For all the success the San Benito baseball program has
experienced, there’s one thing that’s always been a void: a trip to
the Central Coast Section finals.
For all the success the San Benito baseball program has experienced, there’s one thing that’s always been a void: a trip to the Central Coast Section finals.
The No. 3 seed Haybalers (28-8) have a chance to put an end to that when they take the field at 4pm today at San Jose’s Municipal Stadium to face No. 10 Santa Teresa (15-11) in the semifinals.
So while San Benito has never gotten past this point, it’s fortunate to have a coach who has.
Michael Luna was the head man at Leigh when the top-seeded Longhorns won the CCS title in 2000. On Tuesday, Luna shared the similarities that Leigh team had with his current San Benito team by showing them film from the Longhorns’ 2000 quarterfinal victory against St. Francis.
That was a game Leigh led 6-2 entering the top of the seventh, only to see St. Francis storm back to take a 7-6 lead. But Luna’s Longhorns fought back to score twice in the seventh to win and advance. They eventually beat Serra in the semifinals and St. Ignatius in the championship game.
“There’s a lot of similarities between these teams,” said Luna, whose team led Bellarmine 3-2 entering the seventh Saturday in the quarterfinals, only to fall down 5-3, rally to force extra innings and then win on a walk-off double by Brian Haggett in the ninth. “If we can keep those similarites going, then who knows.”
Where the ‘Balers won’t find similarities is in comparing this Santa Teresa team to the one it beat 13-0 earlier in the season.
“We’ve tried to get away from thinking about that,” Luna said. “Three months ago is a long time.”
Rather, San Benito will be expecting the Saints team that beat the ‘Balers 5-1 in the quarterfinals last season. And with Santa Teresa coming in on the heels of an upset victory over No. 2 Serra, it’ll have plenty of confidence.
“They’re very loose because they think they probably shouldn’t be here,” Luna said. “They have no reason to think they can’t beat us. … I believe we’re the better team, but in a one-game series, anything can happen.”
On the mound, the ‘Balers will throw ace junior right-hander Zach Canez. He earned the victory over Santa Clara in the CCS opener and has allowed just one run over his last 24 innings of work. The Saints are expected to counter with sophomore Zach Jones.
“He’s pretty good,” Luna said of Jones. “But he’s only a sophomore and he’s pitching in the biggest game of his young career. They’re going to feed off him and goes as far as he take them. We want to score early and put as pressure on as we can to make them play out of their element.”
The winner of this game will face the winner of today’s 7pm game between Gilroy (24-11) and Valley Christian (31-4) in the championship game Saturday. Game time will be either 1pm, 4pm or 7pm at Municipal Stadium.
