SOLEDAD — After breaking a two-game losing streak against Salinas, the Soledad High baseball team took a break from the Gabilan Division to face the Stevenson Pirates in a non-league game last week.
Entering the week, the Aztecs have built a resume that would consider them the second-best team in the Pacific Coast Athletic League, just behind the Hollister Haybalers. The excellent news for the Aztecs is they will get a chance to earn the right to knock off the Haybalers, but first, they had a tune-up game against Stevenson.
Last season the Aztecs played the Pirates twice, once on the road and once at home. During their two-game series, the Aztecs were able to split the series.
Coming into this game, the Pirates were 7-2 overall and 6-1 in the Mission Division. Just like the Aztecs, the Pirates have a big series coming with the Monte Vista Christian Mustangs, which will determine first place in the Mission Division.
In their only match-up of the season, the Aztec bats came through to give them an 8-1 win over Stevenson.
Soledad’s Christian Camacho was able to go deep as he hit his first home run of the season. All-league first batsman Jeremie Banuelos was able to get his 12th RBI on the season when he drove in two runs.
With the win, Soledad moves to 11-4 overall.
The Aztecs will now get some rest with a couple of days off — and they’re going to need it. They will be entering their hardest part of their schedule. Over the next week, they will have to play Hollister twice and Palma twice.
If Soledad can get through this next stretch on the positive end, they can make a case for the best team in the PCAL.
