Here are five things to watch for during this year’s Modesto-area baseball playoffs
For the first time since 2019, there will be high school baseball playoffs in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. After two years off due to COVID-19, a postseason will be a welcomed sight.
Multiple Stanislaus District teams made the playoffs. From league champions to third-place and even some fourth-place league finishers, there wasn’t a shortage of local representation. The Section Champion and runner-up both advance to the NorCal Regional bracket.
Here are five things to look out for as the playoffs unfold:
Can Pitman’s bats stay hot?
All season, MaxPreps recognized Pitman as the Stanislaus District’s best team. The Pride finished eighth in the Sac-Joaquin Section final rankings. They finished with a 20-5-1 overall record and their Central California Athletic League record of 12-3 put them tied for first in the league.
Pitman has scored 10 or more runs in 10 games this season and has doubled its opponents’ run production (222-111). It enters the playoffs riding a four-game win streak after beating CIF Southern Section playoff team St. Monica 11-0 and sweeping Enochs in the final CCAL series.
Over their last four games, the Pride have 37 hits. On the season, the team is batting .334, second in the CCAL behind Downey, and has 233 hits.
A first-round game to watch
One close matchup that could swing either way is the No. 4 vs No. 5 game in Division V. Hilmar will host and has a 10-6 home record. Two of those wins came against Livingston and Hughson. All three teams finished with 9-3 league records, resulting in a tie at the top of the Trans-Valley League.
Ben Holt College Prep Academy has won six road games and two neutral site games, meaning eight of its 13 wins this season have come away from its home field.
Local teams hosting games
No Stanislaus District received a top-three seed in this year’s playoffs, but there will be plenty hosting games Tuesday. Here is a list of local games:
Division I: No. 5 Turlock vs No. 12 Folsom
Division II: No. 4 Pitman vs No. 13 Atwater
Division III: No. 4 Central Catholic vs No. 13 Christian Brothers; No. 7 Oakdale vs No. 10 Ponderosa
Division V: No. 4 Hilmar vs No. 5 Ben Holt College Prep Academy
Division VII: No. 2 Turlock Christian vs No. 7 Foresthill
All games will begin at 4 p.m.
How will Ripon Christian bounce back?
Ripon Christian was rolling through the middle of the season. The Knights won 13 straight games heading into the Windemuth Spring Break Tournament at Modesto High, where they hit a rough patch.
“You need to be able to learn from this because the only way our guys were ever going to learn is by failure, by the time we see failure, it may be too late.” Knights coach John de Visser said when speaking on their playoff hopes after a loss to Linden.
They went 1-2-1 on the week and were met with series against two of the Southern Athletic League’s other playoff teams, Orestimba and Mariposa County. The Knights dropped both series, which dropped them from the top team in the SL to third and gave them a five seed in the Division VII playoffs. They picked up a 5-4, eight-inning win over Weston Ranch, giving them a 1-4 record in their final five games.
They will look to start fresh in Roseville against the Sacramento Metropolitan Athletic League’s second-best team, Valley Christian.
How far can Central Catholic take it?
As of late, the Raiders are rolling. They enter the playoffs on a five-game winning streak and have gone 6-0-1 in their last seven games. The 2019 Division IV runner-up finished first in its league with an 11-1 record. The Raiders compete in the Valley Oak League and played two-game series against Division III seven seed Oakdale and Division IV seven seed East Union and eight seed Sierra. In the eight league games they played against playoff teams, the Raiders went 7-1.
One of the keys to Central Catholic extending its season through the postseason will be sophomore pitcher Adrian Garcia. The Raiders ace struck out a season-high 14 batters in a 2-1 win over Sierra and followed that with a no-hitter in a 6-1 win over East Union.
They’re young, but play beyond their years. Head coach Danny Ayala consistently starts five sophomores and occasionally throws a freshman in his starting lineup as well.
“We’re very young, so, all these months we’ve been working hard and playing good baseball,” Ayala said earlier this season. “We’re really starting to come together and understand what type of game we’re trying to play.”
Full playoff brackets are posted on the section’s website.
