Live Oak will begin its hunt Wednesday for a Central Coast
Section title when Santa Teresa makes a visit to Live Oak in the
first round of the playoffs.
Live Oak will begin its hunt Wednesday for a Central Coast Section title when Santa Teresa makes a visit to Live Oak in the first round of the playoffs.
Live Oak (17-10, 11-4 TCAL) comes into the game as the favorite against Santa Teresa, which finished fourth in the Mount Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League with a record of 13-12 overall and 9-9 in league behind Leland, Leigh and Oak Grove. But coach Mark Cummins knows his team can’t take anyone lightly.
Santa Teresa coach Steve Beaulieu, who taught at Britton and referees for the South County Basketball Academy, knows the baseball team well. Acorn leadoff hitter Andrew Cummins was one of his students at Britton.
“I’ve known of mark for quite some time,” Beaulieu said. “I’ve talked to him many times. He is one heck of a coach, and I have picked his brain many times, asking him how to do certain things.”
Beaulieu said his team has different guys contributing each game, which has been similar to Live Oak. Live Oak is a tough matchup for any team. The Acorns come into the game with one of the area’s best defenses. The offense this year has shown that it is able to break through for run production if it strikes early.
“They have outstanding pitchers, and they hit the ball well,” Beaulieu said. “I am expecting it to be a low scoring game because their pitchers are so dominant. I think we have to play errorless baseball. We have to throw strikes. We can’t give their batters extra pitches. We’re not going to have many strikeouts. We just have to make the routine plays.”
Neither team has played the other this year. They have seen each other play briefly in a tournament.
Ryan Muller will go for Live Oak on the mound. Either Andrew Terry or Michael Lorado, who both bring senior leadership and CCS experience, will start for Santa Teresa.
Last year both teams advanced to the CCS playoffs and won their first games but lost in the quarterfinals. Santa Teresa defeated Salinas 2-0 but lost to Wilcox 18-1. Live Oak defeated Oak Grove 6-3 before losing to San Benito 4-3 with a walkoff home run.
