Despite plating just three runs on eight hits, and leaving seven
runners on base, six of whom were in scoring position, the Balers
picked up key hits when they absolutely needed them, played tight
defense when they absolutely needed to, and received seven innings
of one-run softball by pitcher Paige Miguel to outlast the visiting
Spirits 3-1 Tuesday to remain perfect on the regular season.
HOLLISTER
No one is about to say San Benito has Notre Dame’s number. But taking two in a row from the rival Spirits this year, after having lost six straight to the Salinas school over the previous two years, the Balers have at least found an early season edge.
But there’s no rest for the five-time Division I champions. Not yet, anyway.
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“We have to find a way to where we’re just trying to win inning by inning, and not worrying about the game,” San Benito manager Scott Smith said. “If you look at it, they probably beat us three out of the seven innings where they out-played us, either better on defense or put more pressure on us at bat.”
Still, despite plating just three runs on eight hits, and leaving seven runners on base, six of whom were in scoring position, the Balers picked up key hits when they absolutely needed them, played tight defense when they absolutely needed to, and received seven innings of one-run softball by pitcher Paige Miguel to outlast the visiting Spirits 3-1 Tuesday to remain perfect on the regular season.
It is the second win over the Spirits this year for the Balers, who previously defeated Notre Dame by an 8-1 margin to claim the tournament championship at the Annie Lynch Memorial Circle of Champions last month.
Tuesday’s game was a bit more interesting, and Notre Dame kept it that way up until the final at-bat.
To see video highlights of Tuesday’s game, go here.
Although trailing by two runs with two outs and nobody on in the final frame, a throwing error, a hit batsman and a pair of pitches in the dirt by Miguel set up a second-and-third situation for Notre Dame leadoff hitter Morgan Balestreri.
On a full count, Balestreri lined what would have been the game-tying hit down the left-field line, but it fell just foul. One pitch later, and Miguel induced a ground out to short, her 15th and final ground-ball out of the game.
“I didn’t really get tired, but I can’t really explain it,” Miguel said of the hairy situation in the seventh inning. “I knew I was gonna get a ground ball and my defense was gonna pick me up. I was relaxed.”
San Benito had several chances during the game, though, where a two-run seventh by the Spirits wouldn’t have mattered in the end. But with runners on base, the Balers had a tendency to connect on hard-hit balls, but hit them right at the opposition.
“I think we’re probably a victim of our own success. We start almost coasting. We’re waiting for something bad to happen,” Smith said. “Of late, we haven’t been behind. Early in the year, we were getting behind in games and having to come back, so it kind of kept our interest. But we have to figure that out.”
San Benito played with a lead early Tuesday, and it came on a hard-hit ball hit just to the right of the opposition.
Brittany Sparrer’s RBI liner in the second inning was knocked down with a diving stab by Balestreri, but ricocheted far enough away to where the Notre Dame shortstop was unable to make a play, allowing Jessica Steigelman to score from third.
San Benito gave the run right back in the following frame, however. Once Tiffany Cardinale bunted two Spirits into scoring position with two outs, the Balers opted to intentionally walk the next batter, but Miguel’s third pitch sailed high and wide of catcher Marissa Adame, and Aerial Rivera scored from third base as a result.
“I think I kind of over-thought it,” Miguel said. “I changed my mechanics. I kind of slowed down and I shouldn’t have done that.”
Ironically, the same situation happened last year to Miguel, and it was against Notre Dame. An intentional-walk pitch got away from the then-junior pitcher and sailed to the backstop, allowing the Spirits to plate the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh.
“That lost it for us, so it was a little different,” Miguel said Tuesday.
Just a little.
San Benito didn’t let the tying run affect the final outcome, though. It responded in the bottom of the third when Brittany Hoff roped a one-out triple down the left-field line, and scored two batters later on a Taylor Fabing RBI single to left field.
Three innings later, and the Balers added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Sparrer knocked in another run, this time on a sacrifice fly to center field that scored courtesy runner Ellie Burley from third.
Mental mistakes still plagued certain instances of the game, though. Smith said a lot of the teaching during practice is necessary for his players to succeed at the college level, and so much information is provided that the team may be over-thinking things at the plate.
“It’s kind of a double-edged sword. You’re trying to prepare them for the next level, but it sometimes hurts us at this level here,” Smith said. “It’s not a bad trade-off for me, if we’re learning from every at-bat. But we tend to put a little pressure on ourselves with runners in scoring position and we’re not hitting the ball real hard. So we’ve got to work on that.”
Despite those mental lapses — however few or frequent they may be — San Benito is still perfect on the season, with Tuesday’s win upping the team’s record to 9-0 overall, 3-0 in the Tri-County Athletic League.
The Balers are coming off a pair of wins over Mountain View and Los Altos at last weekend’s Mission City Invitational, and will return to the Wilcox-hosted tournament on Saturday for a game against Leigh at 11 a.m.
Prior to that, though, San Benito will continue league play when it travels to Salinas for a matchup with Alisal at 4:30 p.m.
ND — 001 000 0 — 152
SB — 011 001 X — 381
