LAKEPORT — There are plenty of familiar faces in the quarterfinal round of the North Coast Section Division IV softball playoffs, including the participants in two of the last three section championship games, none other than the Clear Lake Cardinals and the St. Patrick/St.Vincent Bruins.
St. Patrick/St. Vincent of Vallejo, champion of the Bayshore Athletic League, is once again the No. 1 seed and brings a 22-2 record into Saturday”s action against No. 8 McKinleyville (15-9). The Bruins are the two-time defending section champions and are bidding to reach the finals for the fifth year in a row. They beat St. Vincent of Petaluma 7-0 in 2006 to win their first section title, lost 2-1 the following season to a 27-0 Clear Lake club in the finals, came back in 2008 to beat Justin-Siena of Napa 4-1 in the championship game, and defeated Clear Lake 2-1 last season for their third title in four years.
If the Bruins win on Saturday, they”ll draw the winner of No. 4 Cloverdale (17-4) vs. No. 5 Justin-Siena in the semifinal on either Tuesday or Wednesday. Cloverdale and Justin-Siena play 4 p.m. Saturday in Cloverdale.
On the other side of the bracket, it”s No. 2 seed Clear Lake (20-4) home Saturday to take on the No. 7 Fort Bragg Timberwolves (17-7) at 2 p.m., and No. 3 Berean Christian (15-7) of Walnut Creek home Saturday to play Marin Catholic (11-16) of Kentfield at noon in Walnut Creek.
The Clear Lake-Fort Bragg game is a battle between two North Central League I champions — the Cardinals of the South and the Timberwolves of the North. Those two teams met eight days ago in Lakeport in interlock action, Clear Lake prevailing 17-7 in six innings although the Timberwolves did wipe out most of an 8-1 deficit, closing to 8-7 before the Cardinals pulled away.
Fort Bragg has won six section titles, second only to Cloverdales”s eight. While the Timberwolves” last section championship team was in 1998, capping a run of four titles in six seasons, the Mendocino County school maintains a tradition of excellence in the sport along with fellow NCL I teams Cloverdale and Clear Lake.
Berean Christian is no stranger to the Division IV (formerly Class A) playoffs, having appeared in three straight title games between 2003-05. The Eagles lost to Justin-Siena in 2003, beat Cloverdale in 2004, and lost to Cloverdale in a 2005 rematch.
Marin Catholic, the lowest remaining seed at No. 11, scored the only upset in first-round action on Wednesday, beating No. 6 St. Mary”s 7-3. Three years ago the Wildcats lost 3-0 to Clear Lake in the semifinals.
