TheLounge
05-15-2007, 05:30 PM
There was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth when it was announced earlier this year that the Peninsula Athletic League’s Bay Division was being dropped to “B” Division status by the Central Coast Section based on the league’s power ranking.
OK, wailing and gnashing of teeth may be a little strong, but there were definitely some disappointed coaches. The Lounge was talking to Burlingame coach John Philipopoulos Saturday and he verified that Gilroy —*a school Burlingame had built quite a competitive rivalry the last few seasons —*was pulling out of its agreement with Burlingame because of the switch. Gilroy’s reasoning was that it would rather play a less competitive “B” team than Burlingame.
The difference between “A,” “B,” and “C” leagues is the amount of points you get for wins. Teams get a certain amount of points for playing “A” league teams and get even more power points for beating an “A” team.
Philipopoulos may want to call the Gilroy coach and see if it has filled it’s season-opening slot. Turns out the Bay Division is staying as an “A” league after all. The Lounge stopped by Aragon High Monday trying to find this week’s Athlete of the Week. The Lounge ran into Aragon football coach and athletic director Steve Sell. We got to talking football and after he mentioned he thought his team would be pretty good, the Lounge said, “At least you don’t have to worry about the Open Division (in the CCS playoffs).”That’s when Sell informed the Lounge that there was a change in the ranking system and that the Bay Division, along with the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League, had its “A” ranking back thanks to Aragon’s playing in the Open Division.
For those who have forgotten, the Open Division is the top — and toughest — of the four division’s in CCS. The best eight teams in all of CCS are put in the Open Division and only the champion of the Open Division is considered to participate in the State Championship Game. Sell said during a meeting with section coaches and adminstrators, it was decided that playing in the Open Division was worth an added point to the ranking system. If a team lost, it got one point. A win in the Open Division, however, was worth two points. The reasoning being that if a team was playing in the Open Division, more than likely it would win its first-round game in either the Large, Medium or Small School division.
There was a lot of grumbling when the Open Division was formed two years ago because it sometimes forces teams into that division, teams that would rather stay in the division based on the school’s enrollment.
So even though Aragon lost to Palo Alto in the first round of the Open Division last season, the Dons earned an extra point which apparently put the Bay Division over the top in its quest to remain an “A” league.
***
The CCS baseball and softball pairings were announced Saturday and, as usual, the Peninsula is not only well represented but a few are favored to do really well.
Seven Peninsula baseball teams and seven softball teams were invited to the playoffs. The Burlingame baseball team as well as the Carlmont and Notre Dame-Belmont softball teams were all given No. 1 seeds while Serra garnered a No. 2 seed in the Division I baseball tournaments.
But two teams — the Sequoia and Aragon softball squads — are two of the best feel-good stories. Both are making their first appearances after lengthy absences. Sequoia is making its first appearance since 2002 while Aragon got its first CCS invitation since 1998.
The Cherokees story is especially heartening. The last few years, the Cherokees were knocking on the door, only to come up short. Playing in the Ocean Division, Sequoia has to win the division title to get an automatic bid.
On the last day of the regular season, Sequoia was beaten by Woodside to finish in a two-way tie for the Ocean Division championship.
But as was erroneously reported in this space last week, the automatic bid did not come down to a coin flip. Rather, it was decided by power points.
“Tentatively, we had our points worked out and we had more (than Woodside),” said Sequoia coach Scott Reynick. “We did our homework pretty well.”
Reynick wasn’t sure on the exact numbers but he said Sequoia had a power ranking of 1.98 and Woodside was a 1.93. Pretty close but Reynick said he’s seen closer totals. He said at the meeting Saturday, two teams from the same league were battling for the league championship and the automatic bid. One team had a power ranking of 2.041, the other had 2.040. The first team got the automatic bid and the other was left on the outside looking in.
Reynick and the Cherokees don’t care. They’re in.
Nathan Mollat can be reached by e-mail: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 117.
OK, wailing and gnashing of teeth may be a little strong, but there were definitely some disappointed coaches. The Lounge was talking to Burlingame coach John Philipopoulos Saturday and he verified that Gilroy —*a school Burlingame had built quite a competitive rivalry the last few seasons —*was pulling out of its agreement with Burlingame because of the switch. Gilroy’s reasoning was that it would rather play a less competitive “B” team than Burlingame.
The difference between “A,” “B,” and “C” leagues is the amount of points you get for wins. Teams get a certain amount of points for playing “A” league teams and get even more power points for beating an “A” team.
Philipopoulos may want to call the Gilroy coach and see if it has filled it’s season-opening slot. Turns out the Bay Division is staying as an “A” league after all. The Lounge stopped by Aragon High Monday trying to find this week’s Athlete of the Week. The Lounge ran into Aragon football coach and athletic director Steve Sell. We got to talking football and after he mentioned he thought his team would be pretty good, the Lounge said, “At least you don’t have to worry about the Open Division (in the CCS playoffs).”That’s when Sell informed the Lounge that there was a change in the ranking system and that the Bay Division, along with the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League, had its “A” ranking back thanks to Aragon’s playing in the Open Division.
For those who have forgotten, the Open Division is the top — and toughest — of the four division’s in CCS. The best eight teams in all of CCS are put in the Open Division and only the champion of the Open Division is considered to participate in the State Championship Game. Sell said during a meeting with section coaches and adminstrators, it was decided that playing in the Open Division was worth an added point to the ranking system. If a team lost, it got one point. A win in the Open Division, however, was worth two points. The reasoning being that if a team was playing in the Open Division, more than likely it would win its first-round game in either the Large, Medium or Small School division.
There was a lot of grumbling when the Open Division was formed two years ago because it sometimes forces teams into that division, teams that would rather stay in the division based on the school’s enrollment.
So even though Aragon lost to Palo Alto in the first round of the Open Division last season, the Dons earned an extra point which apparently put the Bay Division over the top in its quest to remain an “A” league.
***
The CCS baseball and softball pairings were announced Saturday and, as usual, the Peninsula is not only well represented but a few are favored to do really well.
Seven Peninsula baseball teams and seven softball teams were invited to the playoffs. The Burlingame baseball team as well as the Carlmont and Notre Dame-Belmont softball teams were all given No. 1 seeds while Serra garnered a No. 2 seed in the Division I baseball tournaments.
But two teams — the Sequoia and Aragon softball squads — are two of the best feel-good stories. Both are making their first appearances after lengthy absences. Sequoia is making its first appearance since 2002 while Aragon got its first CCS invitation since 1998.
The Cherokees story is especially heartening. The last few years, the Cherokees were knocking on the door, only to come up short. Playing in the Ocean Division, Sequoia has to win the division title to get an automatic bid.
On the last day of the regular season, Sequoia was beaten by Woodside to finish in a two-way tie for the Ocean Division championship.
But as was erroneously reported in this space last week, the automatic bid did not come down to a coin flip. Rather, it was decided by power points.
“Tentatively, we had our points worked out and we had more (than Woodside),” said Sequoia coach Scott Reynick. “We did our homework pretty well.”
Reynick wasn’t sure on the exact numbers but he said Sequoia had a power ranking of 1.98 and Woodside was a 1.93. Pretty close but Reynick said he’s seen closer totals. He said at the meeting Saturday, two teams from the same league were battling for the league championship and the automatic bid. One team had a power ranking of 2.041, the other had 2.040. The first team got the automatic bid and the other was left on the outside looking in.
Reynick and the Cherokees don’t care. They’re in.
Nathan Mollat can be reached by e-mail: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 117.