Eyes on the prize: Four local teams vie for CCS crowns

They've played this game hundreds of times in their minds. On their neighborhood street. At the nearby park. On the school playgrounds. Every athlete grows up of being right here, right now, playing for a championship. For the players of four local teams -- the Burlingame, Hillsdale and Menlo School baseball teams along with the Capuchino softball squad -- they'll have a chance to fulfill a childhood dream when they play for a Central Coast Section title on Saturday. All of the baseball games will be contested at San Jose Municipal Stadium. No. 6 seed Burlingame (23-6-1) plays top-seed Palo Alto (29-3) at 4 p.m., while No. 16 Hillsdale and No. 3 Menlo clash for the Division III championship at 1 p.m. In the Division III softball final, No. 5 Capuchino (25-5) and No. 3 Valley Christian (24-5) meet for a 2 p.m. contest at San Jose PAL Stadium. Here's a capsule look at each game. Burlingame vs. Palo Alto How they got here: The Panthers beat No. 11 Westmont 10-0, No. 3 Aptos 3-1 and No. 15 Fremont-Sunnyvale 2-1. The Vikings toppled No. 16 Sequoia 11-1, No. 9 Mountain View 10-2 and No. 4 Leland, 4-3. Notes: Burlingame, co-champs of the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division, is back in the championship game for the first time since winning the Division II title in 2004. ... Palo Alto ran the table in the Santa Clara Valley De Anza Division, one of the toughest leagues in the section. ... The Panthers have Zac Grotz and D.J. Sharabi available to start the championship game. ... Hard to believe, but the Vikings have never won a section title, having finished as the runner-up in the 1991 3-A game and in the 2004 Division I title contest. ... The verdict: Palo Alto is the clear favorite, but Burlingame is on a roll, having won 10 straight. The Panthers will have to reach deep to pull off the upset against a powerhouse Palo Alto team, but they're plenty capable. Burlingame 4, Palo Alto 3 Hillsdale vs. Menlo School How they got here: Hillsdale beat top-seed Scotts Valley 8-7, No. 8 Santa Cruz 11-5 and No. 4 Soledad, 3-1. Menlo defeated No. 14 North Monterey County 11-1, No. 6 Live Oak 3-1 and No. 15 Sacred Heart Cathedral, 4-3. Notes: Hillsdale is believed to be the first No. 16 seed to reach a CCS baseball final. ... Before this season, Hillsdale had never reached the semifinal round. ... Hillsdale started the season 3-6 before getting on a roll. ... Senior catcher Pete Woodall entered the postseason with a robust .506 average. ... Menlo School is making its fourth championship game appearance, having won titles in 1988, '89 and '04, all under current coach Craig Schoof. ... Schoof, who has been the head coach at Menlo since 1984, won his 400th game in the team's regular-season finale against Crystal Springs Uplands. ... In Menlo's nail-biting win over Sacred Heart Cathedral, Matt Crowder hit a one-out, two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning. ... The verdict: To call Hillsdale a Cinderella story would be short-shrifting the San Mateo school, since it has plenty of talent to go along with its immeasurable grit. Menlo pounded Hillsdale 24-3 in a non-league contest March 18. While Hillsdale is playing about as well as any team in the section, this might be a case in which one team (Hillsdale) simply doesn't match up particularly well with the other squad (Menlo). Then again, judging by Menlo's lack of hitting -- it has managed to get to this point despite producing only five hits in the last two games -- one has to figure Menlo will have to bust out of its hitting slump to win. So, with that in mind ... Menlo 6, Hillsdale 5 Capuchino vs. Valley Christian How they got here: Capuchino beat No. 12 King's Academy 3-0, No. 4 Monterey 4-1 and No. 1 Notre Dame-Salinas, 3-2. Valley Christian defeated No. 11 Castilleja 2-1 and No. 2 Hillsdale, 2-1 in 11 innings. Notes: Capuchino won five consecutive CCS titles from 1993-97, but last reached the championship round in 2002. ... Talk about dramatic turnarounds: The Mustangs, who snapped a five-year postseason drought, finished just 1-13 in the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division last season. ... Capuchino ace Michele Pilster improved her record to 24-2 after Thursday's semifinal victory. ... Valley Christian is making its third appearance in the title game, having finished as runner-ups in 2005-06. ... In one of the best games of the season -- in any sport -- the Warriors edged Hillsdale in the semifinals when leadoff hitter Tyler Walker hit an inside-the-park home run in the top of the 11th, giving them a 2-0 lead that held up. ... The verdict: Both teams have it all, starting with the hurlers in the circle. Pilster and Warriors counterpart Janell Laront can bring the heat, but what makes both effective is their ability to change speeds and keep hitters off-balance. Even though both squads have talented hitters -- Capuchino is led by Jamie Navarro and Valley Christian is led by Walker -- this should be one of those classic pitchers' duels in which every at-bat and play has something riding on it. Capuchino 2, Valley Christian 1