MEET THE TOP TEAM: GRANADA
For the second year in a row, Granada has earned the top seed in the North Coast Section Division I playoffs.
The Livermore school isn’t as dominant as it was last year, but the Matadors have won when it mattered most.
Granada (21-5, 11-2) dominated the East Bay Athletic League playoffs, shutting out San Ramon Valley 6-0 and beating De La Salle 6-1. The Matadors have notched wins over College Park, Cardinal Newman, Pittsburg, Liberty and James Logan, boasting one of the most dynamic pitching staffs in the Bay Area.
Despite not having USC commit Jake Sekany for most of the season, Tyler Kennedy, Alex Piscotty, Mason Ravera and Logan Robinson lead a staff that has allowed fewer than two runs per game this year.
Arizona-bound catcher Tommy Brown, Pacific commit Peyton Richards and Fresno State signee Mikey Boyd are the stars of Granada’s lineup, which has scored 139.
Although seeded No. 1, Granada’s path to a second consecutive NCS title won’t be easy. The Matadors will host 16th-seeded San Ramon Valley to open the playoffs. Should seeds hold, Granada would have to play another EBAL foe – No. 8 Dublin – in the second round.
TOP STORYLINES
De La Salle was awarded the No. 2 seed and will host No. 15 Pittsburg. The Spartans will be looking to capture their seventh NCS title in the past eight years that the playoffs have been contested … De La Salle is led by Oklahoma commit Alec Blair and EBAL player of the year Tyler Spangler. The Concord school is hoping to avenge its 1-0 loss to Granada in last year’s NCS championship game that spanned two days, two fields, two cities and two counties. … College Park won the Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division and was awarded the fifth seed in Division I. The Falcons will host Heritage in the first round. College Park, led by shortstop Vincent “Tino” Vassell and pitcher James Voorhies, got hot at the end of the season, winning six of its final seven games. If seeds hold, College Park will travel to No. 4 Windsor in the quarterfinals. … Though Castro Valley drew a tough opponent in No. 7 Petaluma, the Trojans will have home-field advantage in their opening-round game because they finished first in their league. … Washington-Fremont got the short end of the stick in terms of travel. The Huskies, who were placed in Division III, will have to make the five-hour, 300-mile trek to Eureka for their first-round game. … Though Pinole Valley’s season has been marred in controversy, the Spartans won the Tri-County Athletic League Rock Division and were awarded the top seed in Division V. PV will play the winner of a first-round game between Bay School and Hercules. … Under this year’s new format, the committee relied on the MaxPreps rankings to determine much of the seeding for each division. But since there is no Open Division, teams were only allowed to move up two brackets higher than their base enrollment divisions. Had there been an Open Division, they could have moved up to the top bracket. That is why Cardinal Newman, which is ranked fourth in MaxPreps’ NCS rankings, was awarded the top seed in Division II. … Nine teams will make the regional playoffs. The winners and runner-ups of Division I and II, all champions in Divisions III through VI and the winner of the Division I third-place game will punch their ticket to the NorCal playoffs.
WHO CAN MAKE A SURPRISE RUN?
For much of the season, Pittsburg was a Top 10 team in the MaxPreps rankings. But a bad three-game losing streak in league play knocked the Pirates down significantly in their seeding for the playoffs. Still, Pittsburg has a plethora of Division I talent and could be a team that gives De La Salle trouble in the first round. … Alhambra might have the best pitcher in the NCS playoffs in Arizona commit Cameron Millar. The right-handed pitcher has fielded pro scouts in just about every game he’s played and boasts a 0.11 ERA this season. The Bulldogs are the 10th seed in Division II and are scheduled to travel to No. 7 Livermore on Wednesday. … Liberty clinched the Bay Valley Athletic League championship in exciting fashion, defeating cross-town rival Heritage on the last day of the regular season. Unfortunately, the Lions didn’t have enough signature non-league wins, which is why they were given the No. 14 seed in Division I. Luckily for Liberty, it will host No. 3 Foothill since it won its league.
