The San Benito Lady Balers kept their perfect record in tact and picked up some hardware for the effort as they edged Leigh 3-2 on Saturday, then topped Presentation 5-1 to earn first place at the Annie Lynch Memorial Circle of Champions at the Salinas Sports Complex.
San Benito finished the two-weekend tourney with a 4-0 record, and outscored Live Oak, Piedmont Hills, Leigh and Presentation by a 28-3 margin.
"We're getting a lot of production from a lot of different people," San Benito manager Scott Smith said. "We've got some kids that are playing really fearless."
That statement holds especially true for Saturday's semifinal matchup against Leigh - a walk-off win for the Lady Balers that propelled them to the championship round.
After the San Jose school grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning - a solo homer off of San Benito pitcher Danielle Acosta - the Lady Balers took the lead in the fourth inning when Marissa Adame connected on a 2-RBI triple, scoring both Samantha Puentes and Jessica Vest in the process.
Leigh managed to tie the game at 2-all in the fifth, however. But in the bottom of the seventh, Adame and Vest both singled on and were then bunted over into scoring position. Brittany Hoff then battled Leigh's hurler for an eight-pitch at-bat, finally connecting an a walk-off single up the middle to win the game, 3-2.
Reliever Paige Miguel earned the win for San Benito after throwing two shutout innings in the sixth and seventh frames.
Miguel earned the win in the championship final against Presentation, too - the game held later in the day on Saturday. The San Benito junior allowed just two hits and one run - the lone score by Presentation coming in the seventh inning.
At that point, though, the Lady Balers already held a five-run lead. Base-running mistakes in the first two innings prevented San Benito from finding the scoreboard early on, however, but the Lady Balers plated two in the third after Brittany Sparrer led off with a triple.
"Our freshmen are really picking it up," Smith said.
Sierra Puentes then delivered an infield single, while both Samantha Puentes and Vest connected on back-to-back RBI singles to give San Benito a 2-0 lead.
In the fifth, both Puentes sisters reached base when Adame hit a 2-RBI double, while Jessica Steigelman trailed with an RBI of her own to plate Adame and give the Lady Balers a 5-0 lead.
San Benito's league rivals, Gilroy and Notre Dame, were also competing in the Circle of Champions, although both failed to advance to the championship bracket. Gilroy lost to Monterey 2-0 during pool play, while Notre Dame fell to Aragon by a 6-2 margin.
Gilroy and Notre Dame did play each other on Saturday, though, with the Spirits earning the win, 2-1.
San Benito, meanwhile, is now 5-0 on the season, and will open up Tri-County Athletic League play on Thursday against visiting North Salinas. First pitch is 4:30 p.m.
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