Inside the numbers

That leaves just baseball and softball — the two sports that have the latest playoff starting date. Well, that date is almost here as the first round of the CCS baseball and softball postseason begins Saturday in six brackets in each sport.

Here are a few interesting tidbits that I’ve gleaned while looking at all the matchups:

Softball

The West Catholic Athletic and the Pacific Coast Athletic League’s Gabilan Division may have won more CCS titles, but the Peninsula Athletic League’s Bay Division has shown this season, that top to bottom, there may not be a better division in the section.

Not only do they beat up on each other in division play, the top teams from the PAL aren’t afraid to go out and find tough preseason tournaments and non-league opponents to toughen them up for the rigors of Bay play and CCS.

This season, seven of the eight Bay Division squads qualified for CCS. The WCAL has four of seven teams in the playoffs, while the PCAL’s Gabilan qualified six of eight teams.

The PAL Bay gets four automatic bids — Carlmont (Bay champ, No. 8 seed Open Division), Hillsdale (Bay runner-up, No. 4 Open Division), Capuchino (third place Bay, No. 2 Division II) and Aragon (fourth place Bay, No. 4 Division IV) were the four auto qualifiers —  with Ocean Division champion Mills (No. 5 Division IV) being the eighth team to qualify from the PAL.

But that means three other Bay Division teams received at-large bids, which is no small feat, considering of the 48 teams in the six divisions, only 15 teams receive at-large bids. San Mateo, which lost out on an automatic bid after Aragon won a tiebreaker after they tied for fourth in the Bay Division standings, is seeded No. 8 in Division III.

Burlingame, which finished sixth in the Bay Division, and seventh-place Woodside, were the big surprises. Not only did the Panthers qualify, they garnered the No. 1 seed in Division V with an overall record of 10-12. The Panthers are making their second straight appearance in CCS, having gone 1-1 last year.

For the Wildcats, this is their first CCS appearance since they made it all the way to the Division III championship game in 2021. They are the No. 7 seed in Division III.

Baseball

The 20-win mark in high school sports has been deemed the pinnacle of success. Of the 48 teams that qualified for CCS, nine collected 20 or more wins, led by Valley Christian, with a CCS-best of 26-4.

Of those nine, a third hail from the county. Serra, seeded second in Division I, leads the way with a 22-6 mark. Woodside, seeded No. 6 in Division III, is 21-3-1; South City, No. 4 in Division IV, finished the regular season 21-5.

The other 20-win teams are: Los Gatos (23-4), St. Francis-Watsonville, (22-3), Carmel (22-5), Lincoln-San Jose (21-4) and Piedmont Hills (20-6).

***

Menlo College will be hosting a prospect camp Aug. 10 for high school — freshmen through seniors — and junior college players. It is an opportunity for players to be seen by a four-year school and get a tour of the school’s campus and facilities.

Menlo manager Alex Hoover, along with his staff and former Oaks players will be on hand to guide players through a professional-style workout, as well as receive an evaluation from the staff. Cost is $175 for position or two-way players, while registration for pitching only is $150. The camp runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a morning and afternoon session, with a lunch break between. Campers need to bring their own food.

Bring all your gear, as well as post-workout attire.

For more information, you can contact Hoover by email at alex.hoover@menlo.edu.

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