Here are five things to watch during this year’s Modesto-area baseball playoffs

The 2023 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs kick off this week, including 12 Stanislaus District teams that extended their seasons by either winning a championship or finishing in the top three of their respective leagues. The section released its pairings Saturday afternoon.

The section champion and runner-up both advance to the NorCal Regional bracket.

First-round games for Divisions I through IV are Tuesday, May 9, while the postseason for Divisions V through VII starts Wednesday, May 10. Each game has a 4 p.m. start.

The first two rounds are single elimination, while the semifinals are a best-of-three series. On May 15, the higher seed hosts; May 17, the lower seed hosts; if necessary, the higher seed will host again May 18.

Here are five things to look for during this year’s first round:

League champions look for deep playoff runs

Central California Athletic League champion Pitman, Valley Oak League champion Central Catholic, Trans-Valley League champion Ripon and Central California Athletic Alliance winner Turlock Christian all earned first-round games this postseason. The four winners lost just a combined five games in their respective leagues.

Pitman secured the CCAL championship with wins in a pair of makeup games against Downey, the Division II No. 11 seed, during the last week of the regular season. The Turlock school enters the playoffs riding a seven-game winning streak.

Andy Walker, head coach of the Division II top seed, said the Pitman team is approaching the playoffs much like the regular season. “We’ll sit down and talk about how we want to approach (playoffs) with our pitching staff and see who we get slotted up against,” he said. “We have the same mindset of winning pitches, winning at bats, winning innings and keeping the pressure on the other team.”

Central Catholic locked up the outright VOL title with a win Friday over Manteca. The Raiders advanced to the semifinals last year, losing a best-of-three series to Vanden. Power hitter Braxton Thomas and the three-man pitching rotation of TP Wentworth, Adrian Garcia and Wesley Payne are all back this year with a number of other returners looking for a title game berth since playing in the 2019 Division IV championship.

“It’s the game of baseball and the boys know it, but as far as getting taken by the moment, our boys are ready for it,” coach Danny Ayala said. “They’ve been through it and they’ve been on some big stages already.”

Local teams hosting first-round games

Pitman and Turlock Christian earned No. 1 seeds in their respective divisions and will host the majority of their postseason games. A number of other Stanislaus District teams will host first-round playoff games as well. Here is a list of local home games:

Division II: No. 1 Pitman vs No. 16 Ceres

Division III: No. 3 Central Catholic vs No. 14 Los Banos

Division IV: No. 4 Ripon vs No. 13 Sonora

Division V: No. 4 Hughson vs No. 5 Ben Holt

Division VII: No. 1 Turlock Christian vs No. 8 Foresthill, No. 3 Ripon Christian vs No. 6 Rio Vista

First-round game to watch

Despite tying for the top spot in the Southern Athletic League, Ripon Christian (18-6) dropped to Division VII and Le Grand earned the No. 4 seed in Division VI. Both finished with 12-2 league records. The Knights earned the No. 3 seed in Division VII and will host Rio Vista on Wednesday.

After playing in blowouts for the majority of the season, Ripon Christian played in four close contests to end Southern League play. The team came from behind to sweep Orestimba, then split its final series of the season against Mariposa County. The Knights ended their season with a 1-0 loss Friday.

Rio Vista (8-6) finished second in the Sierra Delta League and has won six straight entering the postseason.

“This was fun because we hadn’t had it all year,” Knights head coach John de Visser said of the close games after the second matchup with Orestimba. “I really was curious to see how they’re going to fight ... and they had to come back to win twice. That’s a good sign for us going ... into the playoffs.”

Postseason players to watch

Braxton Thomas, Central Catholic: Tied for the most home runs in California with 10 and is among the best in the section in slugging percentage.

TP Wentworth, Central Catholic: Ranked 12th in the nation in no-hitters (2), fourth in the section with seven wins, and 15th in the section in runs (33).

Gavin Farinha, Turlock Christian: Second in the section in strikeouts (97), second in wins (8) and eighth in California with a 0.15 ERA.

Rob York, Turlock Christian: Has six wins and is one of the top pitchers in the nation with a 0 ERA.

Owen Wilbur, Ripon: Second in the section and eighth in California in home runs (7).

Robert McDaniel, Hughson: Ranked 21st in California and fourth in the section in home runs (6), and 19th in the state and fourth in the section in RBIs (34).

JC Lupercio, Hughson: Fifth in the section in runs (38) and 13th in on-base percentage (.621).

Grant Sonke, Ripon Christian: Second in California and leads the section in runs (44) and is 12th in the state and fourth in the section in stolen bases (32).

Eli Terpsma, Ripon Christian: Ranked ninth in the section in runs (36).

Dustin Hoekstra, Ripon Christian: ranked sixth in the section in RBIs (32) and is seventh in strikeouts (86).

Unbeaten team riding win streak into postseason

Linden High has won 23 straight games this season and as a result was awarded the No. 8 seed in Division II. The Lions took a big jump from the Division V postseason entry they earned last season. They were the No. 2 seed in 2022 and advanced to the semifinals before falling to Hughson in a best-of-three series.

This year, the team that went 14-0 in the San Joaquin Athletic Association will host No. 9 Rodriguez on Tuesday. The Lions have scored 221 runs this season, including plating 10 or more runs in 14 games, and won seven games via shutout. Offensively, they are led by JT Cox, who is batting .500 with 31 hits, eight doubles, two triples and 31 runs. On the mound, Brady Carvalho and Eric Alvarez each have seven wins and Alvarez leads the team with a .72 ERA.