Softball playoff preview: Drama determines VOL, TVL qualifiers
A pair of league races came down to coin flips to determine seeding for the 2024 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section softball playoffs, which start with first-round games in Divisions I through VII on Tuesday.
In the Valley Oak League, Central Catholic and Oakdale each beat the other on the road, finishing the regular season as league co-champions with 8-2 records.
The league champion was decided by a coin flip. Oakdale won, which gave it a spot in the Division III playoffs as the second seed. As the loser of the toss, Central Catholic did not stay in D-III, instead dropping to Division IV, where the Raiders are the No. 2 seed.
Oakdale’s battery of UC Riverside commit Raegen Everett and University of the Pacific commit Presley Barnes have been stellar this season. They are two of five Mustangs who have played in all 24 games. Everett has a 15-5 record with a 1.26 ERA and 177 strikeouts on the season, good for 10th in the section. The duo lead Oakdale into a home matchup with Patterson on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
“You go into the playoffs, it’s more about pitching and defense than it is about hitting,” Oakdale veteran coach Larry Loger said after the second Mustangs/Raiders matchup. “The pitchers just step it up a lot and we feel like we have the best pitcher in the area. So let’s see where she can take us.”
The Raiders have fight, which is almost as important as skill in a win-or-go-home playoff format. That’s one thing coach Sam Nichols is encouraged by about his team despite coming off the 6-3 loss in the season finale.
“The way we played together and stuck together. No matter what the score is, they compete,” Nichols said. “We try to find a way. I’m encouraged that it will continue.”
Freshman Samantha Nichols (.573), junior Jazmarie Roberts (.463) and sophomore Madison Harrison (.424) are all hitting above .400 and add more than 15 RBI to lead the Raiders’ lineup, with talented offensive production from one to nine. Nichols is first on the team in triples and home runs, with six apiece. UNLV commit Taryn Calderon is second, with five home runs. Roberts leads the team with 10 doubles and senior Cal signee Miranda Temple is second on the team with seven.
The Raiders have a first-round bye in D-VI and will host the winner of No. 10 Orestimba at No. 7 Los Banos on Thursday.
Last season, they advanced to the Division III section title game, where they fell to Ponderosa, 1-0. A week later, the Raiders and Bruins met in the NorCal championship. Current Cal pitcher Randi Roelling led the Raiders to a 7-0 win, pitching a perfect game and hitting a home run. Calderon drove in a team-high three runs and Emori Machado hit a home run.
In the Trans Valley League, a three-way tie for the league’s fourth and final playoff spot went to Hughson.
The Huskies finished league play 3-7, tied with Hilmar and Escalon, but got the postseason nod. They join league champion Ripon, Livingston and Riverbank as the league’s playoff qualifiers. As the No. 6 team in Division V, Hughson travels to No. 3 Calaveras on Tuesday for a 4 p.m. first round contest.
Unbeaten TVL champ looks for finals appearance
Ripon High captured its third Trans Valley League championship in as many seasons this year with some dominant performances. Unlike the last two seasons, where they went 11-1 and 9-1, the Indians went 10-0 in league play. They earned the No. 3 seed in Division IV and have a first-round bye. They are led by a senior pitcher, San Francisco State commit Kharime Caratachea, who has 209 strikeouts, a 15-4 record and a 1.08 ERA.
Ripon is looking for a breakthrough this year. In 2022 and 2023, they made deep playoff pushes, advancing to the D-IV section semifinals each season, but suffered losses to No. 1 Dixon and No. 3 Capital Christian, respectively, getting eliminated just one game short of the section title game.
Their 2024 playoff journey begins May 16 against the winner of No. 11 Union Mine at No. 6 Wheatland.
Gregori encouraged by successful regular season
Without playing a postseason game yet, the Gregori softball team has already won the most games in program history. Its 22-4 record marks the third straight 20-win season. The Jaguars went perfect in Central California Athletic League play for the first time in the league’s history, winning all 15 games, outscoring league opponents 9.5 to 1.
They played a tough nonleague schedule against opponents including Clovis West, Oakdale, Tracy, Central Catholic and Dublin. First-year head coach Matt Brown said it was all in preparation to make a deep playoff push.
