Sports

The inaugural season for the San Benito High field hockey team was a rousing success. The Haybalers finished 3-10 overall and 3-6 in Monterey Bay League play. First-year programs at the prep level tend to struggle mightily for obvious reasons, but San Benito won its final two matches against Salinas and York, respectively, both by 1-0 scores.

With 1,000 meters to go in the Northern California Community College Cross-Country Championships at Toro Park in Salinas on Oct. 6, Hartnell College sophomore Rachel Shimabukuro knew this was her defining moment.

The Central Coast Section playoffs start this week in the following fall sports: boys and girls water polo, boys and girls cross country and girls tennis. San Benito High’s volleyball team, which finished the regular season with a 29-6 record and won the Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division championship, earned the No. 2 seed in the Division I bracket and plays host to the winner of No. 7 Palo Alto (23-12)-No. 10 Sequoia-Redwood City (14-15) on Saturday at 7 p.m.

The faraway looks and soggy eyes said it all—this one hurt the deepest. On the cusp of beating rival Palma for the second straight season, the San Benito High football team couldn’t overcome its penalties or mistakes in a gut-wrenching 33-32 loss in overtime at Rabobank Stadium in Salinas.

The San Benito High girls volleyball team could use a day off. A three-game sweep over Christopher on Nov. 3 wrapped up a brutal four-day stretch in which the team played six matches, including five in one day at the Milpitas Spikefest II tournament on Oct. 31.

Cassidy Aalgaard and Shelby Littleton are the last line of defense for the San Benito High field hockey team. Littleton, a senior sweeper, and Aalgaard, a junior goalie, are two of the many reasons why the Haybalers (2-10 overall, 2-6 league) have been competitive for a first-year program.

Angel Jimenez took the handoff before colliding with a couple of Pinewood players three to four yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Inevitably, the Anzar High tailback dragged along defenders for several more yards as his legs kept on churning like pistons.

A year ago, Elijah Changco finished fourth overall in the Monterey Bay League Cross-Country Championships at Toro Park in Salinas. Elli Kliewer wasn’t even on the course—she was playing volleyball. On Saturday, the two were crowned MBL champions for the first time in their careers.

One play encapsulated the Anzar High football team’s 60-42 loss to visiting Pinewood on Friday in an 8-man Mission Trail League game. Having just cut its deficit to 38-34 with 4 minutes, 4 seconds left in the third quarter, the Hawks (3-5 overall, 1-4 in league) looked like they were going to get the ball back with Pinewood facing a fourth-and-25 from its own 18-yard line.

No less than five minutes had passed when the talk of the Palma football team entered the conversation. San Benito High was in its postgame huddle, having just put the finishing touches on a 50-7 win over Christopher on Oct. 23.