Bracing for playoffs

Four local prep teams — two baseball and two softball — have earned berths into the CIF-Southern Section playoffs.

The baseball teams at Ocean View and Edison, along with the softball teams at Marina and Ocean View, each begin postseason play with first-round home games.

The baseball schedule has Golden West League champion Ocean View hosting Foothill in Division II action at 3:15 p.m. today. Sunset League co-champion Edison entertains Rancho Verde (Inland Valley No. 2) in a Division I contest Friday.

The softball slate finds Marina, runner-up in the Sunset League, home to Rio Mesa (Pacific View No. 3) in a Division I matchup, and Golden West League winner Ocean View takes on Calvary Chapel of Santa Ana (Orange Coast No. 2) in a Division IV game. Both games are Friday.

Baseball

Ocean View launches postseason play locally with a tough first-round assignment: a home date with defending Southern Section champion Foothill.

The Seahawks come into the matchup with an overall record of 18-8-1. In the course of the season, they won the Golden West League championship for the fifth consecutive year.

Ocean View is seeking its second section title in three years and is playing up a division from last year.

Foothill brings a 16-10 record into today’s games and is the second-place team out of the Sea View League.

“Foothill is a tough draw,” said Ocean View Coach Shane Borowski, whose team fell to Don Lugo of Chino in a first-round Division III playoff game last year. “They were Division II champs last year and have always produced great teams throughout the years.

“We’re going to have to play tough teams anyway, so we may as well do it in the first round to see what we’re made of.”

Two leaders for the Seahawks are Sean Burleson and Scott Baxter, both pitchers and first basemen.

Burleson comes into the game with a 9-1 record and 1.64 ERA. He’s batting .407 and has 11 doubles, seven home runs and 30 RBI to his credit.

Baxter, meanwhile, has a 3.1 ERA, .436 batting average and has a home run, eight doubles, a pair of triples and 22 RBI in the books.

“We are peaking at the right time,” Borowski said. “We still haven’t played our best baseball, and we’ve been working hard to put it all together for the playoffs.

“Being in a higher division this year will definitely be a challenge.”

Softball

Marina also is peaking at the right time and hopes that a strong run through Sunset League play translates to further success in the postseason.

The Vikings, 19-10, will be facing a Rio Mesa team that is a mystery to Coach Shelly Luth.

“I know nothing about them,” she said. “I hope that my team will come out fired up and ready to play. They have worked very hard this year and with only four returning starters [from last year’s team] we have done one heck of a job.

“We’re all about hustle.”

Marina, which fell in the second-round to Pacifica in last year’s playoffs, are led by pitcher Michelle Fuzzard who holds a 0.72 ERA and .418 batting average, Mariah Nogueira, a member of the national youth soccer 16-Under team whom Luth says is “on fire and playing an awesome third base” in place of injured Autumn Martinez and is batting .326, and Alisha Rosen, a transfer from Calvary Chapel who plays shortstop and has a .320 batting average.

Fuzzard (13-6) will start Friday’s game, Luth said.

“We are excited for these girls,” she said. “They are fun and play hard. It’s been an exciting year, and we can be a tough team to beat.

“These kids love to compete and have fun.”