In a regular season that can top out at 28 games, teams never know what game, what error, what clutch hit, what hanging slider will make a difference in the CIF San Diego Section baseball and softball pairings.
Sunday’s softball pairings were relatively easy, with just one flip in the Open Division.
Mater Dei Catholic was the clear softball No. 1 seed, followed by Bonita Vista at No. 2 and Poway at No. 3. The Titans beat BV 3-0 on April 11; per seeding rules, they swapped spots.
The Open Division baseball pairings, however, presented a unique situation.
Granite Hills (20-0-2) was a clear No. 1, with San Marcos (19-6-1) No. 2.
Those teams played in the Lions Tournament and tied when the game was called on of darkness. The umpires, working a second game at a different site, were 35 minutes late for first pitch.
“Don’t know if I’ve ever had a tie in my career, but I have two this season,” said Granite Hills coach James Davis. “Funny how things work.”
The Nos. 4, 5 and 6 seeds — Patrick Henry, St. Augustine and La Costa Canyon — all tied with a power ranking total of 45.04.
“Never had that happen before,” said Joe Heinz, CIF San Diego Section commissioner. “Had two teams tie, but never three.”
By rule, the seeding committee takes that 45.04 ranking out several digits to break a tie.
That benefitted La Costa Canyon (16-10-0), which checked in at 45.038064 to get the No. 4 seed. The Mavericks were 2-1 against No. 3-seed Carlsbad (17-10-0), jumping the Lancers and claiming the No. 3 seed.
Now the committee had to break the tie between Patrick Henry (18-8-2) and St. Augustine (18-9-1). Both teams came in at 45.0357149. The next tiebreaker is head-to-head competition.The Western League teams were 1-1-1 against each other, with the tie coming in 11 innings.
So it was down to the third tiebreaker — record of common opponents. St. Augustine’s common opponents with Henry were 14-6-1. Henry’s opponents with St. Augustine were 13-7-2.
So give the Saints the No. 5 seed and Henry No. 6.
But wait. The flipping wasn’t done. Del Norte (17-10-0) was the No. 7 seed, but lost to No. 8 Eastlake (17-8-1) during the season. So the Titans moved to No. 7 and Del Norte to No. 8.
Playoff notes
Every baseball team in the Open Division has at least 17 wins, but only Granite Hills has won 20. Five Open Division softball teams have won at least 20 games, led by Imperial (22-5-0).
• Six of the 12 Division 1 baseball playoff teams have losing records. In softball, five of 12 Division 1 teams have losing records.
• In Division 2 baseball, Steele Canyon (14-12-0) was ranked No. 16 in a 12-team field. But the Cougars are a league champion and are guaranteed a playoff spot. So Steele Canyon hosts Grossmont on Monday in a play-in game. Five of the 12 Division 2 teams have losing records, while four teams with winning records were left out. Only one softball team in Division 2 has a losing record, while two teams with winning records were left out.
• In Division 3, all 12 baseball teams have winning records. Valley Center (13-12-0) was the No. 13 seed and didn’t make the playoffs. Two softball teams with losing records are in, two with winning records are out.
• In Division 4, four baseball teams with losing records are in, while two with winning records are out. San Diego High held onto the No. 12 slot by virtue of a regular-season win over No. 13 Sweetwater. In softball, six teams with losing records are in, two with winning records are out.
• In 10-team Division 5, seven baseball teams have losing records. In softball, there are six teams with losing records. Mountain Empire, which was the No. 3 seed, was dropped to No. 10 for failing to reach the minimum standard of 15 games played.
• In Division 5-AA, five of 12 baseball teams have losing records. In the eight-team softball bracket, only Warner (12-3-0) has a winning record.
