Sports

It may be a cold winter, but two red-clad Hollister girls teams are red-hot. The basketball and soccer squads have concluded stellar regular seasons and launched themselves into the Central Coast Section playoffs.  Coach Becky Bonner’s soccer team closed off the league season with a...

It's official: the 2019 high school spring sports season is over. Last Friday, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) decided to cancel section, regional and state championship events, putting an end to any glimmer of hope coaches, athletes and fans had that the playoffs could...

At least once every couple of weeks, someone on campus asks Andrew Barragan why the San Benito High softball team hasn't won a Central Coast Section playoff championship since 2016. When you're the coach of a tradition-rich program that has won 10 section titles—including...

After opening the season with a 15-0 loss to North Monterey County, the Anzar High boys soccer team had nowhere to go but up. And that’s exactly what the Hawks have done. Anzar entered the week with a 6-1-1 record in the Mission Trail...

Skylar Seyffert had just started responding to a question from a reporter when one of her teammates came up to her to say a couple of poignant words. The two embraced in a hug as tears welled in their eyes. That picture captured the...

Hollister went on an amazing playoff run and captured the school’s first-ever boys soccer Central Coast Section championship.  The Balers won the Division II title and did so as No. 8 seed, upending host and No. 1 seed Westmont 3-2 in overtime and outplaying lauded...

Ale Alvares-Funes streaked down the left seam, received a perfect pass and utilized his speed to get past his defender. The San Benito High left wing player deftly avoided a hard-charging Valley Christian goalkeeper inside the penalty area.  With no one between him and the...

San Benito High senior Savannah Sepulveda was a newcomer to the sport of wrestling two years ago when she faced Monterey High's Lima Sadozai. Safe to say, things did not go well for Sepulveda, who is currently ranked No. 1 in the Central Coast...

In this occasional “Where Are They Now Series,” the Free Lance catches up with standouts and prominent figures from yesteryear Even though Dave Clapham is retired and enjoying life in Reno, the former longtime Haybalers’ football assistant coach still has connections to Hollister and the...

The San Benito and Gilroy softball teams both finished with seven hits apiece in their May 11 contest. The difference was the Haybalers committed just one error, while the Mustangs had five that led to five unearned runs.  Near flawless defense and another strong pitching...