NorCal Baseball Brackets

[FBAddict]

CIF NorCal baseball regionals
First-round games Tuesday

Division I

No. 8 Del Campo-Fair Oaks at No. 1 De La Salle, 4 p.m.

No. 5 Foothill at No. 4 Palo Alto, 4 p.m.

No. 6 Valley Christian at No. 3 Whitney-Rocklin, 4 p.m.

No. 7 Cardinal Newman at No. 2 St. Francis, 6 p.m.

Division II

No. 8 Vanden at No. 1 Bellarmine, 4 p.m.

No. 5 Ukiah at No. 4 Granite Bay, 4 p.m.

No. 6 McClatchy-Sacramento at No. 3 Pleasant Valley-Chico, 4 p.m.

No. 7 Clovis East at No. 2 Archbishop Mitty, 4 p.m.

Division III

No. 8 Central-Fresno vs. No. 1 Monterey at Sollecito Field, Monterey, 6 p.m.

No. 5 Foothill-Palo Cedro at No. 4 St. Bernard’s-Eureka, 4 p.m.

No. 6 Sutter at No. 3 Rio Americano-Sacramento, 4 p.m.

No. 7 Alpha Charter-Elverta at No. 2 Petaluma, 4 p.m.

Division IV

No. 8 Branson at No. 1 Colusa, 4 p.m.

No. 5 Calaveras at No. 4 Christopher, 4 p.m.

No. 6 St. Mary’s-Berkeley at No. 3 St. Francis-Watsonville, 4 p.m.

No. 7 Madera South at No. 2 Bradshaw Christian-Sacramento, 4 p.m.

No. 8 Washington-San Francisco at No. 1 Monte Vista Christian, 4 p.m.

Division V

No. 8 Washington-San Francisco at No. 1 Monte Vista Christian, 4 p.m.

No. 5 Etna at No. 4 Durham, 4 p.m.

No. 6 Berean Christian vs. No. 3 Skyline at Laney College, 4 p.m.

No. 7 Mendota vs. No. 2 Turlock Christian at Pedretti Park, 6 p.m.

 

[FBAddict]

Comparing Bracket alignments to Maxpreps rankings and overall record

DI
1. De La Salle, MP #10, 23-7
2. St. Francis, MP #4, 28-4
3. Whitney, MP #23, 28-5
4. Palo Alto, MP #7, 28-5
5. Foothill, MP #11, 25-4
6. Valley Christian, MP #18, 24-7-1
7. Cardinal Newman, MP #15, 23-5
8. Del Campo, MP #56, 29-4

DII
9. Bellarmine, MP #40, 21-9-1
10. Mitty, MP #35, 20-10
11. Pleasant Valley, MP #31, 27-3
12. Granite Bay, MP #70, 21-19
13. Ukiah, MP #111, 19-9
14. McClatchy, MP #60, 28-4
15. Clovis East, MP #130, 18-14
16. Vanden, MP #59, 29-5

Well that's enough for me to know that MaxPreps ratings has very little merit in the seeding of the NorCal Baseball brackets. Maybe someone else has more insight to how the CIF Baseball Committee used the criteria for seeding placement. I am pretty new to the Baseball rankings data as it turns out.

 

[larry legend33]

Newman wins Ncs d2 and gets a brutal road game at st Francis. But I thought they may end up in d2.

 

[bella123]

It’s new so give it the benefit of the doubt for this year. Kind of a head scratcher St. Bernard’s is D6 for NCS and gets pulled up to D3 for this? Bellarmine and Mitty are not teams I’d normally say should be in a second tier (D2) for baseball?

The way the current set up is, kinda makes the Boras classic absolute down the road?The only difference right now is the Socal and Norcal champ playing each other, which you would think could be down the road.

 

[FBAddict]

Newman wins Ncs d2 and gets a brutal road game at st Francis. But I thought they may end up in d2.

By MP ratings, CN does belong in DI. The elimination of enrollment as a criteria factor means CN belongs in NorCal DI. NCS uses enrollment as a part of their division alignment which puts CN in NCS D2.

I also notice that the CIF Baseball committee seemed to work hard to ensure there were no inter-sectional matches in the first round. This, of course, may cause some strength misalignments in the brackets.

 

[Streak One]

Looks like head to head was a big factor too, which can be hard in a sport like baseball. IMO its the reason DLS is over St. Francis and Del Campo is in D1 with McClatchy in D2.

