The San Benito Haybalers went 2-1 and finished in third place at
the Monterey Bay Varsity Tournament last weekend, which was hosted
by the ‘Balers at San Benito High School.
Hollister – The San Benito Haybalers went 2-1 and finished in third place at the Monterey Bay Varsity Tournament last weekend, which was hosted by the ‘Balers at San Benito High School.
In the squad’s first action of the 2007 season, the ‘Balers won their opening game 12-4 over Carmel, which put them into the semifinals against Leland. However, the Leland won 10-2, and placed San Benito into the third-place consolation game, where they soundly defeated San Lorenzo Valley 15-3.
Other teams present at the varsity tournament included Pioneer, Stevenson, Mount Pleasant and Salinas.
Salinas, who the ‘Balers will open their Tri-County Athletic League season against on Wednesday, won the eight-team tournament over Leland “quite convincingly,” said ‘Baler Coach Tom Agan.
“They’re going to be very tough,” Agan said of Salinas. “We’ve got some stuff to work on and we need more time together as a unit. Things weren’t quite clicking the way they should.
“Our defense wasn’t bad, but we need to turn it up to another level, push a little harder and put more pressure on them, for sure.”
Agan highlighted the play of Kyle Reuther, who provided the ‘Balers with strong goaltending, as well as Adam Rianda and Jordan Schafer.
Right now, though, Agan wants his ‘Balers to play together as much as possible. The team lost 13 players from last year’s TCAL championship squad, so the coach feels that playing time and playing together will allow the ‘Balers to reach their potential.
On Wednesday, they’ll travel to Salinas for a 3:30pm matchup.
“By the middle of the season and certainly by the end of the season, these guys will certainly be coming together,” Agan said. “We’ve got a team that just played their first game together. It’s going to take some time … but we’re up and running.”
