Live Oak High
’s softball team couldn’t ask for a better situation heading
into the Central Coast Section playoffs. The Acorns are healthy,
have a seasoned senior ace on the mound and will open the playoffs
with a team they’ve already beaten this season. Live Oak (19-8)
earned a No. 6 seed in the CCS Divisi
on I playoffs and will play No. 11 Homestead (13-13) of the
Santa Clara Valley Athletic League on Wednesday at 5pm at the
Salinas Sports Complex. “We came out (of the seeding meeting) happy
with the bracketing,” said Live Oak coach Barry McDonnell. “The
whole thing turned out fine for us.”
Live Oak High’s softball team couldn’t ask for a better situation heading into the Central Coast Section playoffs.
The Acorns are healthy, have a seasoned senior ace on the mound and will open the playoffs with a team they’ve already beaten this season.
Live Oak (19-8) earned a No. 6 seed in the CCS Division I playoffs and will play No. 11 Homestead (13-13) of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League on Wednesday at 5pm at the Salinas Sports Complex.
“We came out (of the seeding meeting) happy with the bracketing,” said Live Oak coach Barry McDonnell. “The whole thing turned out fine for us.”
This year’s playoffs will also be the last for senior pitcher Juliette Bowers, the only senior on the Live Oak roster.
“We’re really pretty excited to get her into CCS and show her talent,” said McDonnell of the Canisius College–bound hurler.
McDonnell said he feels the past couple weeks of tough TCAL competition has tuned-up his Acorns for the playoff atmosphere.
“We’ve had some really good TCAL games in the last week or so and it’s been a good build up for CCS,” McDonnell said. “The teams that we’re going to see are the same intensity we’ve seen in all of TCAL. There’s nothing different about CCS.”
Wednesday won’t be the first time Live Oak and Homestead have met this year. The Acorns beat the Mustangs 5-1 in a non-league meeting in March. McDonnell expects a similar team to that the Acorns faced two months ago, but with improved pitching.
If Live Oak beats Homestead, the Acorns will move on to face No. 3 seed Oak Grove (19-8) in the quarterfinals on Saturday. OG received a first-round bye.
“I’ve watched (Oak Grove),” McDonnell said. “They’re really fast with a lot of slappers. They play short ball and like to run a lot.”
The Acorns will be focusing on their bunt coverage to gear up for Oak Grove, should they make it to that game McDonnell added.
“We’ll probably bring the outfield in and challenge them to hit it over our heads,” McDonnell said. “(But the main thing is) to take that slap away and take our chances against long ball.”
All in all, McDonnell just wants to see his team play like it has all season long.
“We’re hoping to play as well as we have all year and end up on right side of the scoreboard.”
Meanwhile, the TCAL will send three more teams to the CCS playoffs, including league champion Notre Dame, which is the top seed in Division III. The Spirits have a first-round bye, then play a quarterfinal matchup on Saturday against the winner of No. 8 Kings Academy vs. No. 9 Santa Catalina at the Salinas Sports Complex.
Joining LO in Division I play at the Sports Complex on Wednesday are Hollister-SB, the No. 7 seed which opens against No. 10 Mt. Pleasant at 4:30pm, and No. 8 North Salinas, which opens with No. 9 Aptos at 6:40pm.
LO baseball
Despite capturing a league championship this season, the Acorn baseball team will have to start from scratch in the CCS Division I playoffs after ending up in a tough bracket.
No. 8 seed LO (17-8) will host No. 9 Leland (16-10 overall) on Wednesday at 4pm in the first round of the playoffs.
That’s the good news.
If it wins its opener, LO would most likely meet Div. I top seed Bellarmine (33-4), the fifth-ranked team in California, which plays No. 16 Piedmont Hills on Wednesday.
If the Acorns somehow pull off the upset against the powerful Bells, it would likely set up a semifinal meeting with No. 4 Mitty (24-6), which is ranked 11th in the state.
“It could have been a lot easier, but you have to play them all eventually,” LO coach Mark Cummins said. “Like I told the guys, it’s been a great year and this is a great team, and we just want to keep playing as long as we can.”
But for now the Acorns will need to concentrate on their playoff opener against the Chargers, who finished second in the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s Mount Hamilton division behind regular season champion Leigh.
Leland is led by slugger Matt Slaton, who hit .437 and slammed six home runs with 30 RBIs, and speedster Lance Gemette, who had 14 stolen bases.
Meanwhile, LO will ride a speedy and potent offense of its own into the playoffs, led by Doug Porras, Bryce Wilson and Andrew Cummins at the top of the order.
Pitchers Eric Nelson, who will start against Leland, and Kyle Ferguson will be counted on to make up for the loss of ace Kyle Mosbrucker to injury.
Other TCAL teams in the CCS Division I playoffs include: No. 10 Gilroy, which plays at No. 7 Valley Christian, and No. 11 Hollister-SB, which plays at No. 6 St. Francis. Both games start at 4pm on Wednesday. In addition, Palma earned the No. 2 seed in Division II and will open against No. 7 RLS at Salinas Municipal Stadium on Friday.
All game dates, times and sites are subject to change depending on the weather. Please visit the CCS Web site at www.cifccs.org for information.
