Avery Motroni is one of three seniors on the Cap softball team
Capuchino has seen its share of tough draws in the Central Coast Section postseason.
In 2015, the Mustangs were seeded No. 15 in the Division II baseball tournament, but advanced into the semifinals of the 16-team bracket with a 10-7 win at No. 2 Aptos in the first round, and a 2-1 win over No. 7 Burlingame in the quarterfinals.
“It definitely gives you a boost when you can beat a higher seed than you,” Mustangs manager Matt Wilson said.
Declan Mendel is one of 10 seniors on the Cap baseball team
Daily Journal file photoCap earned another tough draw with the CCS playoff brackets for both baseball and softball being announced Tuesday.
With more brackets consisting of less teams than they did in 2015, the Mustangs were saddled with the No. 8 seed in the eight-team CCS Division II baseball tournament. Cap will travel to No. 1 Leigh-San Jose for Saturday’s postseason opener at noon. It is an unfortunate seeding in the CCS structure based on power points, as it is a thin line between being the bottom seed in a higher bracket and the No. 1 seed in the lower bracket.
“Yeah, I kind of thought the whole time we were going to land in Division III,” Wilson said. “But, yeah, it just shows that we’re respected. And for us, our guys are super excited, and I think we’re up for the challenge.”
Cap softball also received a tough draw. While the Lady Mustangs will open at home, they are the Peninsula Athletic League’s lone representative in the elite CCS Open Division tournament. Cap earned the No. 4 seed in the Open, and will host No. 5 Valley Christian Saturday at 11 a.m.
“It’s an honor to be there,” Cap head coach Tanya Borghello said. “You know if you’re there, you belong there. But you know it’s always a challenging place to be.”
The Lady Mustangs are returning to the CCS Open tournament for the second time in three years. In 2023, Cap landed the No. 6 seed and traveled to No. 3 Hollister. The Mustangs were eliminated with a 7-1 loss to the Haybalers.
Borghello said her 2023 team was intimidated by walking into Hollister’s softball facility, which she said is like walking into a big college stadium. This year’s home-field advantage could loom large for that reason, she said.
“We were just happy to be on the top of the bracket,” Borghello said. “We knew that we wanted to be at home ... and I think that might be the difference maker for them.”
Three current Mustangs remain from that 2023 squad, seniors Avery Motroni, Lola Sierra and Nadia Keishk. The personality of this year’s team is markedly different, though.
“This team’s younger,” Borghello said. “I know that their behavior — when I say ‘behavior,’ I don’t mean in a poor way — their energy, enthusiasm ... is a lot more robust.”
Cap has received big contributions from its young roster this season, with freshman Star Gutierrez living up to her first name. Gutierrez is batting .457 with a team-best six home runs in her first varsity season. In fact, her first varsity home run came against the same Valley Christian team the Mustangs will host Saturday, going yard with a shot to right field March 25 in Cap’s 10-7 extra-inning victory in San Jose.
The CCS Open Division tournament is, as expected, stacked with the top teams in the section. No. 1-seed Willow Glen is on the same side of the bracket at Cap, while No. 2 Saint Francis-Mountain View is the returning CCS Open champion. No. 8 Mitty also opted in to the Open Division tournament, despite finishing in third place in the West Catholic Athletic League.
“As long as these girls come to play, they’re going to be tough to beat,” Borghello said.
The Mustangs opened the PAL Bay Division baseball season with a 2-4 record. From there, they went on a 7-1 run to finish in second place in the Bay, three games back of league champion Menlo-Atherton, though the two teams split their season series.
Unlike the softball team, Cap baseball has a predominantly upperclassman roster, including 10 seniors.
“I am grateful that we have the chance to still play baseball, and I get to be around this team that I absolutely love for another week,” Wilson said. “And hopefully we can pull it together and get a win.”
With no Open Division bracket in baseball, the Division II bracket is truly the second tier. No PAL teams qualified for the Division I bracket, which includes five WCAL teams. Menlo-Atherton earned the No. 2 seed in Division II, and is on the opposite side of the bracket as Cap.
While Wilson said he entered the CCS seeding meeting thinking Cap could land a high seed in Division III, he also said his Mustangs landed right where they should be.
“It’s a long meeting,” Wilson said. “It’s a three-hour meeting. So there’s a lot that goes into it. There’s a lot of good baseball guys in there, a lot of good baseball minded people, and people who just want to make the CCS ... the most competitive tournament possible.”
Cap will travel to Leigh with senior right-hander Declan Mendel the scheduled starting pitcher. In 11 appearances this season, Mendel owns a 7-0 record with a 0.70 ERA.
“They’re excited for the challenge,” Wilson said, “Leigh is a really good team ... and we have Declan on the hill, and he’s our best. And we’ll see if they can hit our best, and we’ll see if we can hit their best.”
Division I
No. 8 Palma (21-6) at No. 1 Serra (23-6), Saturday, 1 p.m.
Division II
No. 7 Pioneer (14-10) at No. 2 Menlo-Atherton (20-7), Saturday, 1 p.m.
No. 8 Capuchino (17-10) at No. 1 Leigh (21-6), Saturday, noon.
Division III
No. 7 Los Altos (19-8) at No. 2 Sequoia (15-12), Saturday, 1 p.m.
Division IV
No. 8 Santa Clara (24-3) at No. 1 Carlmont (13-14), Saturday, 11 a.m.
No. 7 Hillsdale (12-13) at No. 2 St. Francis SCP-Watsonville (13-14), Saturday, 3 p.m.
Division V
No. 8 Soledad (10-16) at No. 1 Menlo (18-8), Saturday, 2 p.m.
No. 4 Terra Nova (18-6-1) vs. No. 5 Piedmont Hills (18-9) at Westmoor, Saturday, 1 p.m.
Division VI
No. 8 Design Tech (13-8) at No. 1 Stevenson (16-8), Saturday, noon
No. 7 North Salinas (19-5) at No. 2 South City (21-5), Saturday, 1 p.m.
Open Division
No. 5 Valley Christian (21-6) at No. 4 Capuchino (20-6), Saturday, 11 a.m.
Division I
No. 6 Mills (21-3-1) at No. 3 Saratoga (19-2), Saturday, 9 a.m.
Division II
No. 8 Branham (14-12) at No. 1 Hillsdale (16-9-1), Saturday, 10 a.m.
No. 7 San Mateo (14-9) at No. 2 Pacific Grove (17-7), Saturday, 2:30 p.m.
No. 5 Piedmont Hills (18-6) at No. 4 Notre Dame-Belmont (19-4-1), Saturday, 10 a.m.
Division IV
No. 6 San Lorenzo Valley (12-9) at No. 3 Woodside (13-11), Saturday, 1 p.m.
Division V
No. 7 Design Tech (13-6) at No. 2 South City (14-8), Saturday, 3 p.m..
No. 5 Sequoia (12-9) at No. 4 King City (15-11), Saturday, 10 a.m.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Murder for Two Read moreMurder For Two
Kicks or Treats: Dance for Free Week at CY Danceworks! Read moreKicks or Treats Dance for Free Week at CY Danceworks
Burlingame High School Panther Theater group brings Neil's Simon's farce Rumors to life on O… Read moreNeil Simon's Rumors: Burlingame High School Drama
BSA Troop 44 invites all 5th-8th grade boys and girls to our annual Canoe Day event! Meet ou… Read moreBoys & girls grades 5th - 8th: Join us for Canoe Day!
anna kuhre said:
Mike Caggiano said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.