We are winding down the school year and for the high school world, the NBL and SCL baseball leagues are having their post season tournaments. That leads to Sunday when the seeding for the NCS playoffs is picked.
Here is a look at what the local baseball and softball teams are staring at.
BASEBALL
DIVISION 2
Casa Grande is and has been the No. 1 ranked team in the Division all season. Campolindo has made a statement with a ten game winning streak and have moved up to No. 2. Casa Grande has a head to head win over Campolindo, so that makes a case for a No. 1 seed for Casa Grande even stronger.
Maria Carrillo looks like a shoe in for a first round home game and are right on the bubble for a second round home game.
How Cardinal Newman and Rancho Cotate do in the NBL tournament, could decide which one of them will get a home game in the first round.
Montgomery looks good for a double digit seed. They will have to sit around nearly two weeks before hitting the road in a first round game. There is an outside chance that they could match up with Maria Carrillo in Round One.
Petaluma is a bubble team, so at least one win in the SCL post season tournament wouldn’t hurt its cause.
DIVISION 3
SCL champion Analy gets hurt by the head to head thing. They are No. 2 in one of the power rankings and No. 3 in another. The team in question is Drake, who defeated Analy earlier this season as did No. 1 Acalanes.
Sonoma Valley, despite a .500 record in SCL play, looks good for a home game in the first round.
Piner gets hurt by strength of schedule in the Computer rankings and will have to travel in Round One.
The computer rankings will be more important than how they did in league play.
DIVISION 4
St. Helena is the highest ranked local team in the power rankings.
Three other NCL I teams, Kelseyville, Clear Lake and Fort Bragg, look like they are in. Kelseyville may get a home game.
El Molino is unofficially eligible. According to one source they are 5-4 against Division 4 teams.
DIVISION 5
St. Vincent will get at least one home game and maybe two.
Sonoma Academy should also get in but will be traveling.
Eight teams is the maximum in this bracket
DIVISION 6
Tomales and defending champion Point Arena are 1-2 in the power rankings. Archbishop Hanna and Anderson Valley are also eligible.
SOFTBALL
DIVISION 1
Santa Rosa is the only area team in Division 1. They are on the bubble for a home game.
DIVISION 2
Petaluma is No. 2 in the power rankings and beat No. 1, so you would think they would be No. 1.
Maria Carrillo is next at No. 3. Rancho Cotate and Casa Grande look like they will be on the road.
DIVISION 3
Analy is at Sonoma Valley on Tuesday to wrap up the regular season. The winner will probably be the highest seed in the playoffs. Both should get home games.
DIVISION 4
This is the NCL I World plus Cardinal Newman, who should get a home game.
Cloverdale might be a No. 2, with Clear Lake at No. 4.
Lower Lake might get a home game.
DIVISION 5
St. Vincent, who is the defending champion, hopes to get a home game. Calistoga will have to go on the road.
DIVISION 6
Tomales only team from area that will be in this bracket.
Will this be the year? In baseball no local team has won an NCS championship since the East Bay was combined in the bracket in 2009. Softball has had better success with Petaluma, Cloverdale and St. Vincent each taking one in the last three years.
TAKING ADVANTAGE
This was the first year of realignment and there is no doubt who the big winner was. Yes, Piner did have its best all-around sports season in some time but it didn’t match what Analy did.
Analy not only won the SCL championship in football, basketball and baseball…they went undefeated in all three. They went a combined 30-0.
In the final YSN rankings they were No. 2 in football, No. 3 in basketball and in baseball, well, see below.
The basketball team wasn’t a surprise, but the football team finished over .500 in league for the first time since 2005 and the baseball team the first time since 2009.
A big help in all three of those championships was Darin Newman. He was All-League as a quarterback, honor mention as a guard for the basketball team and will probably be a first team All-League in baseball.
Not a bad year.
PLAYOFF HAVEN
Here is the schedule for a week full of playoffs.
WEDNESDAY
NBL POST SEASON TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Both games at 4 pm)
Rancho Cotate at Casa Grande
Cardinal Newman at Maria Carrillo
SCL POST SEASON FIRST ROUND (7 pm)
Sonoma Valley vs. Analy at Arnold Field in Sonoma
THURSDAY
COLLEGE DIVISION 2 BASEBALL PLAYOFFS (2 PM)
Sonoma State vs. Cal State Los Angeles at St. George, Utah
First game of double elimination Tournament. Tournament goes through Sunday.
SCL BASEBALL POST SEASON FIRST ROUND (7 pm)
Piner vs. Petaluma at Arnold Field in Sonoma
FRIDAY
STATE FINAL FOUR (Noon)
SRJC vs. Cypress at Fresno City College
First game of double elimination tournament.
Tournament goes through Sunday.
NBL POST SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP AT SRJC—4 PM
SCL POST SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP AT ARNOLD FIELD IN SONOMA—7 pm
ALUMNI GAME
Rancho Cotate is having its annual alumni game this Saturday. They would like RSVP by Wednesday.
They will have pregame batting practice which starts at 9:30, Game Time is 11:30 and a barbeque will be at 2 pm.
To RSVP email ranchobaseball@live.com
YSN365.COM RANKINGS
With the playoffs coming up these are the last rankings of the season
BASEBALL
No. 1 Casa Grande…Last week I wrote that both No. 1’s could lose and they would still stay on top. Casa Grande did take a loss, but the whole picture, they are No. 1. Check this out. They gave up 43 runs in 24 games. Do the math.
No. 2 Analy…The Tigers outscored SCL opponent 108-15. Petaluma gave them the biggest battle losing by scores of 5-2 and 3-0. The 3-0 game was the last regular season game and was the Tiger’s 20th win of the season.
No. 3 Maria Carrillo…Finished regular season with a six game winning streak to take second place in the NBL race. Three of the four league losses were by one run. Two of its three non-league loses were by one run.
No.4 Cardinal Newman…Gets a fourth shot at Maria Carrillo in the NBL Post Season Touranment. Two of the three losses to Maria Carrillo were by one run. It shows you how balanced the NBL was, except for No. 1. Come to think about it, they had their share of one run games too.
No. 5 Petaluma…Take away the Analy games and they finish the season with a five game winning streak. After a 1-7 start they were actually over .500 before losing the finale to Analy.
SOFTBALL
The Softball World doesn’t have post season tournaments and still have a regular season game to play before the NCS playoffs.
No. 1 Petaluma…Wrapped up SCL with win over Analy who lost two league games, both to Petaluma, by a combined 22-2. It is the fourth year in a row they have had a twenty win season.
No. 2 Maria Carrillo…Eleven game winning streak going into finale at Cardinal Newman. The difference between No. 1 and No. 2 you ask? April 6th…Petaluma 3 Maria Carrillo 1
No. 3 St. Vincent…They won fourteen of sixteen, which gave them NCL II championship. The last win was over Rancho Cotate. Apologizes for not noticing before now. They aren’t very noticeable in the power rankings either.
No. 4 Cloverdale…Surprising loss, maybe the upset of the season, but still NCL I champion.
No. 5 Rancho Cotate…Tough finish but a win at Windsor will give them second place in a very balance NBL. Balanced that is except for the league champion.
My email address is jacpasquini@comcast.net