L-R: Ethan Patrick, Zane Lindeman, Eddie Lopez, Max Blessinger, Franco Alonso, Matt Loomis By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor When the CIF Southern Section released the baseball playoff brackets at 10 a.m. this morning, it was revealed that all four area teams had first-round home games. Both Flintridge Prep and La Salle will play wild card […]
L-R: Ethan Patrick, Zane Lindeman, Eddie Lopez, Max Blessinger, Franco Alonso, Matt Loomis
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
When the CIF Southern Section released the baseball playoff brackets at 10 a.m. this morning, it was revealed that all four area teams had first-round home games.
Both Flintridge Prep and La Salle will play wild card games Tuesday and Maranatha and Poly will have first-round home games on Friday.
** La Salle will face off with Santa Monica at 3:15 on Tuesday at the Arcadia County Park in a CIF-SS Division 3 wild card game.
Zane Lindeman is expected to get the ball from coach Mike Parisi.
Santa Monica (12-16) finished third in the Ocean League, while the Lancers (16-13) tied for second in the Del Rey League with Serra.
La Salle has gotten solid pitching most of the season, but it’s been a lack of offense that had been an Achilles heel.
Junior shortstop Ethan Patrick is the only Lancers’ player hitting over the .300 mark.
Patrick is tied with Maranatha’s Eddie Lopez with 40 hits, which ranks best in the Pasadena area.
He’s fourth in the area with a .435 average, and Patrick will need to spearhead the Lancers offense from the leadoff spot.
Senior designated hitter Sammy Martinez has been producing for the Lancers, and they’ll need contributions offensively from Justin Zuniga, Noah Zate, Brennan Mace, Luke Heiberg and the rest of the La Salle lineup.
No area pitcher has been as hot lately as Lindeman.
In the last month or so, Lindeman has a no-hitter, an 8-inning victory at first-place Bishop Amat.
And four days ago, he threw a two-hit complete-game shutout over Cathedral, with a playoff berth on the line.
“I think our team is very capable of going far in the playoffs,” Patrick said. “Our main focus is to have faith in our talent and play to our full ability. As an offense, we are going to need to produce runs for our pitching staff. On defense, we have to make the routine plays and back up our pitchers. We have been here before, so we know how to get it done. As a team, we are going to need to put the nerves aside and play our game.”
** Flintridge Prep will host Arroyo Grande at the Glendale Sports Complex at 4:45 on Tuesday in a CIF-SS Division 4 wild card game.
The Rebels (14-7-1) were third in the Prep League, and Arroyo Grande (18-13) finished fourth in the Pac-8 League.
The Eagles enter the playoffs on a three-game losing streak.
Prep’s offense is led by Danny Chiarodit (.377), Kendall Kikkawa (.370), Jack Enzminger (.368), Brian Pipes (.333) and Max Rosenfeld (.303).
“We have a lot of arms, so we feel confident going in, even if someone gets in trouble,” Flintridge Prep senior Kendall Kikkawa said. “We’ve been here before, and we know what we have to do to be successful. If we have clutch hitting, and our defense backs up our pitcher, I like our chances.”
** On Friday, in a CIF-SS division 6 first-round game, Poly will host the winner of Tuesday’s Arroyo-Yucca Valley wild card game.
The Panthers are playing their best baseball of the season and just capped off another Prep League title.
They’ve been getting outstanding pitching from Matt Queen, Matt Loomis and Franco Alonso.
And the offense is led by Queen, who leads the entire area with a .510 average.
But the guy no one seems to talk enough about is Ty Evans.
Evans is hitting .426, with 29 hits and an area-best 31 RBIs.
“We are excited to be seeded third in the division,” Poly coach Steve Beerman said. “That seeding is a reward reflecting our play over the season. We now start with a clean slate and look forward to the task in front of us. There are big schools in our path. There were a couple of league #3’s that we hoped not to have to face and we got two of them. Having said all that, we have been playing good baseball and look forward to the challenge.”
** Maranatha got the second seed in the Division 4 bracket, despite losing twice in the final week.
It is believed CIF looked at Maranatha’s tough season schedule and were impressed with the results.
Maranatha (20-7) won more games than anyone in the area and they are loaded offensively and have a very deep pitching staff.
The Minutemen will host Temple City (13-13), at Brookside Park at 3:15.
The Rams finished second in the Rio Hondo League.
Maranatha’s offense is led by senior Eddie Lopez, who is hitting .500 (second best in the area), on 40 hits (tied for first) and 29 RBIs (second most).
Marco Martinez has been incredible all season, but especially hot in recent weeks.
Martinez is hitting .465, with 34 hits, and 24 RBIs, which put him third in all three categories among Pasadena-area baseball players.
Leadoff hitter Max Blessinger is hitting .435 with 37 hits.
But that’s just the top three hitters. Maranatha has so much more.
Dante Campione (.377), Kalani Chang (.365), Trevor Marrs (.344) and Charles Acker (.325) all help pace the Minutemen offense.
Their pitching staff is so deep that Trevor Marrs (4-0, 0.85 ERA), Charles Acker (7-1, 0.81 ERA) or Alex Cornwell (5-2, 2.29 ERA) could get the start.
“We feel really good about being the 2 seed in the playoffs,” Maranatha coach Matt Shupper said. “We have worked hard this season and challenge ourselves against some top competition to get ready for the playoffs. Every team in good in the playoffs, every team can pitch, hit and field. We are preparing for a strong Temple City team and will give them our best effort.”
