El Capitan baseball closes out CCC championship, awaits postseason seeding
The El Capitan High baseball team claimed the outright Central California Conference championship on Wednesday with a 2-0 win over Los Banos.
The Gauchos improved to 13-1 in the CCC and lead second-place Atwater (11-3) with one game remaining on the league schedule.
El Capitan went into the week needing two wins over Los Banos to claim the outright championship. The Gauchos made a statement with their 11-0 victory Monday, then closed out the title with a close victory Wednesday.
Seniors Benny Centeno and Matt McQuillen each drove in a run for El Capitan. Centeno started on the mound for the Gauchos, allowing no runs on eight hits and striking out six Los Banos batters. Sophomore Brennan Casey allowed no hits in the seventh inning to close out the victory.
The Gauchos (20-7 overall) can now look ahead to the postseason. They can rest some players in the regular season finale against Los Banos (7-7) on Friday.
The Sac-Joaquin Section baseball playoffs begin Tuesday with play-in games. The brackets will be announced Saturday.
The section champion and runner-up advance to the NorCal Regional tournament.
Here are the current CCC baseball standings, with one game left:
- El Capitan 13-1
- Atwater 11-3
- Los Banos 7-7
- Buhach Colony 6-8
- Merced 4-10
- Golden Valley 1-13
