After missing out on the Central Coast Section in back-to-back years, the Live Oak baseball team remains just a victory away from clinching a second place finish in the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s Santa Teresa Division.
After winning eight of their 10 games, the Acorns have climbed from fifth place to a second place tie with Del Mar. With a victory over Piedmont Hills on Thursday, the Acorns should all but wrap up an automatic CCS berth. With that victory, it would be a long climb for Live Oak, manager C.J. Goularte said.
“What it would mean for the program is a lot for the kids,” Goularte said. “It’s their memory. It would be great for them. It’s about them and their opportunities and getting to play a CCS playoff game.”
Those aspirations took a slight hit Tuesday in the Acorns final home game of the year. Overfelt (17-9 overall) clinched the league title at Live Oak, blowing away the Acorns 14-3.
Overfelt jumped on Live Oak early, scoring runs in the first and second inning. The Royals pounded 15 hits during the game, as Live Oak issued 11 walks. The Acorns one positive note was Aaron Armijo’s solo home run in the six inning. It was his third of the year.
The loss sets up a series of tie-breaking scenarios with Del Mar, but if Live Oak wins Thursday, a playoff spot will be theirs.
“It’s up to them,” Goularte said. “It’s what I tell them. It’s their season. It’s their team. They get to determine the outcome. I’m there to educated them to be successful. Ultimately it comes down to them. If they want to make the playoffs, they are going to find a way to make that done.”
And in the second half of the season, the Acorns have done just that. After a slow start, they’ve become a full team, Goularte said.
“It’s a credit to their efforts,” he said. “It’s hard to convince a bunch of 18, 17, 16 years olds that you still have a chance when you are in fifth place in the standings. The most important thing was to get them to stop them from looking at the standings and go forward and continue to grind and work hard. Together our collective issues are going to pay off. They started to buy into that.”
And it started over spring break, he said.
“That’s a tribute to them and we didn’t have any personnel changes,” Goularte said. “It’s not like we got some guy out of Columbia to come play for us. That’s them. They did it. They put themselves in this position. I’m very proud of them to put themselves in this position now.”
