Huge field of dreams

And like the evolution of Major League Baseball ballparks, which moved away from the cookie-cutter, multi-purpose style of the 1970s, each of the ball fields on the Peninsula all seem to have some kind of quirk to them.

South City’s on-campus field came into being in 2021 and I covered a game there for the first time last week. Daily Journal sports reporter Terry Bernal, a South San Francisco guy, usually covers North County games.

Bernal was off last week, necessitating my drive to cover Priory at South City, with the winner claiming the Peninsula Athletic League Lake Division title.

The Warriors ended up winning 6-4, but what I couldn’t get over was the outfield at the South City ball field.

“Massive” is almost an understatement in describing the outfield. It has dimensions that are even bigger than Burlingame’s Washington Park. the shortest porch at South City is down the left-field line, which is “only” 290 feet. The right-field fence is another 40 feet further at 330 down the line.

But it’s center field that gives the field a New York Polo Grounds vibe. The San Francisco Giants’ original home when they were the New York Giants, dead center field at the Polo Grounds was 480 feet. At South City, the number is 385 feet. It would be quite a feat to get one out to dead center.

But more than that, South City’s outfield plays like Coors Field in Colorado, home of the Colorado Rockies, which has a reputation of having an enormous outfield. South City’s dimensions came into play in the bottom of the first as Warriors’ No. 3 hitter, Emilio Oseguera, looped and opposite-field shot into deep left field. The Priory right fielder was playing so far off the line, it seemed he had to sprint a hundred yards to get to the ball.

But left field is so big that when the ball landed — fair — there seemed to be some confusion and Oseguera was tagged out after the ball was relayed to the infield as he wasn’t sure if the ball was fair or not.

Oseguera didn’t let the base-running blunder affect him, though, as he went on to pitch a complete game in earning the win.

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Carlmont will be the center of CCS lacrosse this weekend as the Belmont school hosts all four lacrosse championship games Friday and Saturday.

Carlmont will host the boys’ and girls’ Division I finals at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively, Friday evening. The Division II title games are scheduled for Saturday, with the boys’ championship game starting at 1 p.m. and the girls’ scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

And the Peninsula will be well represented, especially on the girls’ side, with two boys’ teams and five girls’ squads playing in semifinal games Wednesday and Thursday.

San Mateo County is guaranteed a spot in the championship game in both the boys’ and girls’ Division I brackets, and the girls’ Division II tournament, as well.

In one of the boys’ Division I semis, rivals Menlo-Atherton and Sacred Heart Prep will meet for a spot in the final. The Menlo and SHP girls will meet in a Division I semi, while Burlingame and Woodside meet in a Division II semifinal game.

And there is a chance the girls’ Division II final could be an all-county championship, as No. 5 Sequoia will try to knock off top-seeded Gunn.

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Saturday will certainly be hectic. In addition to two CCS lacrosse championship games at Carlmont, the CCS track and field finals will be held at Gilroy High School. Meanwhile, the CCS baseball and softball tournaments begin that day, as well.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.