It is only the first round, but today could be the headline softball game of the North Coast Section playoffs.  That is because there is more at stake than the section playoffs; it is the local Super Bowl.
The game is in Division 2, with Ukiah traveling to Petaluma.  The game is between the North Bay League and Sonoma County League champion.  The two teams were also No. 1 and No. 2 in the final YSN365.com rankings.
Besides having a super season, both teams have something else in common.  They expected to be seeded higher.  Both are higher in the power rankings and Ukiah thought for sure they would have a home game.  It is a common thought, as the North Bay League Champion usually gets a first round home game.
Besides that the two programs don’t have much in common.  It is a common for Petaluma in the North Coast Section playoffs.  Petaluma has won five North Coast Section championships, four of those since 2003.  The last time was in 2011.  In the first round they beat Ukiah 9-2.
The last time Ukiah made the North Coast Section playoffs was 2012.  It has been a lot longer that they won a Section Playoff game, at least since 2000.  The North Bay League championship was the first one they won since 1995.
The two teams go into the game with a combined record of 44-8.  It is by far the best record of any two teams meeting in the first round in either baseball or softball.  It is also the only first round matchup that is between two twenty win teams.
BASEBALL
DIVISION 2
TUESDAY RESULTS
No. 15 Concord 2 No. 2 Cardinal Newman 1
No. 4 Casa Grande 3 No. 13 Campolindo 0
No 9 Arroyo 6 No. 8 Petaluma 5
Baseball is a different animal than different any other sport, because you never know when you will run into a hot pitcher.  It can lead to big upsets bracket wise.  Last year in Division 2, No. 16 beat No. 1.  This year No. 15 beat No. 2.
Last year, the No. 16 over No. 1 was Casa Grande over Campolindo 1-0.  It ended a four year run as NCS champion by Campolindo.
The two teams met again in the first round, this time at Casa Grande, who is the No. 4 seed.  Casa Grande shut them out again, taking a 3-0 win.  Chris Joaquim pitched a four hitter to raise his record to 9-2 and keep his ERA under 1.00.
Casey Longaker took care of the offense with a three run homer in the first.  It was good timing for his first homer of the season.  It added to his team high 31 runs batted in.
Casa Grande is 21-6 on the season.  They will host the winner of today’s Pinole Valley-Maria Carrillo game on Saturday at 1 pm.
The No. 15 over No. 2 wasn’t good news for a local team with Concord defeating Cardinal Newman 2-1.
Concord scored both runs in the first inning.  Wesley Vickers went 5 2/3 to get the win, giving up one earned run. Vickers went into the game with an ERA of 1.12.  Josh Weins came in to get the last four outs for the save.
Cardinal Newman’s season ends 21-6.
As hard of a game as that was for Cardinal Newman, Petaluma had a tougher loss.  Arroyo scored four in the sixth to steal a 6-5 win. The Co-SCL champions end at 18-9.
WEDNESDAY
No. 12 Pinole Valley (15-11-1) at No. 5 Maria Carrillo (18-7)
No. 11 Ukiah (14-11) at No. 6 Alameda (19-7)
DIVISION 3
TUESDAY RESULTS
No. 11 Eureka 6 at No. 6 Sonoma Valley 5 (16-10)
No. 8 Albany 2 No. 9 Analy 1 (13-13)
WEDNESDAY
No. 13 Piner (13-12) at No. 4 Tamalpais (16-9)…4 pm
DIVISION 4
TUESDAY RESULTS
No. 3 Salesian 12 No. 14 Willits 6 (11-9)
WEDNESDAY
No. 10 Cloverdale (15-9) at No. 7 El Molino (14-10)…4 pm
No. 15 Kelseyville (11-13) at No. 2 Justin-Siena (13-10)…4 pm
DIVISION 5
TUESDAY RESULTS
No. 1 Clear Lake 11 No. 16 Bay School of SF 1
Clear Lake goes to 25-0 and will host the winner of today’s Marin Academy-Stuart Hall game Saturday at 1 pm.
WEDNESDAY
No. 11 Bentley Upper (12-12) at St. Vincent (20-4)….4 pm
No. 10 Sonoma Academy (16-4) at No. 7 South Fork (17-8)…4 pm
DIVISION 6
TUESDAY RESULTS
No. 1 Rincon Valley Christian 4 No. 9 San Francisco Waldorf 1
WEDNESDAY
No. 5 Archbishop Hanna (10-7) at No. 4 Tomales (10-8)…4 pm
No. 7 Anderson Valley (7-6) at No. 2 St. Bernard Catholic (12-12)…4 pm
No. 6 Ferndale (10-12) at No. 3 Point Arena (10-6)…4 pm
Rincon Valley Christian (18-4)will meet the winner of today’s Archbishop Hanna-Tomales game Saturday at 1 pm.
SOFTBALL
DIVISION 2
TUESDAY RESULTS
No. 10 Rancho Cotate 12 at No. 7 Pinole Valley 6
Rancho Cotate went on the road and remembered their bats, blasting four homers. Brittney Scardina, who also pitched a complete game, had one of the homers.  It was a two run shot in the third which gave Rancho Cotate a 6-0 lead.
Rancho Cotate is 21-6 on the season and will meet the winner of today’s John F. Kennedy-Alhambra game.
WEDNESDAY
No. 9 Ukiah (21-5) at No. 8 Petaluma (23-3)…4 pm
No. 12 Montgomery (14-11) at No. 5 Carondelet (12-12)…5 pm
DIVISION 3
TUESDAY RESULTS
No. 5 Analy 5 No. 12 Eureka 0
No. 6 Tamalpais 11 No. 11 Piner 1(9-16)
Saja Spearman-Weaver pitched a complete game five hit shutout to lead Analy.
Analy is 16-11 and will meet the winner of today’s El Cerrito-Albany game.
WEDNESDAY
No. 9 Sonoma Valley (15-10) at No. 8 Encinal (12-10-1)….4 pm
DIVISION 4
WEDNESDAY
No. 13 Healdsburg (6-13) at No. 4 Cloverdale (19-4)…4 pm
No. 10 Justin Siena (10-13) at No. 7 Cardinal Newman (11-8)…4 pm
No. 9 St. Mary’s (Berkeley) at No. 8 Lower Lake (18-6)…4 pm
No. 11 Middletown (11-11) at No. 6 Moreau Catolic (13-10)…7 pm
DIVISION 5
No. 1 Clear Lake (17-6) BYE
TUESDAY RESULTS
No. 4 Calistoga 11 No. 13 Oakland Military Institute 0
No. 5 St. Vincent 6 No. 12 College Prep 2
No. 6 Ferndale 11 No. 11 Upper Lake 0 (13-7)
This sets up the fourth St. Vincent-Calistoga game of the season. Calistoga has won two of three, including a 6-4 win last Friday in a NCL II first place tie-breaker. That is the reason this game is in Calistoga.
DIVISION 6 (THREE TEAMS)
TUESDAY RESULT
No. 2 Rincon Valley Christian 4 No. 3 Potter Valley 3
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
SATURDAY
No. 2 Rincon Valley Christian (9-11) at No. 1 Laytonville (12-9) BYE
My email address is jacpasquini@comcast.net