes of throwing out Suko or simply holding onto the ball, Perreira rifled a throw back to Ibarra. Steele, the Scots’ lead runner, had ventured off third base and momentarily froze, only to be called out by the third-base umpire.
Smith, the San Benito coach, said the play developed just as he had drawn it up.
“We practice that play,” Smith said. “It’s a set play we call. If (the runner) hesitates for one second … they have one second to get back to the base. It caught ’em sleeping.”
Said Perreira: “It worked out perfectly, just like we had practiced.”
Carlmont head coach Jim Liggett, who protested the call immediately after the play, resigned himself afterwards to falling victim to an unusual ruling.
“You have to be sure (the runner froze),” said Liggett of the umpire’s call. Noting that the ‘look-back’ rule hadn’t been called in a Scots’ game all season, the Carlmont coach was dismayed it popped up with a championship-game berth hanging in the balance.
Rendered helpless through eight innings in the face of dominant Scots starter Ashley Chinn, the Lady ‘Balers (28-3) made the most of their new life. After being no-hit to that point while Chinn struck out 15 batters, No. 3 San Benito got consecutive bunt singles to open the ninth and then struck for three more hits to unleash its seven-run outburst.
“It was like we were getting a second chance,” said Maheu, who singled twice, scored and drove in a run in the decisive inning, “or a ninth chance, if you want to go by innings.”
Said Smith: “At that point, it just turned a switch on. (We thought), ‘Hey, we can win this thing.'”
As much confidence as the ‘Balers had gained, the Scots lost. Chinn, who had allowed just one baserunner through eight innings, saw the first six ‘Baler batters reach base, as San Benito pushed across three runs before she could record an out. Carlmont center fielder Kelly Cunningham dropped a flyball for a two-run error, and the game quickly spiraled downhill for the seven-time CCS champions.
After compiling a 29-1 record entering Tuesday’s semifinal, No. 2 Carlmont saw its dream season come to a crushing end.
But for San Benito, the stunning turn of events translated into a golden opportunity. On the strength of their victory, the Lady ‘Balers advanced to Saturday’s championship game against No. 12 Watsonville. In making its third title-game appearance, San Benito guns for its first-ever softball championship.
And all when the Lady ‘Balers seemed so close to seeing their season end in a heartbreaking defeat. But thanks to a titanic shift, San Benito lives on.
Reflecting on the play that made the comeback possible and kept the team’s championship dreams alive, Perreira said, “It makes or breaks a lot of games.”
Or seasons.
