Jessica Vest molded an 0-2 hole into a 2-2 count before lining a
two-run triple to the right-center field gap on Wednesday, as the
Lady Balers leapfrogged Wilcox in the third inning and held on for
a 3-1 victory in the Division I semifinals at Milpitas High.
MILPITAS
Jessica Vest has a way of working counts in her favor.
Four days ago, the San Benito junior fouled off seven straight pitches against Salinas’ Alyssa Razo, only to belt a two-run homer on the ninth pitch of the at-bat to lift the Lady Balers to a 4-1 win in the Central Coast Section Division I quarterfinals.
And on Wednesday in Milpitas, with the top-seeded Lady Balers trailing No. 4 Wilcox by a 1-0 margin in the third inning, Vest once again worked the count into both hers, and San Benito’s, favor.
“She’s peaking right now,” San Benito manager Scott Smith said of his shortstop.
Vest molded an 0-2 hole into a 2-2 count before lining a two-run triple to the right-center field gap on Wednesday, as the Lady Balers leapfrogged Wilcox in the third inning and held on for a 3-1 victory in the Division I semifinals at Milpitas High.
“I’m just feeling confident,” Vest said. “I think I’m just waiting to get my pitch instead of waiting for the pitcher’s pitch.”
And for however many pitches it may take. With five RBI and two runs scored, Vest has accounted for all seven of San Benito’s runs in the postseason, and it has the Lady Balers in Saturday’s Division I championship.
But they won’t be playing Gilroy.
The four-time defending CCS champs will do battle against No. 2 Fremont (20-4), an opponent that surprised some in the San Benito dugout on Wednesday after it was announced the Firebirds edged the No. 3 Mustangs 2-1.
Gilroy had advanced to the Division I title game the last two years, but fell short each time of upsetting the Lady Balers.
“I wasn’t surprised,” Vest said. “But we were just hoping to play Gilroy again.”
San Benito and Fremont both played at the Mission City Invitational in early April — a tournament the Firebirds won — although the two teams failed to meet up through either pool or bracketed play.
Smith is hoping one more game to the season will bring out the best in his team, though, which despite its second straight come-from-behind victory, committed an uncharacteristic amount of errors in Wednesday’s game.
“We talked before the game of just trying to play our best game, and unfortunately we just didn’t do that,” said Smith, noting the team’s four recorded errors on Wednesday. “The good thing is that we survived another chance of playing our best game, and hopefully we can turn it around on Saturday.”
With pitcher Paige Miguel looking strong early on — she struck out three of the first four batters she faced — the Lady Baler defense fell short. Two fielding errors in the second inning led to an unearned run when Taylor Henson’s fielder’s choice ground out to second scored Amelia Vivo from third base.
And Vivo was actually helping her own cause, too. The Wilcox starting pitcher retired the first three batters she faced in order, then got out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the second.
“We were selective early in the game, which I thought was good — make her throw strikes,” Smith said. “But then we didn’t adjust. She started throwing first-pitch strikes and we were taking it.”
Trailing 1-0 — which was the same score San Benito defeated Wilcox by in last season’s Division I semifinal — the Lady Balers found a brief chink in Vivo’s armor in the third inning.
Samantha Puentes singled on with one out before stealing second base, while Marissa Adame connected on a base knock to left field that put runners on the corners. Courtesy runner Ali Ocampo then stole second and Vest worked a seven-pitch at-bat before lining the go-ahead triple to right field.
“Outside fastball,” Vest said.
Wilcox’s center fielder made a diving stab toward the gap and nearly caught the hard-hit ball in the process. But instead the ball ricocheted off her glove and Vest trotted to third standing up — both Puentes and Ocampo scoring with ease.
“She was throwing pretty much all outside,” Vest said. “I was just fighting it off, but then she brought it in a little bit more.”
And Vest scored one pitch later when Vivo’s first offering to Brittany Hoff was in the dirt.
“But I challenged the kids out here,” Smith said. “We’ve got seven runs in the last two games and she’s accounted for all seven. I just asked, ‘Is that the kind of team you want to have?'”
San Benito had just a single base runner for the rest of the game, and just one more hit to their name following the three-run third inning.
Milpitas’ all-turf softball field — with turf even acting as the infield dirt — may have thrown the Lady Balers for a bit of a loop, as routine grounders turned into infield singles or fielding errors.
“For us, we play pretty tough defense, and when we play on dirt infields you get some bad hops,” Smith said. “But we felt this was an advantage for them. They have played here before. We hit a couple of hard balls and it doesn’t take the bad hop like you’d normally see.
“We were just overanxious.”
Once trailing, Wilcox had base runners on in each and every inning, including the tying run at the plate in the top of the seventh and a pair of runners in scoring position in the fourth.
But Miguel, who allowed just three hits in the win, induced ground-ball outs each and every time, while catcher Marissa Adame threw out a pair of base runners at second to end the third and sixth innings.
Despite the errors, though, the Lady Balers will be playing for the Division I title for a fifth straight year.
San Benito (24-4) will square off with Fremont on Saturday at PAL Stadium in San Jose. Game time is expected to be announced later today.
“I just know they hit the ball pretty good,” Smith said. “Their pitcher is kind of similar to (Vivo) and they play pretty solid defense.
“Their pretty similar to us.”
