High School Sports

Sometimes, what looks like a major disappointment turns into something much greater than one can imagine. So it is for San Benito High junior McKenzie Heckman, who turned to field hockey only after failing to make the final cut for the girls volleyball team...

Before the season started, San Benito High girls volleyball coach Emily Burley didn’t know how the year would unfold. After all, the Haybalers didn’t have a Covid spring season and as such only had one returning player in Mia Villegas.  Turns out, all is still...

For as long as she can remember, Kendra Melching has liked running. But once she entered her freshman year at San Benito High in fall 2020, Melching started to love running.  “When I got to high school everything changed,” she said. “Practices became more focused...

Through the first four games of the season, San Benito High’s defense has stood tall. The Haybalers pitched their second shutout with a 38-0 win over visiting Alisal on Friday night.  “The defense is playing stellar,” Balers coach Bryan Smith said. “They’ve allowed three points...

Now in her sixth season as the coach of the San Benito High girls golf team, Molly Orsetti is more excited than ever. The reasons are plenty, starting with the makeup of the current crop of Haybalers. “This is a really good group of girls,...

If the San Benito High football team came to Don Christopher Stadium on Sept. 10 expecting to roll to victory, Christopher High had other ideas. Though ranked 17 spots below the Haybalers in the Central Coast Section, the Cougars held their opponent down for most...

San Benito High senior quarterback Tyler Pacheco isn’t used to running long distances during a game. That doesn’t mean he’s not capable of taking off when he has to. And what he did Friday night against Wilcox was nothing short of spectacular, especially late in...

Now over five years old as a program, the San Benito High field hockey team is ready to make its mark.  “Our goal is to get into CCS (for the first time),” Haybalers midfielder Ryen Ortiz said. “With the amount of athleticism we have on...

San Benito High football coach Bryan Smith couldn’t help but be emotional after the Haybalers were notified that their game with host Santa Teresa was being called due to poor air quality—at halftime, no less.  In a surreal scene, Friday’s season-opener was called at intermission...

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...