This was the moment of truth for the San Benito High softball team.
From the start of the season, longtime Haybalers coach Scott Smith had concerns regarding his team, and with good reason. Although San Benito was winning the majority of its games, it wasn’t playing up to the gold standard the program had set when it won eight consecutive Central Coast Section Division I playoff championships from 2006 to 2013.
But a showdown with Notre Dame-Salinas on May 11 would go a long way in determining whether San Benito would enter the postseason as a team on the rise or merely a squad that couldn’t overcome key injuries and circumstances.
The Balers gave a resounding answer in the form of a 7-4 win at Veterans Park. The victory not only avenged a 5-0 defeat to Notre Dame on April 14, but it allowed San Benito to pull into a tie with the Spirits for first place in the Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division standings.
“To come back and beat them after the first time we played them, it’s a confidence booster,” Smith said. “Outside of Pioneer and a couple of other teams, there isn’t a better team in the CCS than Notre Dame. So any time you beat them, especially this year, you’re doing something good.”
The Balers, who improved to 20-5 overall and 10-1 in league play after Tuesday’s win over Monterey, beat Notre Dame despite committing five errors.
Chalk that up to a number of factors, but none bigger than junior catcher Suzy Brookshire, who simply went off, going 3 for 3 with two home runs, a triple and four RBI. Senior ace pitcher Adriana Ibarra also had another solid outing, allowing seven hits and two earned runs while going the distance.
“Adriana was throwing good enough where she was getting a lot of ground balls, but we have a couple of kids who have lost some of their self-confidence,” Smith said. “That being said I think today was the perfect game for them to say, ‘Hey, we made some mistakes, but it didn’t kill us, and I can relax a bit because my team is going to pick me up.’”
Especially Brookshire, who proved to be a one woman wrecking crew. The Sacramento State-commit hit a pair of two-run homers sandwiched in between a third-inning triple. It’s clear Brookshire has regained her stellar form of a year ago, no small feat considering she was stricken with mononucleosis at the start of the season.
Deprived of her usual energy, Brookshire couldn’t practice at her normal intensity for a solid month. Once Brookshire was fully recovered from mono, she still had to work her way back into her normal playing and hitting shape.
Three weeks ago, Brookshire made the decision to take extra batting practice outside of games and team practices, and the extra work has paid off.
“Taking extra reps has gotten my confidence up because I was really freaking out this season thinking I wasn’t going to have the season I was planning on having,” she said. “But I told myself that I needed this to be my season because the girls are relying on me.”
Said Smith: “I talked to Suzy about taking extra reps and how last year there wasn’t a day that went by where she didn’t take extra hitting. She really wasn’t doing that this year and she finally got to a point where she wasn’t satisfied with her performance. In the last three or four games, Suzy has been on an absolute tear. That’s the hitter Suzy is when she’s in her regular routine.”
Fully healthy, Brookshire has regained the swagger of a hitter who pitchers could not get out in 2014. And that’s bad news for the rest of the San Benito opponents.
“I’ve worked too hard to let any of the pitchers in our league beat me,” she said.
This was also the first game of the season in which star junior shortstop Callee Heen was able to take the field defensively, as an injury to her throwing arm limited her to only hitting duties. Heen went 0 for 3 but did hit some absolute lasers that simply went straight to a Notre Dame fielder.
Although Brookshire provided the majority of the offensive fireworks, a couple of other players had clutch hits and made pivotal plays. Sophomore center fielder Britnee Rossi had a productive day at the plate, executing a perfect sacrifice bunt to go along with a walk and single.
However, Rossi’s biggest impact came defensively, when she threw out a runner at second base for a force out after the Spirits’ Brittany Plasencia hit a line-drive grounder to center field in the top of the third inning.
What would’ve normally gone for a single instead was turned into an inning-ending out, as Rossi quickly scooped up the ball and fired to second base for the force. Had Rossi not made the play, Notre Dame would’ve scored at least the tying run on the play and extended the inning for possibly more.
“Britt’s play probably changes the whole game,” Smith said. “That’s how she plays—100 percent flat-out all the time. And when she’s on it, she’s as good as anybody.”
Freshman right fielder Chloe Cortez also instrumental both offensively and defensively. Cortez, who went 2 for 3, denied Notre Dame its first run in the top of the first when she made a perfect throw to home plate to Brookshire to nail a Notre Dame runner trying to score after a San Benito throwing error sailed to foul territory beyond the right-field line.
So despite committing five errors, the Balers managed to beat one of the best teams in the section. Does it mean they’re all the way back to being a team that could be considered a favorite to win the Division I playoff title?
Not so fast, Smith said.
“We’ve still got a lot of things to clean up before the playoffs,” he said. “But getting this win was big for us, and it gives us something positive going forward.”
Brookshire has plenty of confidence in the team, knowing it is playing better with the playoffs approaching.
“Once we become more consistent, we’ll be unstoppable,” she said.
