The CCS baseball playoffs begin today. Here are a look at the most intriguing first-round games:
OPEN DIVISION
Bellarmine (No. 14 seed) at San Benito (3): The Bells are in the more difficult upper bracket along with WCAL peers Valley Christian, St. Francis and Serra. San Benito defeated Serra in last year's opening round and a non-league game this season, but lost to Valley Christian in non-league, 3-0. The Bells have confidence in pitchers Trevor Burg (6-2, 1.67), Sid Iyer (6-1, 1.88) or hard-luck Kyle Dean (2-7, 2.61).
Serra (10) at Wilcox (7): Serra's best pitcher is unimposing-looking junior Chris Apecechea (3-3, 1.43), a breaking ball specialist. But the temptation for the Padres is to save him for a potential second-round game against St. Francis whom he beat 6-0 in league. If Serra does that, it could use John Besse (4-0, 0.81), Nick Von Tobel (2-1, 1.94) or Vinnie Venturri (3-2, 1.28) against the Chargers. Wilcox can counter with either Nick Green (4-0, 1.48) or Robert Gaylord (2-0, 0. 50).
Mitty (12) at St. Francis CCC (5): At first glance Mitty's placement in the easier lower bracket seems like a going-away gift to outgoing Monarchs' coach Bill Hutton. But closer scrutiny of St. Francis CCC shows the Sharks, with a young team, lost just 1-0 to Branham in last year's CCS Division II title game and defeated nationally ranked Bishop Gorman 7-4 this season in non-league. Josh Rodriguez (5-0) and Ruben Ibarra (4-1) lead the Sharks on the mound and they hit .362 as a team. Even so, Mitty can feel confident with either Stanford signee Kris Bubic or sophomore Kadyn King on the mound. King is from Aptos (a rival of St. Francis CCC) where both his father and uncle played.
DIVISION I
Leland (9) at Watsonville (8), 7 p.m.: Watsonville's schedule isn't going to scare anyone but the Wildcatz did win their first league title since 1991. One of the better teams they played was Menlo-Atherton, a 5-4 loss. Leland is the defending CCS Open champ, but has struggled to a 13-15 record. The Chargers are led by catcher Brendt Citta (.430 batting average) and pitcher Anthony Nesci (6-3, 1.73).
Milpitas (12) at Willow Glen (5): Milpitas owns a win against No. 1 seed Los Gatos but is a hard team to figure with a team batting average of just .236 and a trio of main pitchers who all have earned run averages of more than 3.50. Willow Glen has a good win against Burlingame and close losses to Wilcox, Palo Alto, Bellarmine, Los Gatos and Branham twice. The Rams hit just .264 as a team but are impressive on the mound with freshman Davis Miller (5-1, 1.20), Joe Hutchings (3-5, 1.95) and Chris Johnson (3.16).
DIVISION II
Burlingame (12) vs. St. Ignatius (5) at Fairmont Park: St. Ignatius recorded impressive 1-0 back-to-back wins against Serra and also defeated Mitty. The Wildcats are led on the mound by Andrew Ferrero (5-4, 2.18), Chad Johnstone (1-0, 1.62) and Nick Simonian (2-4, 2.23). Burlingame got pummeled by Serra 10-1 and lost 13-3 to SI in a previous game, but has a close loss to Los Gatos. The Panthers won the PAL tourney and are led by Jonathan Engelmann (.487, 17 RBI) and pitchers Paulie Ferrari (4-1, 1.93), Alex Waldsmith (4-1, 1.37), Jacob Muhawieh (3-2, 3. 58) and Matt Stevens (4-2, 2.53).
Pacific Grove (9) at Monterey (8), Sollecito Field, 5 p.m.: The Breakers have an impressive one-run win against St. Francis CCC, but fell to WCAL heavyweights Mitty 9-1 and St. Francis 6-1. PG hits .306 as a team and is tough on the mound with Eric Boerner (7-2, 1.43) and Nic Boatman (5-1, 1.78). Monterey has close losses to Valley Christian, Wilcox and San Benito and also recorded a win against San Benito. The Toreadores are paced by slugging David Gugale and Carter Aldrete, the son of former Cal star Rich Aldrete and nephew of former big leaguer Mike Aldrete.
