Enochs, Gregori control fates for MMC’s No. 2 seed; Downey looms

The race for the No. 1 seed in the Modesto Metro Conference is all but sewn up.

Defending champion Beyer, which shared the league title with Gregori last season, has five cracks to get the two wins needed to lock up the league’s No. 1 playoff berth for a second consecutive season.

Put the sparkling cider on ice, fellas.

The more interesting race in the MMC is for the second and third playoff spots with Gregori, Enochs, Downey and Modesto still alive. Enochs and Gregori each control their fate: Win out and clinch the No. 2 seed with a shot at No. 1 should Beyer collapse.

Enochs, which has the league bye during the final week, beat Gregori 5-1 on Monday and can grab the tiebreaker advantage with a split of its final two games against Gregori – on Wednesday at Enochs and Friday at Gregori.

“We definitely can’t complain with where we’re at, especially after getting a big win on Monday against Gregori, which happens to be the team we’re chasing,” said Eagles coach Chris Butterfield, whose team technically has a half-game lead over the Jaguars. “Our team has had its challenges this year as to which team shows up; we’ve lost some we should’ve won, and that’s what makes this the greatest game in the world. On any given day, any team can beat another. So we’ve still got some work to do.”

Enochs (11-5), a game behind Gregori (9-4) in the all-important MMC loss column, can clinch the No. 2 seed by beating the Jaguars on Wednesday and Friday.

Conversely, if Gregori sweeps this week, it would gain the tiebreaker advantage and could even be swept by Downey next week with no fear of finishing below Enochs since both teams would conclude the season 11-7.

“We understand what’s ahead of us,” Gregori coach Jim Davis said. “We’re aware that we control destiny for the No. 2 seed as long as we win one of the remaining two with Enochs. Our kids are not content. They want the highest playoff seed possible.

“We don’t want to get to a point where we’re relying on other teams. And we don’t want to limp into the playoffs. (Wednesday) is going to be a pretty big deal.”

That brings us to Downey (7-6), which started league play 0-5 but is still in the hunt for that No. 2 playoff seed.

Downey doesn’t control its fate in regard to the No. 2 seed – it needs specific scenarios to play out in the Enochs-Gregori series – but does control its path to the No. 3 seed. There’s even a scenario that would allow the Knights to drop a game to last-place Davis this week and still get the No. 2 spot.

Modesto (6-7) still can secure a playoff spot but needs to finish the season on a 5-0 run, which would mean beating Beyer (12-1) twice in a row; that’s a tall order for the Panthers, considering the Patriots haven’t lost consecutive games all season.

Modesto holds the tiebreaker over Downey, which has the edge on Enochs. The Eagles and Jaguars, meanwhile, both have the advantage on the Panthers.

“It’s definitely making for an exciting finish in the MMC, that’s for sure,” Butterfield said.

This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 2:14 PM with the headline "Enochs, Gregori control fates for MMC’s No. 2 seed; Downey looms."