High School Sports

Caitlin Miller grew up playing soccer until she found a sport she truly fell in love with—volleyball.  The Hollister High senior started playing volleyball as an eighth-grader in part because her older sister, former Haybalers standout Nicole Miller, played the sport.  “I would always watch my...

Even after the San Benito High girls basketball team lost 46-28 to Los Gatos High in the quarterfinals of the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs on Feb. 22, it didn’t dampen coach Mitch Burley’s spirits.  “I was totally satisfied with the season,” said Burley,...

Led by senior standout Julia Torrez, the Hollister High girls golf team is having another solid season on the links.  Torrez shot an even par 36 against Notre Dame-Salinas in the season-opener at Ridgemark, a score that seventh-year coach Molly Orsetti believes is a school...

Kaiya Dickens got the ball on the left wing, dribbled to the top of the key and drained a 3-pointer—just the way the play was drawn up by Mitch Burley, the longtime San Benito High girls basketball coach. Dickens’ shot—it bounced straight up after...

Describing it as one of the best experiences he’s ever had on the football field, Khader Yasin couldn’t have asked for a better ending to his prep career on the gridiron.  The San Benito High senior played offensive guard for the victorious Children’s Shopping Tour...

Ryen Ortiz and Laine Lowi are cherishing the last couple of games they have together playing on the San Benito High girls soccer team. Best friends since preschool, the two will go their separate ways after they graduate, Ortiz to the University of North Carolina-Greensboro...

Before the season started, Hollister High senior Alex Valencia set a lofty goal for himself: average 10-plus tackles a game. The 5-foot-11, 190 pound inside linebacker is close, which means he’s having a pretty solid season.   “I’m averaging nine tackles a game so I feel...

Even though the San Benito High girls volleyball team didn’t have a Covid spring season, Mia Villegas—the lone returner from the last time the Haybalers had a season in 2019—said all was not lost.  From last winter and into the spring, the players met for...

Emily Blaettler is cherishing her final season of competitive volleyball. The San Benito High senior will most likely attend a four-year university next fall and as such is ready to call it a career from an athletic standpoint.  “Things will definitely be emotional, especially on...

The San Benito High softball team enters Saturday’s 1pm Central Coast Section playoff quarterfinal game at Mitty brimming with confidence.  Yes, the Haybalers know they’re up against a formidable opponent which beat them in the season-opener 4-1 on March 1. However, San Benito is banking...