“That’s why we put the tough teams on the schedule,” he said after a league game against Modesto High. “All those formidable opponents gave us a litmus test to where we’re at. We challenged ourselves there with the preseason.”
Last season, the Jaguars beat section powerhouse Sheldon in a playoff matchup, which fed into the anticipation of this season. Senior Concordia University-Irvine bound pitcher Kailey Estes pitched the full game with six strikeouts. This season, she is third in the section in strikeouts (221), second in wins (21) and eighth in earned run average (0.98).
“It gave us something to look forward to like, hey, if we win, then we can eventually get back to that spot and play again,” Estes said about how last season motivated this year’s team. “We can all kind of look back and see how we did and then try to improve this year.”
The Jaguars drew the No. 4 seed in the Division I bracket and will host No. 13 Mountain House (20-7) Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Big Valley playing for third straight section title appearance
Big Valley Christian’s journey to a third straight section championship game appearance starts Tuesday as the No. 1 seed in Division VII. In 2022, the Lions won a Division VII section title and a D-V NorCal regional championship.
Last season, they were looking strong enough to repeat as the No. 2 seed in D-VII, but lost in the title game to top seed Stone Ridge Christian.
In 2024, the Lions went 18-6-1 in the regular season and a perfect 8-0 in CCAA play to capture a league title, something they were unable to do in the two seasons prior.
Pitcher Ava Hernandez, an Azusa Pacific University commit in her senior season, along with sophomore Mailey Rivera, juniors Cecily Fontana and Morgan Merzon along with a roster with tons of offensive production are likely the favorites to raise a Division VII blue banner Saturday.
First-round home games
Just three Stanislaus District teams host first-round playoff games Tuesday. Of the three CCAL teams in the Division I bracket, league champion Gregori, a top-four seed, is the only team to host. The league’s second-place finisher, Enochs, just missed out on a home game and will instead travel to Davis Sr. High for a No. 8 vs No. 9 matchup. Oakdale in Division III and defending D-VII runner up Big Valley Christian host the final two home games Tuesday.
Division I
No. 13 Mountain House at No. 4 Gregori
Division III
No. 15 Patterson at No. 2 Oakdale
Division VII
No. 8 Leroy Greene at No. 1 Big Valley Christian
Top 10 Stanislaus District playoff teams
1. Oakdale (18-6)
2. Central Catholic (18-7)
3. Gregori (22-4)
4. Ripon (16-5)
5. Enochs (13-8-1)
6. Ceres (14-8)
7. Patterson (13-7)
8. Big Valley Christian (18-6-1)
9. Riverbank (14-9-1)
10. Turlock (13-11-1)
Other notes
▪ 12 total Stanislaus District teams qualified for the 2024 playoffs
▪ Section title games in Divisions V through VII are Saturday, May 18
▪ Section title games in Divisions I through IV are Saturday, May 25
▪ Northern California softball and baseball regionals games are May 28, May 30 and June 1
▪ 4 Stanislaus District teams look to reach section title games for the second straight year. They went 1-3 in 2023
▪ Gregori pitcher Kailey Estes has the second-most wins of any pitcher in the section entering the postseason. She is 21-3
▪ 3 Stanislaus District teams qualified in the D-I, D-III and D-IV brackets
▪ 3 Stanislaus District players in the Top 25 in the section in home runs: No. 9 Hailey Bacon of Turlock (9), No. 17 Samantha Nichols of Central Catholic (6) and No. 25 Natalie Camarena of Enochs (6)
▪ Gregori is the only Stanislaus District team in the playoffs with more than 20 wins. The Jaguars are 22-4 entering the postseason
▪ No. 2 Oakdale and No. 15 Patterson play in the only first round matchup between two Stanislaus District teams
▪ Central Catholic and Oakdale will not meet in the playoffs after matching up in the Division III semifinals in 2022 and 2023
▪ The top four teams in D-IV have a first-round bye. No. 1 Dixon, No. 2 Central Catholic, No. 3 Ripon and No. 4 Kimball will play their first playoff games in the quarterfinals May 16. Central Catholic awaits the winner of No. 10 Orestimba at No. 7 Los Banos and Ripon will host the winner of No. 11 Union Mine at No. 6 Wheatland
