High school softball playoffs: Five things to watch
Phase I is the preseason, Phase II is the league portion of the schedule and Phase III is set to begin across the Bay Area after the softball playoff brackets were announced Sunday.
In the North Coast Section, Foothill is a juggernaut after an undefeated regular season and subsequent East Bay Athletic League tournament title.
In the Central Coast Section, St. Francis claimed an outright West Catholic Athletic League title and seeks to repeat as Open Division champion.
Here are five observations in the aftermath of the seeding meetings:
Foothill’s quest for perfection
There was no doubt the Falcons (24-0) would enter the NCS playoffs as the No. 1 seed in Division I. Four wins away from an unbeaten campaign, the path ahead is clear, beginning with Tuesday’s opening-round matchup against No. 16 Mt. Eden (18-2). It’s tough not to envision Foothill advancing to a fifth-straight final, with the toughest obstacle a rematch of last year’s title game against EBAL rival Amador Valley (16-8), which is seeded fourth and already lost twice to the Falcons this month. For Oklahoma commit Nicole May, this is her month to shine. It’s quite possible that the right-hander won’t allow another run the rest of the way, while a deep lineup that features Pitt-bound shortstop Hope Alley and first baseman Ellen Ebbers (Morgan State) is bolstered by juniors Courtney Beaudin (UCLA offer) and Hailey Hayes (Boise State).
Can Heritage play role of spoiler?
The most likely candidate to derail Foothill can be found on the opposite side of the NCS Division I bracket in No. 2 seed Heritage (22-2), which is riding a 14-game win streak. The two teams met in last year’s semifinals and the Falcons, who’ve eliminated the Patriots each of the past three playoffs, prevailed 2-0. They are ranked 1-2 in the latest Bay Area News Group Top 15 and appear on a collision course. Heritage hasn’t lost since April 2, when it stumbled 4-3 to Benicia, the No. 2 seed in NCS Division II bracket. Its path to the title game appears tougher, with No. 7 Carondelet (13-9-1) — last year’s Division II champion — and No. 3 California (18-6) possible stumbling blocks in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. The Patriots will rely on senior ace Delia Scott in the circle, while the lineup features Idaho State-bound outfielder Morgan Hess along with shortstop Xiara Diaz and second baseman Juliana “JuJu” Sargent, who will both head to Cal Poly in the fall.
St. Francis “Open” to idea of repeat
Mike Oakland led St. Francis to back-to-back Open Division baseball titles in 2015-16. Seemingly out of nowhere, he opted to transition to softball in order to spend more time with his three daughters. That same season the cutthroat Open Division made its way into the CCS softball playoffs. Oakland led the Lancers to a runner-up finish in 2017, then claimed the program’s first section title last year. Now his oldest daughter, Jessica, is the freshman shortstop for St. Francis (22-5-1), the outright WCAL champion. The Lancers earned a No. 3 seed in the Open Division and open play Saturday against No. 6 Santa Teresa (21-6). Boise State-bound Jordan Schuring returned to the dugout for the WCAL tournament after an undisclosed absence of nearly six weeks, but sophomore Lauren Baker (17-3, 2.23 ERA) might get the workload in the circle. Either pitcher should get plenty of run support, with third baseman Hannah Damore (UC Santa Barbara) and first baseman Hailey Prahm (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) each belting seven home runs so far.
WCAL lands pair of No. 1 seeds
Presentation finished in a three-way tie for second place in the WCAL standings — two games behind St. Francis. In a rubber match with the Lancers last week, the Panthers (19-4) suffered their worst loss of the season, 7-1. Nevertheless, the overall résumé in a point-based system granted Presentation the top seed in the Open Division. The reward? A quarterfinal against No. 8 Archbishop Mitty (15-7), which also tied for second in the WCAL, is a 15-time CCS champion and advanced to the Open title game the past two years, winning it all in 2017. The Panthers have yet to claim a CCS trophy, going 0-fot-5 in the finals. Meanwhile, Valley Christian (15-10), the other WCAL team in the three-team tie, was left out of the Open and instead finds itself as the No. 1 seed in Division II. The Warriors advanced to a CCS final only four times, most recently in 2011, with their only title coming in 2010.
Which public school has shot in CCS Open
In its brief two-year history, the Open Division has yet to see a public school advance to the championship game. In fact, so far it’s been a pair of showdowns between Mitty and St. Francis. This time around there’s one guaranteed semifinalist, considering No. 4 Mountain View (17-6) takes on No. 5 Carlmont (16-9) in the quarterfinals. It’s a showdown between champions of the SCVAL De Anza and PAL Bay, respectively. On the opposite side of the bracket No. 6 Santa Teresa (21-6) and No. 7 Silver Creek (16-6) finished as BVAL Mt. Hamilton co-champions and each team features a signature win against Presentation, the top seed in the Open. The path appears tougher for the BVAL contenders, with the 4-5 matchup promising at least one public school a shot at the title game.
CCS brackets
NCS brackets
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