Upset first-round playoff wins have Centennial baseball, softball believing in themselves

The first day of postseason playoff games are intriguing. Seeding usually matters the most because it gauges what is thought of teams on a body of regular-season work, rewards some for a strong season and for others, based on their divisions, they can get a lift from where they land. And there's always those who feel they should be a higher seed or have been dealt a tough hand.

Let the games begin and see if what's on paper translates to what happens on the field.

On Friday, the higher seeds in baseball went 32-14 (70%). The higher softball seeds were 32-7 (82%). Sure, Division 1 softball teams all had a bye until Wednesday. That covers most of the difference in games and add Garces, which had a bye in Division 2 softball.

But the best thing for any baseball or softball team to do is to just focus on what it can do.

"It starts with belief," Centennial baseball coach Sean Alexander said. "I truly believe when we show up, we're capable of beating anyone in the valley. The message I tried to relay to our guys going in was ‘we've got to believe and if we do, we've got a shot.'"

Alexander, a first-year head coach, watched his team face a quality left-handed starting pitcher, San Joaquin Memorial's Joe Alvarez. He kept the Golden Hawks' offense at bay, and SJM was ahead 2-1 until the sixth inning changed it all. Centennial scored five runs to take a 6-2 lead. SJM did get three back in the bottom of the sixth, but the Golden Hawks did enough to hold on and win. That's a 14 seed beating a 3 seed.

"We snuck in as the final seed and that's all we needed, an opportunity," Alexander said. "It was a big win for us, going on the road, playing a quality team like San Joaquin Memorial. They had a great left-handed pitcher who shut us down for the majority of the game, but we capitalized in the sixth with quality at-bats. Ross Rocha gave us another quality (complete game) start. We were going to live or die with him. The ball was going in his hands for that seventh inning."

Alexander took over when Dan Durham retired after leading Centennial to the Division 1 championship last May. Only a few returners were back, such as Alex Hughes, Preston Shults and Tanner Parsons, and Tyler Sommerfeld was expected to be a No. 2 starter, but injuries kept him out until just before the regular season ended. He came back and his contributions will be for offensive purposes.

Centennial was one of the 14 baseball winners against a higher seed on Friday. The Golden Hawks' second-round opponent on Tuesday is host No. 11 Visalia Redwood, which beat No. 6 Clovis 7-1.

There were a few other lower seeds, including No. 15 Hanford that knocked off a No. 2 seed, defending CIF D-2 section and D-4 SoCal/State champion, Ridgeview 7-1. In fact, five of the eight winners in Division 2 were the lower seed. The only local left in that division, No. 1 seed Bakersfield Christian, beat No. 16 Atascadero 6-5.

But don't fret, there were still those who had no trouble at all. Liberty, the fourth seed in Division 1, hit five home runs and pounded No. 13 Clovis West 12-2 in five innings. Two more locals that were 2025 championship finalists, Shafter, No. 1 in Division 5, and Wasco, No. 6 in Division 3, both advanced.

In softball, while the highest locally seeded team, Garces, had a bye, the team the Rams will face Wednesday is South Yosemite River League foe Centennial. The ninth-seeded Golden Hawks bounced No. 8 Highland 11-2. Garces went 2-0 in SYRL play, wins of 6-2 and 8-7, against Centennial.

Another SYRL team advancing was No. 4 Stockdale in Division 2. The host Mustangs held off No. 13 Tulare Union 9-8. It was 9-1 until Tulare scored five in the sixth inning and got two more in the seventh with runners still on base when Stockdale recorded the final out. The Mustangs host No. 5 Santa Maria Righetti at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

There were also a few high or one-sided scores, perhaps, to remind everyone what is also possible. Division 3's seventh-seed, Tehachapi, won 24-0 over No. 10 El Diamante. There were Division 6 scores such as No. 9 Chavez that beat No. 8 Immanuel Christian of Ridgecrest 21-13, and No. 11 Madera South outslugged No. 6 Mira Monte 15-10. South blanked Bakersfield 11-0 in Division 4.

Seeing and playing is believing.

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