Overall, not a bad job given the toughness to rank baseball teams and this being the first year. Looking forward to some fun games

 

[bella123]

Looks like head to head was a big factor too, which can be hard in a sport like baseball. IMO its the reason DLS is over St. Francis and Del Campo is in D1 with McClatchy in D2.

Overall, not a bad job given the toughness to rank baseball teams and this being the first year. Looking forward to some fun games

If you use head to head as a criteria, then unless you use starting pitching that game as a metric/factor as well then it can be pretty pointless.

 

[mrbig864]

MP rankings are one thing, but I’m also curious at how a Team finished in their section championships. Ie…are their any non-section champs in DI? (I on,y followed the SJS for baseball)

 

[FBAddict]

If you use head to head as a criteria, then unless you use starting pitching that game as a metric/factor as well then it can be pretty pointless.

They have to use factors like head-to-head and other tangible factors. But if you get so granular as to use pitchers (and others) as criteria, it gets really muddled quickly. There are number of percentage factors in baseball - quite a bit more than many other sports. Golf is similar except you only compete against the course instead of competing against an opposing golfer. So you could take golf and increase its odds by at least x2 (probably much more to equal 9 players) to get a similar feel.

But I do agree that generally head-to-head factors, especial for 1 game, is not very representative.

 

[mrbig864]

From a SJS POV, seems some benefit was given to winning a section title. Seems to explain why GB would have a higher seed (and home game) than McClatchy (lower seed and a road game) who seems to have a better resume (And no section title).

 

[mrbig864]

While I agree a single head to head game in baseball can be misleading, because a single dominant pitcher can be a huge equalizer. Yet the irony is that the NorCal playoffs is all single elimination. 😃

 

[FBAddict]

MP rankings are one thing, but I’m also curious at how a Team finished in their section championships. Ie…are their any non-section champs in DI? (I on,y followed the SJS for baseball)

Yes -
DI #4 Palo Alto is a CCS DI runner up
DI #5 Foothill is a NCS DI runner up
DI #6 Valley Christian is a CCS DI semi-finalist

 

[FBAddict]

While I agree a single head to head game in baseball can be misleading, because a single dominant pitcher can be a huge equalizer. Yet the irony is that the NorCal playoffs is all single elimination. 😃

LOL - true about single elimination! All the marbles for one game! But you have draw the line somewhere. Maybe a double elimination for a #3 and #4 spot could work. Travel costs start mounding though.

 

[mrbig864]

LOL - true about single elimination! All the marbles for one game! But you have draw the line somewhere. Maybe a double elimination for a #3 and #4 spot could work. Travel costs start mounding though.

Yea they really need to keep it to single elimination at this point, but one game is a huge equalizer in baseball. Anything can happen.

 

[bella123]

LOL - true about single elimination! All the marbles for one game! But you have draw the line somewhere. Maybe a double elimination for a #3 and #4 spot could work. Travel costs start mounding though.

Personally I’d just have it at one location and have it go 2-3 days. No different then summer ball playing in a tournament. Best teams with better depth most likely win out as it should be.

 

[mrbig864]

Personally I’d just have it at one location and have it go 2-3 days. No different then summer ball playing in a tournament. Best teams with better depth most likely win out as it should be.

Two big differences between HS and travel ball - money and time. Can’t ask these schools/teams to cover travel costs of a 2-3 day tourney. Not to mention the time suck of sitting in some random town as the school year wraps. Half these teams are still in school and have graduation ceremonies over the next week or two. The other half are already on summer vacation. While a tourney format would be cool, it’s a tough ask. Adding a Nor Cal playoff to baseball is a long time coming, I think we are all happy it happened at all.

 

[larry legend33]

The single elimination baseball with some rest days is going to favor these underdog as we know.
Newman returns a ton of kids and a great JV team so there future is bright. SF is a tall order for them but debendetti will have them ready.
I saw Whitney play and I like that team. Great defensively and Gilmore is a stud on the mound. They may lack some bats though to beat a power like Valley Christian.
I think DLS will end up playing foothill again in the top half.

 

[Streak One]

If you use head to head as a criteria, then unless you use starting pitching that game as a metric/factor as well then it can be pretty pointless.

Definitely agree. Was more talking about what I thought the committee did. Not what I would have done haha

 

[bella123]

Definitely agree. Was more talking about what I thought the committee did. Not what I would have done haha

Yes I did figure as much lol. We’ve been saying it for years, but baseball is a different animal. Even though it’s a team sport only one guy controls the overall dynamics of a game and that can’t be underestimated.

It’s like betting on baseball, theres a reason you can go with listing a pitcher. It’s that important.