Division baseball title still up for grabs
The Mount Hamilton Division baseball season is nearly halfway completed, and the atmosphere still feels like Opening Day.
The sun is shining. The breeze is swift. The smell of hot dogs, rawhide, sunscreen and peanuts are prominent, and the standings are next to knotted.
While the first-place Santa Teresa Saints appear headed for the Mount Hamilton title, having built a whopping two-game lead going into spring break, the rest of the pack remains tight, separated by, at most, a single game.
The top four finishers receive automatic trips to the postseason. Three teams are tied for third place; only two of them may get in. The bottom three clubs are a well-timed two-game sweep away from being in contention.
It’s still anyone’s ball game.
“It’s not going to be any easier between taking first place and finishing last,” Leigh coach Chris Perry said. “Every win is huge.”
If not the most exciting, 2009 has to rank as one of the most evenly-matched seasons in the history of Mount Hamilton baseball.
Every team has its star pitcher.
Every team has its tape-measure slugger.
Every team has lived up to its tough-to-beat-at-home billing.
In the thick of lie both Morgan Hill programs: the two-time defending champion Live Oak Acorns (7-5 league), and the dark horse Sobrato Bulldogs (6-6).
They are exactly one week away from Game 1 of the unofficially named El Toro Series, and have much to celebrate — and little to overlook.
Live Oak is alone in second place, having leapfrogged Leigh with a two-game sweep last week. Next for the Acorns: a road game Tuesday against their oldest rival, Gilroy, and then a return home to face King City — a playoff team in 2008 — Thursday. After that, Live Oak will play two with the Bulldogs before traveling to Santa Teresa.
“It’s a long season,” Mark Cummins, Live Oak’s 23rd-year coach, said in March. “You don’t want to say the big games are this early in the season; the ones to help you stay in the hunt. Every game’s important, though.”
Sobrato, the league newcomer, is one of the three aforementioned teams holding a piece of third place with nine division contests remaining.
“The team’s that make the fewest mistakes are the ones that are going to still be playing ball come May,” Sobrato coach Ulises “Shorty” Gutierrez says.
The Bulldogs on Friday beat Pioneer and are currently are playing in the Salinas Tournament, an event that springboarded their Santa Teresa Division title run in 2008.
With a strong showing through this week’s break from league play, both Morgan Hill teams should pickup right where they left off — bloodying each other first, then the rest of the league.
The playoffs never sounded more refreshing.
