Hollister High baseball team advances to CCS semis

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Behind top hurler Trent Roach, Hollister’s baseball team shut out Sacred Heart Cathedral 3-0 to advance to the semifinals of the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs. 

Roach tossed six innings, struck out 11 batters, walked one, and allowed two hits. Reliever Evan Mendoza completed the shut-out victory with two strikeouts and a groundout in the last frame.

“Obviously, with [Roach] on the mound we always feel we have a chance to win,” Balers Coach Michael Luna said. 

According to Luna, Roach has pitched 54 innings this season in which he has not allowed an earned run.

Roach said he had command of his fastball and curveball, and added in the change-up to mix his pitches. 

The day before the game, Luna said he expected a pitchers’ duel and that it’d come down to the Balers finding hits with runners in scoring position. It turned out the Balers didn’t need a hit to score their first two runs in the second inning.

The Balers’ first two batters reached base on an error and a hit by pitch. After first baseman Wes Aviles struck out, shortstop Braydon Barone worked a walk to load the bases. 

Leftfielder Daniel Martinez brought in the first run with a fielder’s choice, scoring Jake Esparza from third. 

“Martinez did a good job with two strikes putting the ball in play,” Luna said. “As soon as the ball was hit off the bat you knew they weren’t going to turn two. It wasn’t hit hard enough to turn the double play.”

A few pitches later, Martinez got picked off first base but as he raced back to avoid a tag, left fielder Jordy Quezada broke toward home and his headfirst slide beat the throw. 

“We tried to bait the catcher into throwing, which he did, which allowed Jordy to score from third base,” Luna said. “But we work on that, we talk about that.”

Hollister added to its lead in the fourth inning on back-to-back doubles from Quezada and Aviles.

Like the Balers, the Irish looked to take advantage of timely hitting.

In the second inning, Sacred Heart threatened with runners on first and second with one out. However, Roach responded by inducing a fly ball to center field and a strikeout to end the inning. 

In the third inning the Irish were in an even better situation with runners on first and third and no outs. This time it was the Balers’ defense that helped keep Sacred Heart from scoring. Catcher Gavin Rodriguez threw out infielder Tedford Lewis trying to steal second base, and Roach finished the threat by striking out the next two batters. 

“For a moment there I did get a little upset,” Roach said. “Just stuck with trusting my defense and stuck with trusting my pitches.”

Hollister is riding a six-game winning streak and has shut out its last three opponents. 

“We’re a hot team,” Roach said. “We’re a scary team for sure. I think we keep trusting our defense and keep sticking to our approach.”

Hollister will face Menlo-Atherton High at Sollecito Park in Monterey on May 28 at 4 p.m.

BenitoLink thanks our underwriter, Hollister Rotary, for helping expand the sports coverage around San Benito County. Rotary is a nonprofit organization that conducts humanitarian projects, encourages high ethical standards, and works toward world understanding. All editorial decisions are made by BenitoLink.