San Benito loses to Buchanan then defeats San Luis Obispo
The San Benito 13-year-old All-Star team lost its first game Saturday night in the State Babe Ruth tournament in Clovis but then rebounded to win the next game on Sunday.
San Benito will face Cotton Belt or Bakersfield Southwest at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
In the first game, San Benito was ahead 7-6 going into the seventh, but Buchanan scored six runs in the seventh to win 12-7.
San Benito turned a triple play in the game, picking the first runner off between third and home then picking the next runner off between second and third and then also picking the final runner off between second and third. By the time the inning was over, San Benito had used most of its team to complete the triple play.
The game lasted about four hours and didn’t end until about 12:30 p.m. The game was delayed about half an hour after manager Rick Czernek protested a Buchanan illegal pitcher. After the call was made to league officials, the only penalty assessed was the pitcher leaving the game, said manager Rick Czernek.
But after that, the team woke up and was able to put together some quality innings and took the lead at 7-6 for the first time with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
San Benito used seven different pitchers in the game – four in the final inning alone. San Benito had just three hits in the game but was able to take advantage of 10 walks.
On Sunday, San Benito eliminated San Luis Obispo from the tournament with a 7-5 victory.
San Benito went ahead 5-4 after scoring four runs in the fifth inning.
Brett Furtado doubled in Alfonso Reyes, who had a hit, and Alfonso Reyes, who reached on an error.
Russell Czernek had an RBI triple and then scored on a hit by Matthew Miguel.
After San Luis Obispo tied the game with a run in the sixth, San Benito scored a pair of runs in their half of the inning.
Reyes walked and scored on a hit hit by Dane Lamanna. And Czernek singled to drive in Lamanna.
Lance Villasenor had a double over the right fielder’s head in the second inning but wasn’t able to score after SLO had scored four runs in their half of the inning.
Miquel pitched six innings and kept San Luis Obispo off balance with his curve balls. Lamanna, batting leadoff, is batting .588 with an .800 on-base average of .800 in the team’s eight games so far.
Notes: Several of the team members stayed in hotels in the area Sunday evening. They planned to attend a Fresno Grizzlies game Sunday evening, but many of the players were too tired from the weekend of baseball and stayed at the hotel.
The team may make a trip to the nearby water park today before the baseball game, Czernek said.
