SOFTBALL: Gilroy Falls to Rival San Benito

San Benito 4, Gilroy 2

The Star: The star of the game for Gilroy was senior second baseman Dani Hemeon. A three sport star at Gilroy, Hemeon also plays basketball and field hockey, the second bagger started off the game by recorded the first out. She saved some of her best work for crunch time. Hemeon made two spectacular over-the-head catches in the late innings that helped her team keep the game close. The senior captain also went one-for-three at the plate.

The Turning Point: In the top of the fourth inning with two runners on base, San Benito’s Brittani Newman lined a base hit into the outfield. The ball was fielded by Gilroy and thrown to senior catcher Melanie Morelos. An errand throw on a play at third sailed over the head of sophomore third baseman Celeste Mendoza as San Benito’s senior out-fielder Ali Ocampo was rounding third base heading for home.  The throw back to Morelos was not in time as Ocampo slid under the tag to score the first run of the game.  San Benito struck first and eventually won the game, 4-2.

The Quote: “The girls were excited about playing this game this morning.” Julie Berggren head coach of the Mustangs said.  "Our defense lets us down a little bit and they hit the ball hard.” They (San Benito) are a best team we will face in league.” “For the most part we made plays in the field but we had little mistakes that put their runs across the board. 

Gilroy’s Captain second baseman senior Dani Hemeon is already ready for the rematch.”  “We’ll get them next time”.

San Benito’s longtime head coach Scott Smith was happy to get the win on a hot Thursday afternoon at Gilroy High.

“Gilroy has very tough teams every year,” Smith said.  “You get excited to play games like this. We knew it was going to be a tremendous battle. Gilroy is very intimidating at the plate and we made some mistake against their better hitters and if it happens again they will light us up.”

What's Next? The Mustangs travel to Salinas and will play Stevenson High  on Saturday in the Steinbeck Classic hosted by Notre Dame High School at the Salinas Sport Complex. Game time is TBA

Bottom Line:  Defense let the Mustangs down on this day, but they must shake this game from their memories as the season is still young.  They are very talented and they will be facing the Balers one more time this season.

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San Benito    0          0          0          1          0          1          2- 4

Gilroy              0          0          0          0          0          1          1- 2

Winning Pitcher: Paige Miguel (San Benito)

Losing Pitcher: Sarah Lorraine Lira  (Gilroy)

RBIs Melanie Morelos (Gilroy) and Holly Lam (Gilroy)

Casey Lester 1-for-3

Melanie Morelos 1-for-3

Sarah Lorraine Lira 1-for-3

Dani Hemeon  1-for 3