After a long regular season, four Santa Cruz County softball teams are eager to jump right into the Central Coast Section playoffs set to begin Saturday.
Aptos, San Lorenzo Valley, Scotts Valley and Watsonville each earned a trip to the postseason in hopes of bringing home a section title.
Each team had five days to prepare for their opponent, which is something some coaches would like to avoid. However, Watsonville head coach Patrick Rodirgiuez didn’t mind the short break one bit.
“It’s been a long season, so we have a lot to go over, kind of prepare,” he said. “I don’t think four or five days of rest, recovery and going over our skills is going to hurt us.”
After beating Carmel in last week’s CCS play-in game, Watsonville (13-13) earned the No. 2 seed in the Division IV bracket, and they will host No. 7 Cupertino (15-8) at 2pm.
“I feel like we have a really good team,” Rodriguez said. “[Compteing] in the Gabilan Division, our record didn’t really reflect it but we’re going up against stacked teams. Salinas, Monterey, Hollister and all these big Gabilan teams, they’re fully loaded. Once we get a team that’s in our caliber or range, we look really, really good.”
The Wildcatz placed fifth with a 2-10 record in the Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan Division, which is the highest tier of the three divisions within the league. Yet, they still earned one of the highest seeds in D-IV and are hosting at least one more game.
SLV (12-9), which placed third in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League, were handed the No. 6 seed in the D-IV bracket. They will play at No. 3 Woodside (13-11)—fifth-place finishers in the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division. First-pitch is scheduled for 1pm.
Aptos (15-7)—runner-up in the SCCAL—is the No. 7 seed in the D-III playoffs. They will play at No. 2 Alisal (18-6)—runner-up in the PCAL Mission Division—on Saturday at noon.
“I’m surprised that they didn’t put us higher,” Rodriguez said. “ But, I’m not mad at it at the same time.”
In 2024, Watsonville won the PCAL Mission Division crown but they were ousted by Monterey in the D-I playoffs following a 10-0 loss in the quarterfinals.
“I kind of feel like Scotts Valley got that same treatment [this year],” Rodriguez added.
SCCAL champion Scotts Valley (21-5-1) earned the No. 7 seed in the D-I bracket and will play at No. 2 Gilroy (18-7)—runner-up in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton Division.
“We’re going to have our work cut out for us, but I believe we’re a good team, as well,” said Scotts Valley head coach Jeremy Wilson. “If we could just have good, competitive at-bats and not just swing at anything, play solid defense and pitch like we know we can, I think we can give anybody a game.”
Winning a second consecutive SCCAL title was a goal for the Falcons prior to the beginning of the regular season. However, it almost seems as if the league champion is punished rather than rewarded for a great season.
The Falcons had the No. 5 seed in the D-II playoffs in 2024, and played against a Milpitas school that has five times the student enrollment size than Scotts Valley.
In 2023, SLV was tossed into the Open Division as the No. 8 seeded team but was quickly ousted by powerhouse Saint Francis of Mountain View—which at the time was the top team in California.
“That’s ridiculous,” Wilson said. “I think there should be some sort of alignment based on population and by school population. We’re 600 kids at Scotts Valley…We would like to keep playing, that’s the thing.”
“If we’re placed in the proper division against what I would say would be comparable teams, I think we could really hold our own. But that’s not to say we can’t do well against Gilroy, either,” he added.
