SALINAS VALLEY — Now that the weather has cleared up, South Monterey County’s high school baseball teams bounced back this past week with multiple wins.
Greenfield Bruins
Entering the week, the Greenfield Bruins have an 11-4 record and are 7-0 in league play.
With the Bruins controlling the Cypress Division, they stepped out of league play and matched up with the King City Mustangs for a non-league game.
Once again, the Bruins pitching staff came up big. Greenfield pitchers Eric Hernandez and Josh Cante combined only gave up two runs on their 10-2 win over the Mustangs. Leading the way offensively was top hitter Malcolm Bautista, who had three hits.
The Bruins will be in action against North Monterey County next Wednesday.
King City Mustangs
King City Mustangs started last week off with two straight losses, but they were able to come back and get a win to end the week.
To start the week, the Mustangs dropped two games to North Monterey County and the Greenfield Bruins. To end the week, they had a game against the Everett Alvarez Eagles, who they had lost to earlier in the season.
King City pitcher Brycee Blair was able to hold the Eagles to only two runs. The Mustangs offense, led by Mason Hill and Jjey Martinez, was able to get three runs and win 3-2.
The Mustangs hosted North Salinas in a league game on Monday, ultimately beating the Vikings by 10-5.
Gonzales Spartans
After dropping their last two games to the Greenfield Bruins, the Gonzales Spartans bounced back with two wins over the Marina Mariners.
In game one, Gonzales pitcher Jay Ybarra threw 6.2 scoreless innings in their 8-3 win over Marina. Leading the way offensively were Sebastian Sanchez and Isaiah Mottu, who each had two RBI hits.
In game two, the Spartans won again 5-1. Gonzales pitcher Josh Chavez had 16 strikeouts in their sweep of the Mariners.
The Spartans will next play Pajaro Valley on this coming Tuesday.
Soledad Aztecs
After six straight wins in the Gabilan Division, the Soledad Aztecs dropped their last two games.
During the Aztecs’ winning streak, their pitching was really good, holding their opponents to less than two runs in seven of the eight games.
After beating the St. Francis Sharks 4-1 in game one of their two-game series, the Sharks were able to break the Aztecs’ winning streak, beating them 11-5 in game two.
After splitting the series, Soledad had another two-game set with the Salinas High Cowboys. In game one, the Aztecs lost 9-1 on the road.
With the Aztecs needing a win, they were tied 5-5 in game two in the final inning. With a runner in scoring position, Soledad all-league first baseman Jeremie Banuelos was able to get the walk-off hit to give them the 6-5 win.
The Aztecs move to 10-4 overall and 6-4 in the Gabilan Division. On Tuesday, they competed in a non-league game against the Stevenson Pirates in Soledad.
