Palma-San Benito baseball

Central Coast Section Open Division
Saturday's game
No. 2 Palma (20-5) vs. No. 7 San Benito (17-7) at Hartnell College, 11 a.m.
 Momentum is clearly on the side of the Chieftains, who have rattled off 10 straight wins, including a pair over San Benito, beating them 4-2 on May 10.
 Still, beating a team that has been a thorn in your side for a decade three times over a span of 35 days is a tall order.
 What Palma has relied on all season is pitching and timely hitting with just two seniors in the starting lineup -- one of which will miss Saturday's game.
 The Chieftains, who rallied for four runs in the fifth to beat Mitty 4-1 on Wednesday, have the option of throwing Michael Gutierrez or sophomore Sam Stoutenborough.
 Both have been filthy on the mound this year for the Gabilan Division champions. Tanner Okamura was clutch at the plate against Mitty with a two-run double.
 San Benito, who beat Los Gatos  4-2 in the first round, went 13-2 down the stretch in the Gabilan Division, with both losses coming from Palma.
 The Balers did beat Palma 2-1 in the teams first meeting.