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Competitive equity.
No, it’s not some political narrative, but rather it’s what the North Coast Section has been practicing when it comes to the NCS playoffs.
Instead of the divisions being determined by enrollment of the member schools, the divisions are determined by what NCS figures where schools belong from a competitive standpoint.
This year in baseball, NCS awarded a spot in the Division IV playoffs to Livermore High.
The Cowboys went 6-18 in the regular season playing in arguably the top league in the area – the East Bay Athletic League.
But Cowboys’ coach Dave Perotti, in his 27th year guiding the Livermore program, made genius scheduling moves, playing some teams that were in the lower divisions earlier in the year.
And they won those games, beating teams like San Marin (14-1) and Santa Rosa (21-2). Santa Rosa ended up in the D-IV playoffs as well, advancing to the second round.
So, while the EBAL teams were busy fighting for spots in the D-I or D-II playoffs, Livermore was getting the No. 11 seed in the D-IV tournament.
I can’t recall an EBAL team in the D-IV playoffs, so when the brackets came out, I didn’t even look and had no idea the Cowboys were in NCS.
In fact, I had no idea until I was looking at the CIF NorCal brackets and saw Livermore in D-IV that I realized I missed something.
The lone mistake NCS made was seeding the Cowboys down at No. 11.
“My guys felt when we got into D-IV, we should win it,” Perotti said. “This was the level we belonged in, but it was one of the most unexpected runs.”
And they did take the NCS banner, but it wasn’t easy.
In the first round they beat Piedmont 4-2, then followed with a 8-6 win over Justin-Siena. The semifinals saw the Cowboys beat No. 2 seed Albany 8-6 to set up a championship game with No. 5 Newark Memorial.
With the championship game tied 6-6, Nico Rodriguez hit a two-run homer to give Livermore an 8-6 lead in the top of the seventh. In the bottom half, Newark got one run back and a hit to center with two outs appeared it was going to score the tying run, but freshman outfielder Jack Wilhite hit freshman catcher Lucas Boosahda on the money, and he made the tag to give Livermore the title.
“We barely won every game,” Perotti said. “We had to battle to win each game.”
Both on and off the field.
Because many figured the Cowboys would not make the postseason, the seniors on the team were busy doing senior things.
“We had nine of the 11 seniors miss the first NCS game because they were on a senior trip to Disneyland,” Perotti said with a laugh.
Still, they won the NCS crown and in turn were seeded No. 2 in the NorCal tournament.
“No. 11 in NCS to No. 2 in NorCal,” said Perotti, once again laughing. “That’s pretty crazy.”
And by being the No. 2 seed, Livermore is hosting Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m. against No. 7 University Prep of Redding.
When Perotti mentioned he had never heard of the school, I told him that was OK … they probably had never heard of Livermore High.
School is out now, and there are going to be some seniors missing out for senior trips.
“My two best hitters are going to Italy for a senior trip,” Periotti said. “I’m not mad at them all. They had this trip planned for a long time now.”
One of the seniors that will be on hand is Livermore ace Braden Ford. Ford is headed to play for UC Santa Barbara in the fall and is such a stud, he kept the Cowboys in games all year.
He is 5-2 this year and has struck out 77 batters in 54 innings pitched.
Just to make it this far is a feather in the Livermore caps.
“We told the kids our slogan was, ‘June,’” Perotti said. “If you make it to June, you must have won NCS. Honestly, it’s all gravy now. We’ll get some of the young kids some time and enjoy the chance to still be playing.”
Other NorCal news
Other EBAL teams still playing in the NorCal tournament are De La Salle and Granada in baseball and San Ramon Valley and Foothill in softball.
De La Salle won the NCS D-I title and is the top seed in the D-I NorCal tournament. The Spartans host No. Saint Francis on Tuesday.
Granada lost in the D-I finals to De La Salle and are the No. 7 NorCal seed, traveling to No. 2 St. Mary’s of Stockton on Tuesday afternoon.
In softball, San Ramon Valley is the No. 5 seed and travels to No. 4 Saint Francis in the D-I tournament. Foothill is the No. 7 seed in the D-III tournament and No. 2 plays Las Plumas of Oroville on Tuesday in the first round.
CIF State Track/Field
Here is how the EBAL athletes fared in the finals of the CIF State Track/Field.
Girls
* Gretchen Yakaitis (Carondelet) 3rd, 1,600 (4:44.31); 5th, 3,200 (10:15.80).
* Tatum Trucks (Carondelet) 6th, 100H (13.84); 9th, 300H (43.96).
* Hope Dickmann (San Ramon Valley) 6th, 300H (42.46).
* Rachael Osicka (California) 2nd, High Jump (5-7).
Boys
* De La Salle 6th, 4×100 relay (49.98).
* Ayden Parker (Dougherty Valley) 6th, 400 (47.20).
* Chase Young (De La Salle) 7th, 300H (37.78).
* Nikolas Brown (San Ramon Valley) 8th, Pole Vault (15-2).
* Damari Dean (De La Salle) 2nd, Long Jump (24-1).
