Baseball playoff preview: CCAL down to the wire, Stanislaus District top 10 playoff teams
Kannon Sharpe’s goal this season was to take the Enochs Eagles somewhere they hadn’t been in his varsity career: to the playoffs.
In fact, the Eagles had not been a postseason team since 2016, when they finished third in the Modesto Metro Conference and faced Tracy in the first round.
“It’s always been my dream to pitch in a playoff game, to have that atmosphere,” the San Francisco State signee said after an extra-innings loss to Turlock on April 19. “You want to go out there and win a game for your guys and show a lot of other teams that haven’t seen you all year, what you can do and what you’re made of. For me to be able to experience that and possibly pitch in a playoff game this year would just be icing on the cake for me.”
Entering the final two weeks of the regular season, Enochs was outside the playoff picture but went 5-1 over its last six games.
With a 9-6 Central California Athletic League record, the Eagles earned a playoff spot out of the ultracompetitive CCAL, which qualifies just three teams for the Division I postseason. Turlock finished first with a 13-2 league record and Downey claimed the final playoff spot. The Knights and Eagles finished 9-6 in league play but Enochs earned the higher playoff seed because it beat Downey in the season series.
The 2024 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs kick off this week with games starting Tuesday, May 7, continuing through May 21-24, when the final 14 teams compete for blue banners in their respective divisions.
Turlock sealed its best league record since 2019, its first year in the CCAL, with a series sweep against crosstown rival Pitman. The Bulldogs did not lose a league series, and its only two league losses came against Enochs and Downey in series openers.
To have a deep postseason run, Turlock coach Mike Souza said cutting down on errors is key.
“It’s just the mental approach,” he said after the series-clinching win over Enochs. “Each day, it’s getting the kids better and on the right path.”
The Knights held the league’s second spot heading into the final day of the regular season Friday, but a 4-2 loss to Gregori opened the door for Enochs to claim the higher playoff seed.
Downey is in the postseason for the third straight season.
Of the four Stanislaus District baseball teams in the Division I bracket, Turlock is the only squad with a first-round home game. The No. 7 Bulldogs host No. 10 McClatchy on Tuesday at 4 p.m. No. 12 Enochs travels to No. 5 Lodi, and No. 14 Downey visits No. 3 Rocklin.
Hughson rolling into postseason
The Huskies might be the hottest team in the section entering the 2024 postseason. They claimed the Trans Valley League championship for the first time since 2015 with an 11-1 record. Since their lone one-run league loss in extra innings to Escalon, the Huskies have won 13 overall games with wins over CCC No. 3 Central Valley, CCAL No. 2 Downey and VOL co-champion Oakdale. They sealed at least a share of the league title with a 5-0 win over Ripon.
“We talked about our goals before the season, and then we reevaluated midseason and they know that (winning the TVL) is one of our goals,” said Hughson coach Charly Garza. “This goes a long way into making that goal. That’s just kind of in the back of their heads. We don’t talk about it, they know it.”
They drew the second seed in the Division V section tournament and host Ben Holt College Prep Academy on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
VOL co-champs earn Top 3 seeds in D-III
Central Catholic knew after its series-clinching win over Manteca that if it wanted to have a shot at a share of the Valley Oak League title, it needed to sweep its final league series.
The Raiders beat Kimball, outscoring the Jaguars 44-4 over three games with two shutouts. The Raiders won their final five VOL games during the final two-week stretch and earned a No. 3 seed in the D-III postseason. Central Catholic begins defending Division III section and NorCal championships with a home game Tuesday against Weston Ranch.
Oakdale got the nod as the second seed because it took two of the three games in the early season VOL series against the Raiders. Over their final three VOL series, the Mustangs lost just one game. The 7-3 loss in their final league game against Sierra kept the door open for the Raiders to make it a co-league title.
The Mustangs have won an impressive 21 games and have just seven losses this season. They went 8-1 in their first nine nonleague contests. They take on Beyer on Tuesday at home in the first round of the D-III playoffs.
If the Mustangs and Raiders win their first-round and quarterfinals matchups, they will meet for a best-of-3 semifinal series.
Defending section champion moves up a division
The defending Division VII section champion, Ripon Christian, will look to claim its second straight title when its playoff journey begins Wednesday. It will have to conquer a new division after being moved up to Division VI for this year’s postseason. RC hosts Millennium of Tracy on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
The back-to-back Southern League champions look to raise another blue banner led by returning pitcher/infielder and Vanguard University commit Luke Crivello, senior Dustin Hoekstra and Grant Sonke, who is always a threat to run when he gets on base. He’s had 100 steals in his high school career.
First-round home games
Six Stanislaus District teams host first-round games this week. Divisions I through IV play their first games Tuesday and Divisions V through VII begin Wednesday. All games are scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
Here is a list of the local teams who will host their first 2024 postseason game:
Division I
No. 10 McClatchy at No. 7 Turlock
Division III
No. 14 Weston Ranch at No. 3 Central Catholic
No. 15 Beyer at No. 2 Oakdale
Division V
No. 7 Ben Holt College Prep at No. 2 Hughson
Division VI
No. 5 Millennium at No. 4 Ripon Christian
Division VII
No. 5 Golden Sierra at No. 4 Turlock Christian
Top 10 Stanislaus District playoff teams
1. Central Catholic (17-8)
2. Oakdale (21-7)
3. Turlock (20-8)
4. Hughson (25-2)
5. Enochs (15-13)
6. Patterson (15-7-1)
7. Downey (14-14)
8. Central Valley (15-13)
9. Ripon (17-9)
10. Ripon Christian (19-8)
Other notes
▪ 14 total Stanislaus District teams qualified for the 2024 playoffs
▪ 2 Stanislaus District teams are looking to repeat as section champions
▪ Semifinals for each division are best-of-3 series. On 5/13 (higher seed hosts), 5/15 (lower seed hosts), 5/16 (higher seed hosts)
▪ Beyer travels to Oakdale for the only first-round matchup in the entire postseason between two Stanislaus District teams
▪ Division I has the most Stanislaus District teams in a division (4).
▪ Patterson is the only Stanislaus District team in the Division II bracket. It is a No. 12 seed and travels to Vacaville
▪ There are zero Stanislaus District No. 1 seeds this year. Oakdale (No. 2 in D-III) and Hughson (No. 2 in D-V) are the highest seeded teams
▪ The top five seeds in Division IV were awarded first-round byes. Ripon (No. 5) travels to four-seed Placer in the quarterfinals May 9
▪ In Divisions I through III, the section champion and runner-up advance to the NorCal Regional Playoff bracket
▪ In Divisions IV through VII, the section champion advances to the NorCal Regional Playoff bracket
