Merced, Atwater softball in loaded Division II bracket

Bart McAfee hopes he’s spending a lot of time next week driving back and forth to Sacramento. If McAfee’s Merced High softball team can stick around long enough in the playoffs, the Bears will be making three trips to the Sacramento Softball Complex.

Merced (20-6) earned the No. 5 seed in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs and will open against No. 12 Rodriguez (Fairfield) in the first round on Wednesday at 5 p.m. If the Bears keep winning, they’ll travel to Sacramento again on Thursday and Saturday.

“I don’t want to complain, but traveling three out of four days to Sacramento is crazy,” McAfee said. “We’ve just got to go play. It may not be fair, but it’s just how it is.”

Dropping to Division II isn’t going to make anything easier, with nine conference champions in the bracket.

Atwater (15-11) is also in Division II as the No. 13 seed and will open against Tri-City Athletic League champion St. Mary’s (22-4) of Stockton. The Falcons will play on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

“I know they’re always tough,” said Atwater coach Robert Santistevan. “We played them a few years back in the playoffs. They’re in the playoffs every year. We know we’ll have to be at our best.”

The key for most teams in the playoffs against tough competition is scoring runs. That hasn’t been a problem for the Bears in the regular season. Merced is hitting .340 as a team and is averaging 5.6 runs per game.

“We have to hit in the playoffs,” McAfee said. “All of the pitchers are pretty good. Madilyn (Nickles) will pitch well for us. We have to hit.”

Western Athletic Conference champion Pacheco (13-14) earned the No. 10 seed in Division III and will open against No. 7 Lincoln (18-9) in the first round on Tuesday at the Sacramento Softball Complex.

Los Banos (14-13) is the No. 7 seed in Division IV and opens against No. 2 Casa Roble (16-7) at the Arnaiz Softball Complex in Stockton on Thursday at 5 p.m.

In Division VI, top seed Mariposa (22-4) will face No. 8 Golden Sierra (9-7) on Tuesday at Arnaiz. Le Grand (10-16) is the No. 6 seed and will open against No. 3 Argonaut (16-11) at 5 p.m.

Baseball

The Merced baseball team earned the No. 11 seed in the Division I South bracket and will play at No. 6 Lincoln (21-6) of Stockton on Monday at 4 p.m. The winner of that game will play No. 3 Beyer (20-6) on Thursday at the University of the Pacific’s Klein Family Field at 4 p.m.

“I’m actually excited about it,” said Bears coach Justin Parle, whose team enters the playoffs with a 12-15 record. “I thought we might get matched up with Gregori or Beyer, which are teams we’ve played before this year and play during the summer. I like playing a team we haven’t seen before.”

Lincoln has played Turlock and Golden Valley this year, so Parle should be able to get a reliable scouting report from CCC coaches.

Merced has won 11 of its last 14 games.

“We dropped one (Wednesday night), but we have been playing well of late,” Parle said. “We’ve had a couple guys take a step back, but other guys have stepped up lately.”

Los Banos (15-8-1) will also be in action on Monday in an out-bracket game in Division IV. The No. 8 Tigers will host No. 9 Colfax (12-11) at 4 p.m. The winner plays No. 1 El Dorado (22-5) at Lodi’s Tony Zupo Field on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Mariposa (17-5) earned the No. 2 seed in Division VI and will play the winner of an out-bracket game between No. 10 Forest Lake Christian (14-6) and No. 7 San Juan (12-13) on Wednesday at Stagg High School in Stockton at 7 p.m.

This story was originally published May 7, 2015 at 6:37 PM with the headline "Merced, Atwater softball in loaded Division II bracket."