Acorns, Bulldogs finish in four-way tie for third place
MORGAN HILL — Not being a part of last year’s playoffs was about as odd for Live Oak manager Mark Cummins as it was for Central Coast Section baseball.
Rather than lead his Acorns onto the field in late May, as he had done the past 17 consecutive seasons, Cummins had to watch the CCS tournaments play out as a fan.
It was not the Division III title defense he envisioned.
“I did miss it last year. We felt left out,” Cummins said Monday. “It was a lot different feeling than the year before.”
If there is anything positive to take from it, 2009 has made the latest playoff berth feel that much sweeter for Live Oak.
The Acorns made the cut with room to spare Saturday after beating Leigh 6-3 a day earlier for their 10th victory in 12 games, an impressive run than came on the heels of a nearly disastrous 6-9 start. Live Oak (16-11 overall) earned the sixth seed in the Division III tournament and will host No. 11 San Lorenzo Valley (11-11) of the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Sarich Field.
The Acorns kept the pedal down against the eighth-place Longhorns (4-22). Junior ace Rich Martinez struck out four in seven steady innings to improve to 5-4, and Michael Schreiber and Sean Silveira batted 2 for 3. Schreiber doubled and joined teammates Ken Hall and Ryan Muir with an RBI.
Live Oak went from seventh place to being in a four-way tie with Sobrato, Westmont and Pioneer for third in the Mount Hamilton Division.
“We weren’t going anywhere in the middle of the year,” said Cummins, now in his 24th season at Live Oak High School. “But we started pitching well, hitting the ball consistently and playing good defense. I just hope we keep doing that. Anything’s possible now.”
The Sobrato Bulldogs are just as thrilled to have a fresh start. They followed last year’s run to the Division II title game with an up-and-down regular season but are positioned to make another deep run as a seventh seed.
Thursday, the Bulldogs (12-15) will host No. 10 Los Altos (19-12), a De Anza Division club that beat Sobrato 5-2 March 6, with a possible quarterfinal against No. 2 Willow Glen (27-0) looming. Sobrato is the last team that beat the Rams, dating to the 2009 semifinals.
“Division II is packed with good teams that have had big stories this year,” Bulldogs manager Shorty Gutierrez said Friday. “It’s going to be tough, but we have a lot of confidence. This is like a new season.”
Sobrato is coming off a 4-2 loss Thursday to Pioneer. Should they advance, the Bulldogs will play Saturday at Washington Park.
Live Oak will travel to Monterey Peninsula or Hartnell College.
