ON THE SCHEDULE: In one of Tuesday's all-county matchups, Scott Natsuhara and Canyon will take on Los Alamitos in the second round of the Division I playoffs. STEVE K. ZYLIUS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER |
O.C. teams set to meet in second round
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Baseball notes: Some interesting story lines part of the postseason matchups.
Three Orange County team vs. Orange County team matchups are on the schedule Tuesday as the CIF-Southern Section playoffs advance to the second round.
All three are in Division I: Los Alamitos (25-3) at Canyon (15-11-1); Capistrano Valley (20-8) at Mater Dei (22-6); and Orange Lutheran (22-5) at El Modena (15-12).
The Capo Valley-Mater Dei game involves two teams that were in the final county top 10 last week, with Mater Dei at No. 3 and Capistrano Valley at No. 4. That game also presents an interesting coaching matchup: Mater Dei coach Burt Call played for Capistrano Valley coach Bob Zamora when Call was a multisport standout athlete at Capo in the mid-1980s.
All playoff games involving county teams Tuesday are 3:15 p.m. games, except for Tesoro-Long Beach Wilson, a Division I game at 6:30 p.m. at Blair Field in Long Beach.
Click here to see Steve Fryer's county top 10.
WHICH IS THE HOME TEAM?
When two teams meet after the first round of the playoffs, the team that has had the fewer number of playoff home games is the home team. If the two teams have had the same number of playoff home games, then a coin flip determines the home team. Coin flips occur at the CIF-Southern Section office in Los Alamitos the morning after each round.
AROUND THE COUNTY
• The playoffs continue with quarterfinals games Friday, the semifinals next Tuesday, and the finals played over three days — May 29, 30 and 31 — at Dodger Stadium and UC Riverside.
• The Division I semifinals will be played as a doubleheader next Tuesday at UC Riverside.
• Orange Lutheran's Gerrit Cole pitched his sixth consecutive complete game and third shutout overall Thursday when the Lancers beat J.W. North of Riverside, 2-0, in a Division I first-round game. He struck out 10, which gave him a county-leading 108 strikeouts in 68 innings. Baseball America last week projected Cole to be selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks with the 26th pick in the first round. Lutheran coach Mike Grahovac said Aaron Gates (6-2, 2.46 ERA) will be the Lancers' starting pitcher today, with Cole available for relief, if necessary.
• Baseball America has three CIF-SS teams in its national top 25: Orange Lutheran, at No. 8; Long Beach Wilson, No. 15; and Vista Murrieta, No. 17.
• Los Alamitos shook off a recent history of playoff frustration Thursday when the Griffins beat Long Beach Poly, 2-0, in a Division I first-round game. They Griffins had been eliminated in the first round of their previous four playoffs appearances.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
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