Despite playing three games in two different tournaments and two
different locations on Saturday, the San Benito Lady Balers pulled
out three victories and improved to 13-1 overall on the season.
HOLLISTER
Despite playing three games in two different tournaments and two different locations on Saturday, the San Benito Lady Balers pulled out three victories and improved to 13-1 overall on the season.
Competing on Saturday morning against Wilcox, in what was their final game at the Mission City Invitational in Santa Clara, the Lady Balers plated a pair of runs in the third and fourth innings en route to a 4-1 win over the Chargers.
Danielle Acosta (4IP, 6H, 1R, 1BB) and Paige Miguel (3IP, 0H, 0R, 3K, 0BB) combined to limit Wilcox to just a single run in the second inning.
San Benito took the lead for good in the home half of the third when Jessica Steigelman knocked in Samantha Puentes from second base, and Jessica Vest followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Mari Vallejo from third.
The Lady Balers added a pair in the fourth inning when Marissa Adame and Vest connected on back-to-back RBI singles, scoring Vallejo and Steigelman, respectively.
San Benito finished with a 3-1 record at the Mission City Invitational.
The early game was just the start for the Lady Balers on Saturday, though. Following its win over Wilcox in Santa Clara, the team headed south to Salinas to open the Steinbeck Classic against Sacred Heart Prep.
The 3 p.m. contest ended in five innings, however, as San Benito knocked out 11 hits, four of which were home runs, and defeated Sacred Heart Prep by a 10-0 margin — the game ending as a result of the 10-run rule.
Acosta (5IP, 1H, 0R, 3K, 0BB) allowed one hit and no runs in the five-inning affair, and received plenty of run support by the second inning when San Benito tacked on four runs.
Ellie Burley (2 of 3 with a triple), Steigelman (2 of 3), Vest (3 of 3) and Adame (2 of 3) each connected on home runs in the game — Burley and Adame’s were two-run blasts. Brittani Newman added a triple in the win, which saw the Lady Balers plate three runs apiece in the third and fourth innings.
The comfortable victory positioned San Benito with two wins on the day, and it earned another shutout win in its third and final game on Saturday as well when it silenced Aptos 2-0 at the Steinbeck Classic in Salinas.
Miguel (7IP, 5H, 0R, 7K) allowed five hits over seven innings and struck out seven to pick up the win, as San Benito picked up both of its runs in the third inning.
After Vest led off the inning with a single, Burley connected on a two-out double to score Vest and supply the Lady Bales with the lead. Nicole Rianda then hit a grounder to third base, which resulted in a throwing error to first and allowed Burley to score.
San Benito will return to the Steinbeck Classic next weekend, although it is unknown as to who it will play on Saturday. The Lady Balers will also return to Tri-County Athletic League play this week as well.
San Benito will host Alisal on Tuesday, and will then travel to Salinas to take on Notre Dame on Thursday. Both games will begin at 4:30 p.m.
San Benito v. Wilcox
WLCX — 010 000 0 — 1 6 3
SANB — 002 200 X — 4 5 2
San Benito v. Sacred Heart Prep
SHP — 000 00X X — 0 1 1
SNB — 043 3XX X — 10 11 0
San Benito v. Aptos
APTS — 000 000 0 — 0 5 1
SANB — 002 000 X — 2 5 0
