‘Balers defeat Palo Alto on Saturday before falling to Serra on
Monday
It took San Benito pitcher Zach Canez one inning to settle down in Monday’s matchup with Serra in the Knights of Columbus tournament.
Unfortunately for the Haybalers, the tournament host Padres got all the runs they would need in the first inning to earn a 3-1 victory in a crisp one-hour, 20-minute contest.
“This answered some questions for us,” San Benito coach Michael Luna said. “I thought we closed the gap between West Catholic schools and public schools. We had a chance, that’s all we can ask for.”
Two doubles and a single produced Serra’s first two runs. After that Canez allowed only two more hits and one unearned run.
“Two through sixth, he was just dealing and dominant with his change-up,” Luna said. “There were a lot of ground balls and weak fly balls. As the game progressed, you could tell he was getting stronger. We were just not able to help him offensively.”
The ‘Balers pushed across their lone run in the top of the third. Kevin Gonzales and Justin Andrade both walked and moved up on a Kolton Klauer ground out.
With Brian Haggett at the plate, there was a wild pitch to score Gonzales for the only run.
Kyle Zozaya and Haggett both singled for San Benito’s only two hits.
The ‘Balers opened the tournament Saturday with an 8-1 win over Palo Alto.
Haggett got the offense started with a two-run homer in the first and San Benito scored all eight of its runs in the first four innings, allowing only a sixth-inning run to the Vikings.
Steve Cabral started on the mound and threw three hitless innings, walking one while striking out four.
Canez was 2-for-2 with a two-run double and Bryan Scott also had a two-run double.
The ‘Balers resume tournament action when they play at Half Moon Bay at 3:30pm today. A win over the Cougars would put San Benito in the semifinals Wednesday against either Bellarmine or Los Altos.
Saturday
Palo Alto 000 001 0 – 1 7 1
San Benito 213 200 0 – 8 7 3
Monday
San Benito 001 000 0 – 1 2 1
Serra 200 001 x – 3 5 1
