Peninsula Prep Baseball
One week to go. And, with the exception of just a few key season-ending series, most of the automatic Central Coast Section tournament invitations have been claimed.
The PAL-Bay Division still has a championship that is still up for grabs. Burlingame has a half-game lead over Menlo-Atherton. The Panthers will play a series with The King's Academy, while the Bears will play two games with Hillsdale and finish the season Saturday against Sequoia.
Meanwhile, the battle for second place in the Ocean Division – and the automatic CCS bid that goes with it – will come down to three teams: San Mateo, which has a one-game lead over Terra Nova and Half Moon Bay.
San Mateo will play a series with Aragon, while Terra Nova and Half Moon Bay close the season with two games on the coast.
The WCAL crown was claimed by Saint Francis on Friday in San Jose. Five other WCAL teams will be invited to the CCS tourney, while Sacred Heart Cathedral will close with a series against winless Riordan that will likely get the Irish a postseason bid.
In the SCVAL-De Anza Division, the five teams, led by league champion Los Gatos, have punched their tickets to the dance and there isn't a lot of wiggle room for those teams to change their positions at this point.
| Rank | Team | Summary | Upcoming Games |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Saint Francis (22-3) | The Lancers swept Bellarmine to claim the WCAL crown and will close with two games against Serra. Don't let anyone tell you those games are meaningless. When those two teams play, it's always important. | This week: Tuesday vs. Serra; Friday vs. Serra. |
| 2. | Los Gatos (22-3) | The De Anza Division might be down this year, but the Wildcats aren't. They won three league games last week and outscored their opponents by a combined score of 50-5. | This week: Wednesday vs. Palo Alto; Friday at Wilcox. |
| 3. | Bellarmine (19-5) | There's no shame in losing two games to Saint Francis. Nate Sutton thinks his Bells could have played better in those losses. It doesn't get easier this week with two games against St. Ignatius Prep. | This week: Tuesday vs. St. Ignatius Prep; Friday at St. Ignatius Prep; Satuurday at Carlmont. |
| 4. | Valley Christian (16-8) | Just when we were ready to write off the Warriors for being to young to win this year, they pulled off two shutout victories over St. Ignatius Prep. Valley can beat anyone. | This week: Wednesday at Mitty; Friday vs. Mitty. |
| 5. | Serra (17-7) | The Padres enter the final week of the season on an uptick. They've won six of their last seven games and they're doing it with a relatively young lineup. | This week: Tuesday at Saint Francis; Friday vs. Saint Francis. |
| 6. | St. Ignatius Prep (15-8) | The Wildcats just suffered through a tough week that saw them get shutout in consecutive games by Valley Christian. That lineup is too good not to score a run in two games. | This week: Tuesday at Bellarmine; Friday vs. Bellarmine. |
| 7. | Palo Alto (16-9) | The Vikings are playing their best baseball of the season. We've been watching Carter Bader and Albert Pellizzari at the plate, but keep an eyes on Jackson Sims, with two straight games with homers. | This week: Tuesday vs. Mountain View; Wednesday at Los Gatos. |
| 8. | Burlingame (16-9) | The Panthers wear the target this week. They are the hunted and two games against The King's Academy will be a challenge, but Burlingame has the Bay Division's best pitching. Two wins and they have a crown. | This week: Wednesday at The King's Academy; Friday vs. The King's Academy. |
| 9. | Menlo-Atherton (12-12) | The Baby Bears, who start three freshmen and a sophomore, are at .500 for the first time this year after playing perhaps the toughest public-school schedule on the Peninsula. This week they take aim at a Bay Division repeat. | This week: Wednesday vs. Hillsdale; Friday at Hillsdale; Saturday vs. Sequoia. |
| 10. | Sacred Heart Prep (18-7) | The Gators are on the verge of winning the Ocean Division, but dropped two of three games last week. One win clinches the crown. Two wins gets them a 20-win season. | This week: Tuesday at Woodside; Thursday vs. Woodside. |
| 11. | San Mateo (18-7) | The overall resume is thin, but the Bearcats have one of the better pitching tandems in the Ocean Division. Two wins guarantees them second place and a CCS berth. | This week: Tuesday vs. Aragon; Thursday at Aragon. |
| 12. | Mitty (14-10) | The Monarchs are sliding. Six straight losses and a season-ending series with Valley Christian doesn't loom well, but Mitty will find a way to be competitive in every contest. | This week: Tuesday vs. Valley Christian; Friday at Valley Christian. |
| 13. | The King's Academy (14-10) | A sweep over Menlo School last week punched the Knights' postseason ticket. Technically, they're still alive for the Bay crown, but it would take a lot -- a sweep of Burlingame and three Menlo-Atherton losses. | This week: Wednesday vs. Burlingame; Friday at Burlingame. |
| 14. | Menlo School (16-9) | In their first year of promotion to the Bay Division, the Knights have locked up a CCS tourney bid. If they hare to win a third straight CCS crown, the challenge will be doing so in a more competitive classification. | This week: Wednesday vs. Sequoia; Friday at Sequoia. |
| 15. | Half Moon Bay (15-9) | The Cougars enter the final week of the season on a heater. Seven straight wins and eight in their last nine contests. With Kai Kung and a newly inserted Riley Jackson on the mound, the Courars are formidable. | This week: Tuesday at Terra Nova; Friday vs. Terra Nova. |
Members Discussion