Regular-season success doesn't matter in playoffs

Despite the similarities between the three teams, each one has its own unique story.

Time to make

some noise

Burlingame (23-3) enjoyed one of the finest seasons in the school's history and was rewarded with the No. 1 seed in Division II. As the top seed, the Panthers drew No. 16 Evergreen Valley in the first round at 4 p.m. Thursday in Burlingame.

"All I know is [Evergreen Valley] is a brand new school," said Burlingame manager Rich Sciutto of the school that plays in a "C" league in the West Valley Division of the three-division Blossom Valley Athletic League in San Jose. Playing in a weak league, however, means that Evergreen Valley is a division champion and as such needs to be treated with respect.

The last two seasons the Panthers have been snakebitten. Two years ago, Burlingame, as the No. 13 seed, upset No. 4 Prospect 6-0 in the first round before losing to No. 5 Santa Cruz 4-0 in the second round. In that second-round game, Ryan Peterson made his first varsity start after being called up from the frosh-soph team for the tournament.

Last year as the No. 14 seed, Burlingame took No. 3 Palo Alto to the brink before dropping a 4-3 decision in nine innings.

"I think last year we came in to CCS too confident," said Peterson, now a senior and the team's RBI leader. "My sophomore year, the guy we were facing, he just shoved it so there wasn't much we could do."

The Panthers hope they have learned from those last two post-season appearances. They definitely have the tools and talent to make a run at a title and Sciutto is hoping the intangibles will help them get over the hump.

"You always talk about team chemistry. I think we have that," Sciutto said. "If the kids go out there and give their best effort … we'll come through.

"We don't have that dominant pitcher. We don't have a [Scott] Feldman (now playing in the Houston Astros system) or a [Tony] Brunicardi (playing at CSM). But we have pitchers that keep us in the game [and] throw ground balls."

Sciutto expects Eric Fregosi to make the start on Thursday. Fregosi finished the season with an unblemished record and was recently named the PAL Bay Division's Pitcher of the Year.

"Me and my teammates want to win the whole thing," Peterson said. "We want to show people that we're here to compete and not just happy to be here."

Facing adversity

Carlmont (18-8) had been fairly adversity-free for most of the season. The Scots came into Bay Division play with a 7-1 mark and finished league play with a 10-5 record.

In their last regular-season game of the year, however, adversity raised its ugly head when the PAL Bay Division's Player of the Year, Nick San Filippo, was ejected for swearing at the umpire and manager Norm Hayes was ejected later in the game. At the CCS seeding meeting, the adversity was piled on. Given the No. 15 seed, Carlmont gets the pleasure of facing No. 2 seed Serra at 4 p.m. today.

Hayes was reinstated for the playoffs but San Filippo must serve a one-game suspension.

"A couple of times I've read in the paper that said teams have had to deal with adversity," Hayes said. "Now, we couldn't go through any more. Things happen for a reason. We've played well together all year. There's no reason we can't pull out that game [today]."

Hayes believes playing a team the Scots are familiar with will help them relax and not get caught up in the "Serra mystique." Hayes also factors in the Scots' big-game experience. While this may be Carlmont's first CCS appearance since 2000, a number of players played for the Belmont Joe DiMaggio team that made it to the finals of the state tournament last summer.

"We're only a little bit down the road (from Serra). A couple of the kids even used to go to Serra," Hayes said. "In the summer, a lot of these kids played in the Joe DiMaggio final in Salinas so these kids are used to big games."

Without San Filippo available to pitch in the opener, Hayes will turn to Chris Davidson, who is not short on experience or a stranger to big games. Davidson took the ball just about every other game for the Scots and has plenty of innings under his belt.

"Chris Davidson has pitched in big games all year," Hayes said. "He's been consistent for us all season."

Living up to a legacy

Serra (21-8) has a long tradition of baseball success. A look at names that have come through the program - Barry Bonds, Dan Serafini, Gregg Jeffries, Tom Brady - suggest that the Padres almost have an obligation to do well.

Senior Chuck Lofgren is just the latest in a long line of baseball players to come out of Serra who has a chance to be a household name. A pitcher who throws in the 90s and a bat that can hit for power, Lofgren already has a scholarship to Santa Clara University waiting for him and a spot in a major league organization almost assured him in June's amateur baseball draft.

Does the pressure to win CCS titles and live up to the Padres tradition get to be too great?

"I think it does," Lofgren said. "People see we win the WCAL tournament and people think it's expected to win CCS. What a lot of people don't realize is that the CCS tournament is just as hard, if not harder, to win the WCAL."

The Padres, who haven't won a section title since 1998, will definitely be working from a position of strength as they were awarded the No. 2 seed in Division I and will face Carlmont at 4 p.m. at home today.

The Padres are playing some of their best baseball right now. After losing five of their last seven during the regular season, the Padres won three straight in the West Catholic Athletic League playoffs to capture the WCAL tournament title. In wins over Mitty, St. Francis and Valley Christian, the Padres outscored their opponents 31-20, coming up with 37 hits in three games.

Lofgren doesn't believe it matters where Serra is seeded or who the Padres play. Everyone in the CCS deserves to be there, he said. Lofgren admits it will be a disappointment if Serra does come up short of a CCS title but he would still be satisfied with the season.

"I feel wherever we're seeded we're going to come out strong," Lofgren said, who has played in CCS all four years at Serra. "I want this (championship).

"It would be a satisfying season. I don't think it's a horrible season. I think we could have definitely done better than eight losses. There we're some games we never should have lost."