The 2018 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs saw the Sacramento metro area teams not win any of the seven divisions contested, and given the fact there are some powerhouse programs and the area around Sacramento has more schools than any other geographical area of the state’s second largest section, that’s pretty amazing.
In fact, according to Sacramento Bee senior staff writer and columnist Joe Davidson, who has been covering the area for 30 years, he answered in a direct message on Twitter that he can’t recall the Sacramento area ever being whitewashed.
In the double elimination format the CIFSJS uses none of the champions of divisions I, II or III won all its games showing just how tough the competition was this year.
It’s a toss-up between Division I champion and current Prep2Prep NorCal No. 6 Tracy and Division III champion and NorCal No. 5 Benicia as to who will end up as the No. 1 team from the SJS in the final Prep2Prep Northern California rankings once the CIF North Coast Section playoffs conclude.
We’ve already made our decision but you’ll have to wait for the rankings to be released. For now, those two winners highlight this SJS playoff roundup.
Tracy (25-5) needed to be beaten twice on Wednesday and three-time defending Sheldon was the team they were facing in the finals, just like in 2016 when the tables were turned and Sheldon had won its first four games and Tracy was coming from the loser’s bracket.
This year Tracy not only won its first four games but was on an eight-game winning streak since a loss to Benicia, and had won 19 of its last 20 games including an 8-3 win over Sheldon that sent that team to the loser’s bracket.
Sheldon (25-5) then trounced Granite Bay 16-1 to set up the potential double-header with Tracy.
Veteran Coach Mary Jo Truesdale had her Huskies ready and they won the first game 4-2, but Sheldon could not four-peat after Tracy won its first ever section title in 43 years of trying with an 8-5 eight-inning victory.
The Bulldogs trailed 4-2 after one inning and 5-3 after five, but they came alive thanks to the bat of Oregon-bound senior shortstop Rachel Cid.
Cid, who according to the Tracy Press celebrated her 18th birthday on Wednesday, already had blasted a two run home run to stake the Bulldogs to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, but with Olivia Smith on base for the second time in front of her, Cid went to left field for a long bomb after the first one was to right, and the game was deadlocked at 5-5.
There was no score in the seventh and in the eighth it was the home run factor once again that decided the game. Marti Rhinehart and pitcher Karina Faasisila hit back to back home runs and an RBI single by Emily Yanke broke it open and Faasisila shut the door on Sheldon in the bottom of the eight to secure the title.
Benicia extended to final game but still wins Division III title
Just like Tracy in Division I it went to a double-header in Division III but in the end second-seeded Benicia won its second straight D3 title and fourth CIFSJS title in the past five years.
Benicia (28-3-1) lost the opener on Wednesday to Vanden 5-3 but they came back with a vengeance to post a 13-0 victory in the nightcap to secure the title. It was the sixth meeting between the teams this season with Benicia winning five times, including the three meetings in Solano County Athletic Conference play.
After dropping the first game Benicia wasted no time as senior Adriana Chavez led off the first inning with an infield single and stole second, Chelsea Mari singled her home, Grace French doubled to drive in Mari, and Amanda Ajari plated French with an RBI single as Benicia took a 3-0 lead.
The Panthers put it away with a seven run third inning and three more runs in the fourth while at the same time junior pitcher Kate Gillum just missed out on a perfect game after retiring the first 14 batters before Vanden’s Elisa Cueva doubled in the fifth and final inning of the mercy-shortened affair.
Ajari also had a home run and drove in three, and Hailey O’Rourke also had a solo home run.
Dark horse St. Mary’s takes D2 title
After a bit of a checkered season St. Mary’s was only the No. 6 seed, and they had to come from the losers bracket and three elimination games to do it, but the girls from Stockton beat upstart Bella Vista twice on Wednesday, 9-2 and 4-3 to capture the CIFSJS Division II championship.
The Rams looked good at the Livermore Stampede and won their first two games, but they were unable to return for the Championship Flight that was delayed two weeks due to a scheduling conflict, and after they lost some games they slipped off the radar screen, but now they're certainly back on it.
San Jose State-bound senior Carly Morfey started in the circle but gave way to Kiana Parrish after she gave up three runs that cut the Rams lead to 4-3 in the fifth. Morfey re-entered the game as a pitcher in the top of the seventh inning with Broncos runners at first and second with nobody out after Parrish struggled to finish the game. Morfey struck out both batters to end the contest and the Rams girls began to celebrate.
Morfey was also the star at the plate for the Rams with a two-run home run in the first that staked St. Mary’s to a 2-0 lead they would not relinquish. She finished 2-for-3 with the long fly, three RBI and a run scored. Fellow senior Angelina Gomez also had two hits including an RBI double.
Fourth-seeded Bella Vista finishes the season with 20-10-1 record.
Second-seeded Sierra (19-4) won all four of its games including a 3-1 Division IV title game victory over top-seeded Calaveras.
In Division V it was top-seeded Escalon wining four games to capture the championship with a 6-0 blanking of Hilmar in the title game.
Top-seeded Woodland Christian (25-2) rebounded from a 12-8 loss to Millennium to win the Division VI title with an 11-1 pounding in the second game.
The Division VII title went to Stoneridge Christian but they also needed two after they dropped the first game 7-2 to No. 2 seed Ripon Christian the top seed came back to win the championship with an 8-3 victory.
