May 11, 2008

Panthers seeded third in Div. II

CCS softball pairings set; Notre Dame, Half Moon Bay could clash

By John Reid / Daily News Staff Writer

Some truths be known in the three 13-team Central Coast Section softball brackets. Carlmont, seeded No. 5 in Div. I, will not meet San Benito-Hollister in the title game for the second year in a row. The Scots and top-seeded Balers, the two-time defending D-I champ, are on the same side of the bracket. Burlingame, with its tremendous second half of the season, earned the highest seed of any local team, drawing a No. 3 seed in Div. II. The juiciest matchup could be a quarterfinal meeting between No. 4 Half Moon Bay and No. 5 Notre Dame-Belmont.

The Tigers (19-8), West Catholic Athletic League co-champions, play No. 12 Alma Heights Christian-San Bruno (11-1) this Wednesday at Hawes Park in Redwood City at 3 p.m. The Cougars (21-5-1), co-champions of the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division, battle No. 13 King's Academy-Sunnyvale (13-11) at Hawes at 5 p.m.

"Division III is the toughest bracket," Half Moon Bay coach Naomi Patridge said. "Notre Dame head coach Ray McDonald was smart in that he got his teams some harder games in the preseason. That prepared them for their league and CCS."

Castilleja-Palo Alto (14-3) is the No. 9 seed, meeting No. 8 Redwood Christian-San Leandro (18-5) at Hawes at 7 p.m. No. 11 Mercy-Burlingame (14-9) travels south to tangle with No. 6 Carmel (20-6) at the Salinas Softball Complex on Field 1 at 6:30 p.m. Notre Dame-Salinas (28-4) is the No. 1 seed in the Div. III bracket. All Div. III first-round games are on Wednesday.

In Div. I, No. 5 Carlmont (23-7) has No. 12 Salinas (13-12-1) at Hawes Park Thursday at 5 p.m.

"Any team from the Salinas area is a good, solid team," Carlmont coach Jim Liggett said. "I talked to another coach down there and he said Salinas has been playing really well of late. They have a pitcher that has been their pitcher the last three years. There are some real good teams in Division I."

No. 7 Fremont (14-8-1) has a D-I date with No. 10 Wilcox-Santa Clara (18-8) at the Salinas Softball Complex Field 2 this Wednesday at 4:15 p.m. Should the Firebirds prevail, they'll take on No. 2 Monta Vista-Cupertino (26-3) in Saturday's quarterfinals.

Burlingame (18-10-1) is idle until next Saturday's D-II quarterfinals, the Panthers meeting either No. 6 Palo Alto (18-8-1) or No. 11 Branham-San Jose (15-10-1). The Vikings and Bruins tango at the Salinas Softball Complex Field 2 on Wednesday at 6:45 p.m.

"I've seen Branham play," Paly coach Jake Halas said. "They're a scrappy team. It was a reasonable draw for us. And if we should win, Burlingame is playing real well right now. They're a tough team. There are good teams in all three divisions."

No. 7 Aragon (17-11-1) meets No. 10 Westmont-San Jose (15-12-1) this Thursday at Hawes at 7 p.m. No. 4 Mountain View (16-11-1) faces No. 13 North Monterey County-Castroville (11-9-1) at the Salinas Softball Complex Field 5 this Wednesday at 5 p.m. Mitty-San Jose (21-2-1) is the No. 1 seed for Div. II.



E-mail John Reid at

jreid@dailynewsgroup.com.