Baseball playoff notes: Talented Central Catholic, Turlock headline local qualifiers
Central Catholic spent most of the 2026 campaign as a top-two team in the section and the No. 1 team in the D-IV bracket. In the final days of the regular season, though, Roseville jumped the Raiders, earning the division’s top seed and the No. 2 spot in the section behind St. Mary’s. The Stockton school is the section’s overall top seed and No. 1 in Division I.
Central Catholic is the Valley Oak League champion after posting a 15-3 league record and a 20-6 record overall.
The Raiders have the motivation to get back to the title game.
Last season, a Raiders team with a number of juniors at key positions reached the D-III championship against Yuba City and looked like it would bring home a blue banner. When pitcher Kayden McHenry hit his pitch count in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Raiders held a 6-1 lead. By the end of the extra-innings marathon, Yuba City took an 8-7 walk-off win and a section title.
At least eight players from last year’s section title game are back, including Broden Thomas, Fresno State football signee Chase Perino, who has already played hero for the Raiders this season, and Sacramento State pitching signee Kayden McHenry. Then they added players: Cal Poly outfield signee Max Medina, Cole Medina, Ramon Hinojosa and others round out a team that has not dropped out of the top three in the rankings this season.
The Raiders host No. 15 Los Banos in the first round and, if the seed holds, will have home-field advantage through the first three rounds, including Games 1 and 3 of the semifinals series.
Oakdale also headlines loaded D-IV field
In addition to Central Catholic, Oakdale headlines a loaded field in the Division IV playoffs that includes six teams in the MaxPreps Sac-Joaquin Section top 20 rankings.
Oakdale is No. 6 in the division after a fourth-place league finish (11-7) and an 18-9 overall record. While the Mustangs did not earn one of the automatic entries awarded to the league’s top three finishers, they earned an at-large bid because they were a top 15 team in the MaxPreps D-IV rankings.
Oakdale, led by Georgia signee Landon Schutte, Fresno Pacific signee Griffin Costa and leader Bas Stice in center field, hosts No. 11 Del Campo on Wednesday. With a win, the Mustangs take on the winner of No. 14 Rosemont and No. 3 Placer. The Mustangs are young, starting sophomores and juniors at a number of positions, but could be a sleeper team in the bracket.
Turlock a No. 5 seed with momentum and CCAL’s top arm
Three-time Central California Athletic League champion Turlock enters the postseason with some momentum and one of the top under-the-radar arms in the section.
Junior Mason Hackler has pitched at least six innings in his last eight starts and recorded at least 10 strikeouts in his last five straight games. He has an earned run average of under three in his last eight games and did not give up an earned run in three straight starts entering last Wednesday in Game 2 of the CCAL rivalry series against Pitman. After pitching just over 10 innings as a sophomore, he has thrown 59.2 regular-season innings, has a career-low 1.88 ERA, has 84 strikeouts, good for sixth in the Sac-Joaquin Section, and has an opponent batting average of .160.
The Bulldogs as a team sealed the league title in Monday’s game against the Pride, who finished second in the league standings. They have six straight wins and an impressive 21-6 overall record. Turlock hosts in at least the first round against Edison of Stockton in the Division I bracket. Upon advancing, the Bulldogs will hit the road, unless No. 13 Mountain House upsets No. 4 Granite Bay.
First-round home games
The first round kicks off Wednesday, and of the 17 local teams in the postseason, nine host their playoff opener. Home-field advantage is key in the playoffs. Teams that don’t have to travel are familiar with the field conditions, have the comfort of their own fans in the bleachers and often have the upper hand in win-or-go-home situations.
Here is the list of Wednesday’s Stanislaus District home playoff games.
Division I
No. 9 Lincoln-Stockton at No. 8 Central Valley
No. 12 Edison at No. 5 Turlock
Division III
No. 9 Bear Creek at No. 8 Patterson
Division IV
No. 11 Del Campo at No. 6 Oakdale
No. 15 Los Banos at No. 2 Central Catholic
Division V
No. 9 Casa Roble at No. 8 Escalon
No. 10 Destiny Christian at No. 7 Ripon
Division VII
No. 10 Delta Charter at No. 7 Denair
No. 15 Esparto at No. 2 Turlock Christian
Central Valley is WAC champion and playoff qualifier
Just one year removed from winning a league title for the first time in the baseball program’s history, Central Valley has repeated as the WAC champion. The Hawks went 14-0 against league opponents in 2025 and capped their second straight perfect league season (12-0) with a 2-1 walk-off win under the Modern Woodmen Field (previously John Thurman Field) lights over Davis in the regular season finale. Central Valley has won 20 games for the second straight season and enters the Division I playoffs as winners of seven of its last eight games. The Hawks host Wednesday as the No. 8 seed, welcoming No. 9 Lincoln of Stockton.
Mason Whitworth was named the WAC MVP and hit .435 with 40 hits, 22 RBI and 37 runs scored. Isaac Lopez (0.68), Tyson Hunt (1.08), Noah Maldonado (1.62) and Dominic Delatorre (2.50) lead the team on the mound, boasting sub-3.00 earned run averages with at least 10 pitching appearances each. Delatorre leads the team with 47 strikeouts and Maldonado (43), Hunt (31) and Lopez (20) round out the top four strikeout leaders.
Ripon Christian is No. 1 seed after setting school history
School history doesn’t come around often with the success Ripon Christian has had in the past, but the Knights this season celebrated a first for the baseball program. In finishing 11-1 against Trans-Valley League opponents, the Knights captured their first ever TVL title.
The Knights enter the postseason as the No. 1 seed in Division VI and have a 25-2 overall record with 16 straight wins.
The D-VI bracket is one of two small-school brackets with 15 teams instead of the customary 16/17-team brackets in the 2026 playoffs. The Knights have a first-round bye Wednesday and will play the winner of No. 9 River Islands at No. 8 Mariposa County.
Their 2026 title is the third league championship in four seasons. They won titles with 12-2 records in 2023 and 2024 in the Southern Athletic League, finished 6-6 in their first year in the TVL last season.
This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 2:36 PM.
