San Benito baseball team outlasts host Live Oak in key leagu
Playing with an ease and maturity developed over the better part of this season, the San Benito High baseball team further boosted its postseason chances with its second victory in less than a week against an upper-echelon league opponent Wednesday.
The Haybalers used an opportunistic offense and a solid defense to outlast host Live Oak 10-8 in a nip-and-tuck Tri-County Athletic League affair in Morgan Hill. After falling behind early, the Balers rallied to take the lead and then held off several Acorn rallies to pick up a key league win.
San Benito (5-6 in TCAL, 13-12 overall) closed to within a game of third-place Live Oak (6-5 in TCAL, 10-11 overall) with the victory which followed an upset of first-place Palma on Friday.
The Balers’ victory also partially avenged a sweep at the hands of the Acorns in the league season-opening double header earlier this season and was a major step in the team’s quest for a Central Coast Section playoff berth. Teams must finish with a record .500 or better in overall or league play to make the postseason.
According to Balers coach Derek Barnes, the hard-fought victory was an indication of how much his young team has grown up since the beginning of the season.
“This is a totally different team than when we played (Live Oak) the first time,” Barnes said. “They’re playing loose and relaxed. The season wasn’t going as well as we’d hoped and they started playing a lot looser. We have a lot of younger guys on this team and they know what it’s like to play at this level now.”
San Benito outfielder Brett Fulgoni, who smashed a pair of doubles and three RBIs, said the Balers are peaking at the right time.
“It was a great turnaround to beat Palma and then Live Oak – it shows what kind of character we have,” Fulgoni said. “We have Gilroy next and if we can beat them we win that series. We’re one game away from .500 and then we go to CCS and see what happens. We’ve got to go out swinging.”
San Benito did plenty of swinging against the Acorns, who did their share of booting the ball to give the Balers plenty of extra opportunities.
After Live Oak took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning off Balers starter Jason Sims, San Benito struck back off Acorn sophomore pitcher Kyle Mosbrucker.
Karson Klauer led off the second inning with a single and Anthony Vasquez worked a walk, then Fulgoni lined a drive to centerfield that was misjudged and went for a double to score Klauer.
Vasquez followed with a ground ball to shortstop that was thrown away at third to score Vasquez, and Mike Lango came up with an RBI single to score Fulgoni and tie the game at 3-3.
Scott Mead then laid down a perfect bunt for a hit to load the bases with no outs. Two RBI fielder’s choice ground balls later, San Benito held a 5-3 lead.
Live Oak would also contribute to several more Baler rallies with shaky defense.
The Balers added a run in the fourth inning on Breyon Canez RBI double to make the score 6-3, but Live Oak answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to pull within 6-5.
San Benito scored once in the fifth on Vasquez’s RBI single, and added two more in the sixth on Fulgoni’s double after a pair of Acorn errors for a 9-5 lead.
Live Oak answered with a pair of runs in the sixth to make it 9-7, before the Balers added another run on an Acorn error in the top of the seventh for a 10-7 lead.
The Acorns scored a run in the bottom of the seventh inning and had the tying runs on base but Baler reliever Canez struck out the game’s final batter to preserve the victory.
Sims picked up the win with 5 1/3 gutsy innings and Canez picked up the save.
“I knew if our pitching held us close, we’d hit,” Barnes said. “The big key is hitting the baseball. We’re making the most of the other teams’ mistakes. Earlier this season, it was us making those mistakes.”
San Benito will play visiting Gilroy on Friday afternoon. The game was moved from Saturday because of SAT tests being taken.
JV Note: The San Benito JV team lost at Live Oak, 6-3.
San Benito (16-6, 6-5 TCAL) scored a run in the third inning to take a 3-2 lead, but Live Oak scored two runs in the third and fourth innings.
Doug Conte went 2 for 3 with a double for the Balers. Kris Bittner (1 for 3 with a run scored), Dean Wilkins (1 for 2 with an RBI), Travis Ross (1 for 4 with an RBI) and Jacob Boyd (1 for 3) also contributed on offense.
