Charles Rich
Most of the local boys' volleyball and tennis teams were required to
travel to their CIF Southern Section first-round playoff contests.
That won't be the case for three of the four area baseball teams,
which learned of their playoff foes after the Los Alamitos-based CIF
office released its pairings.
Flintridge Prep (13-7) will be the first team to take the field
when they host Grace Brethren (13-13) in a Division VI wild-card at
3:15 p.m. today at the Glendale Sports Complex.
Crescenta Valley and Hoover will participate in the formidable
Division I, and La Canada will take part in the Division V playoffs.
Crescenta Valley and La Canada will host its first-round games and
Hoover will hit the road.
All first-round games are tentatively scheduled for 3:15 p.m.
Friday, unless both schools mutually agree upon a different time.
Fresh off winning the Pacific League championship, Crescenta
Valley (22-3) will meet Long Beach Poly (16-10-1) at Stengel Field.
Hoover (17-6-1) will travel to fourth-seeded Norco (21-4-1).
La Canada (17-3) will face visiting Mountain View (12-12) after
winning the Rio Hondo League title outright for the first time since
1979.
Crescenta Valley will aim to win its first CIF title since 1998,
when they topped Esperanza at Dodger Stadium. The Falcons, ranked No.
6, might have the ideal 1-2 punch on the mound with Trevor Bell and
Dustin Emmons to make a deep postseason run.
Getting through the division won't be easy for the Falcons, who
must take on a Long Beach Poly squad that finished third in the tough
Moore League.
The Crescenta Valley-Long Beach Poly winner would next meet Mater
Dei or Martin Luther King in a second-round game May 24.
Hoover, which finished third in the Pacific League and beat
Crescenta Valley twice, will face Norco, which won the Mountain View
League crown.
The Tornadoes, who have won nine consecutive games, will turn to
senior ace pitcher Tae Kwon.
The Hoover-Norco winner would next take on Chino or Ezperanza in a
second-round game May 24.
Like Crescenta Valley, La Canada will rely heavily on starting
pitchers Matt Sprowles and Austin Brady. Under third-year Coach
Dennis Ballard, the Spartans manufactured runs throughout most of the
season by stealing bases.
The La Canada-Mountain View winner would next take on Salesian or
Cathedral in a second-round contest May 24.
The Flintridge Prep-Grace Brethren winner would face host Oxford
Academy in a first-round game at 3:15 p.m. Thursday.
* CHARLES RICH covers sports. He can be reached at (818) 637-3228
or by e-mail at charles.rich@latimes.com.
