Three Area Teams Get Home Playoff Games

Three local teams got home games when the Southern California baseball playoff pairings were announced Monday.

Cypress, the Orange Empire Conference champion, is top seeded in the 16-team field.

The Chargers (33-11) host No. 16 San Bernardino (24-17) in a best-of-three series starting at 2 p.m. Friday. The second game is at 11 a.m. Saturday and another follows 30 minutes later if needed.

“It’s a new season,” Cypress Coach Scott Pickler said. “It’s time to get going again. Everybody’s healthy and we’re going to get after it.”

Cypress’ most versatile player this spring was Keith Ginter, who played second and worked as a relief pitcher. Ginter hit .369 with 12 doubles and drove in 23 runs. He also walked 21 times and was hit 19. He had an on-base percentage of .489.

He also had a record of 6-2 and saved four games. Michael Cosgrove was 8-1 and Ara Petrosian was 7-3 for Cypress.

The Chargers benefited from late offensive surges by shortstop Junior Rodriguez and first baseman Jeremy Booth. Rodriguez hit .342 with eight doubles, five home runs and 23 runs batted in.

Booth hit .366 with a team-high nine home runs and drove in 38. Randy Case, maybe the most unsung Charger, hit .366 with a team-high 40 RBIs.

Cypress won state titles in 1991 and 1994 and reached the regional final before losing to Cerritos last year.

Saddleback (26-13-1) and Rancho Santiago (31-11) tied for second, but the Gauchos got the No. 5 seeding because they beat the Dons in three of the four meetings. Saddleback hosts No. 12 Los Angeles Pierce (28-12) at 2 p.m. Friday in the first playoff game at Saddleback in 20 years.

“It’s a really nice distraction,” Saddleback Coach Jack Hodges said. “We’re starting from scratch, and I’m looking into things like extra seating and a few other things.”

Saddleback reached the regional final last year but lost to Rancho Santiago.

Rancho Santiago, the defending state champion, is seeded sixth and hosts No. 11 Cuesta (32-12) at 2 p.m. Friday.

Riverside, the fourth-place team from the Orange Empire Conference, was seeded 13th and is at No. 4 Long Beach starting Friday.

In the other pairings: No. 15 San Diego City is at No. 2 Citrus; No. 14 Los Angeles Harbor is at No. 3 Oxnard; No. 10 Cerritos is at No. 7 Southwestern and No. 9 Mt. San Antonio is at No. 8 College of the Canyons.

The eight first-round winners will be split in half and put in two four-team regional sites to be held May 17-19 and hosted by the two highest seeded teams remaining. The state tournament is May 25-27 at Fresno College.

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Softball: Cypress, which won the Orange Empire Conference softball title, will be one of four teams hosting the double-elimination Southern California playoffs Friday and Saturday.

The Chargers (44-13), seeded fourth, open against No. 13 Imperial Valley (16-20) at noon. The Chargers will have some familiar competition in the regional in Rancho Santiago (33-16). The Dons finished second behind Cypress in conference and were seeded fifth in Southern California.

Rancho Santiago opens against No. 12 Southwestern (20-11) at 2 p.m. at Cypress. The first-round winners meet at 4 p.m. Friday. Elimination games are at noon and 2 p.m. Saturday.

Fullerton, the third-place team in the conference, was seeded sixth and is in the regional at No. 3 Long Beach. The Hornets (32-10) play No. 11 Ventura (39-18) at 2 p.m. Long Beach takes on No. 14 Chaffey (16-16) at noon. Fullerton has beaten Long Beach twice this season.

Saddleback, the conference’s fourth-place team, also made the playoffs. The Gauchos, seeded seventh, are at the regional at Hancock in Santa Maria. Saddleback (29-11) plays No. 10 Los Angeles Pierce (29-8) at 6 p.m. Hancock (42-7) was seeded second, and plays No. 15 Citrus at 6 p.m.

Top-seeded Palomar (44-8) hosts No. 16 Cerritos (20-14) at noon and No. 9 Pasadena (21-11) takes on No. 8 Antelope Valley (33-15) at 2 p.m.

The winner of each regional advances to the state tournament May 17-19 at Ohlone College in Fremont.

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Women’s tennis: Saddleback (16-2) takes on Grossmont at 2 today at MiraCosta College for the Southern California dual team title. The winner plays for the state title Thursday at the state tournament at Claremont Tennis Club.

Saddleback, coached by Bill Otta, beat Grossmont, 5-4, earlier this season in a nonconference match. The Gauchos are led by Gabi Rios, Sydney Weinberg, Missy Hosoi and Noelle Saduddin.

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Notes

Laird Hayes, who has led Orange Coast to eight consecutive men’s soccer playoff appearances, was selected as the 1996 California community college men’s soccer coach of the year. Hayes and assistant Mauricio Claure have led OCC to a 114-50-34 mark in the last nine seasons. OCC won state titles in 1988 and 1991 . . . Orange Coast has selected basketball players Matt Ambrose and Jamie Shine as the male and female athletes of the year.