High School Sports

Back in the CIF State Track and Field Championships for the second straight year, Marisa Villegas enjoyed her experience every bit as much from last season. Villegas, who just completed her junior year, ran the 1600-meter race in a time of 5 minutes, 2.71 seconds to take 16th overall last Friday at Buchanan High in Clovis.

Last Saturday, the San Benito High baseball team advanced to a section final for the third time in the last six years. However, the Haybalers were denied that elusive first-ever Central Coast Section championship, as they lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to St. Francis in the Open Division playoff title game at San Jose Municipal Stadium.

Pain evident after their races, Nolan Sanchez and Marisa Villegas knew all the training and suffering was worth it. The San Benito High juniors earned berths to the CIF State Track and Field Championships after their performances last Friday in the Central Coast Section Finals at Gilroy High.

When the San Benito High softball team fell behind by four runs entering the bottom of the second inning in the Central Coast Section Division I playoff championship game on Saturday, the Balers had no doubt they would come back and win. In fact, first-year Balers coach Andrew Barragan told his players they had them right where they wanted them—no joke.

The San Benito and St. Francis baseball teams will play after all. The two perennial Central Coast Section powers had a game scheduled in the first week of the season only to have it rained out. The game never got made up, and it looked as if it wasn’t going to—until now.

The San Benito High baseball team finds itself in a familiar position: In the semifinals of the Central Coast Section playoffs. The No. 7 seed Haybalers (18-7) play No. 11 Bellarmine (20-9) on Wednesday at San Jose Municipal Stadium at 7 p.m.

The San Benito High baseball team had to watch league rival Palma celebrate on its home field on May 2, when the Chieftains won 4-2 to clinch at least a share of the Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division championship. Palma knocked off Salinas two days later to win the title outright, denying the Haybalers a 12th league championship in the last 13 years.

A critical win over Notre Dame-Salinas on May 5 put the San Benito High softball team in control of its own destiny. The result—a 4-0 victory—meant they needed to beat Monterey and Christopher in the final week of the regular season to clinch an outright Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division championship.

The San Benito High softball team earned the top seed in the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs. The Haybalers (23-3) received an opening-round bye and play the winner of No. 8 Watsonville (16-11) and No. 9 Piedmont Hills (16-8) on Saturday at a time and location to be determined.

The San Benito High track and field team entered last Friday’s Monterey Bay League Championships with the goal of sweeping the team competition. Even though the Haybalers didn’t achieve their goal—the girls finished first with 140 points and the boys second with 108—they had plenty of reasons to smile afterward.