Gilroy couldn’t catch a break and San Benito seemed to catch
everything in Saturday afternoon’s Division I softball title game
at PAL Stadium in San Jose.
As a result, the Lady ‘Balers won 8-3, giving the club a perfect
3-0 record against the Mustangs this season, as well as their third
Central Coast Section Division I championship in as many years.
Gilroy couldn’t catch a break and San Benito seemed to catch everything in Saturday afternoon’s Division I softball title game at PAL Stadium in San Jose.
As a result, the Lady ‘Balers won 8-3, giving the club a perfect 3-0 record against the Mustangs this season, as well as their third Central Coast Section Division I championship in as many years.
“I think this [championship] is probably one of the sweeter ones,” San Benito coach Scott Smith said. “This one we were almost dealing with complacency, but I think I misconstrued that (earlier in the season) because it was a calmness.”
A level head at the plate and in the field by the Lady ‘Balers kept Gilroy from ever being able to seriously chip away at six runs scored in the first two innings.
After hitting a batter and walking two, both on full counts, in the bottom of the first, the pitching hand of Gilroy’s Melinda Ortiz was struck by a Lizzy Gatto line drive that resulted in a run. Another full-count walk and hit batter, followed by a fielder’s choice play at home that didn’t result in an out, put Gilroy in a 4-0 hole by the end of the first frame.
After walking the first two batters of the second inning, Ortiz was forced to exit the game as the swelling on her pitching hand worsened. Tossing three straight complete-game shutouts entering the contest, it was an anti-climactic ending for Ortiz, one of 10 Gilroy seniors and the ace of Gilroy’s pitching staff.
Freshman Sarah Lira stepped in to pitch for the Mustangs, allowing the two runners already aboard in the second to score on a double by Gatto, as well as two more runs in the fifth.
While the Mustangs’ struggles on defense created the deficit, their bats didn’t do much to help them out. San Benito pitcher Marisa Ibarra and the Lady ‘Balers defense forced Gilroy into going three-and-out in each of the first three innings.
“The girls … were making hits but they got robbed a few times,” Mustangs coach Catherine Hallada said. “But that’s good defense on [San Benito’s] part.”
Phenomenal catches by Lady ‘Balers outfielders Bre Fata, who made a diving snag on a Lira line drive to deny a run in the fourth, and Rachel Maheu, who robbed a home run shot from Emily Castro at the wall in the fifth, prevented the Mustangs from ever taking a hold of momentum. Castro’s at-bat scored Gilroy’s first run of the game, plating Brittany Balanesi who was tagging up after a triple, but the play was a moral victory for San Benito as the damage was limited.
“It might have started a rally,” Lira said of her hard-hit ball, which would have scored Jasmine Perez and perhaps been good enough for an inside-the-park home run. “I have to admit, it was a really good catch.”
Smith wasn’t about to downplay the importance of both grabs.
“It seemed like we got all the breaks today,” he said. “We had two or three plays that could have gone the other way.”
Gilroy attempted a final rally in the seventh when Castro hit a laser down the line, but the ball deflected off Gatto, who was playing third base, directly to shortstop Elena Fata. Balanesi, on second after hitting an RBI double, took just a few steps from the bag after the hit, but the bounce immediately placed her in a pickle. With two outs already recorded, Gilroy scored the game’s last run when Angelica Galindo doubled to plate Castro.
The final push couldn’t be sustained, however, as Ibarra recorded her fourth strikeout of the game to give San Benito the first three-peat in CCS Division I history, while denying Gilroy its first CCS title since 1999.
The Lady ‘Balers finish the season 28-4, while Gilroy closes out the year 22-9.
GHS 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 – 5 3 1
SB 4 2 0 0 2 0 x – 6 8 0
