Area softball teams prepare for postseason runs

Appeal-Democrat

Seven Mid-Valley high school softball teams have qualified for the post-season, which begins Tuesday.

Of the six, Wheatland, East Nicolaus, Colusa and Sutter drew first-round home games, with East Nicolaus and Sutter earning No. 1 seeds in their respective divisions.

Wheatland, the No. 3 seed in the Northern Section Div. IV playoffs, hosts No. 6 Mt. Shasta, while No. 5 Live Oak is at No. 4 Corning on Tuesday. Sutter, the No. 1 seed, drew a first-round bye and does not play until Thursday, when they hosts the Live Oak-Corning winner.

East Nicolaus is the No. 1 seed in the Northern Section Div. V playoffs. The Spartans drew a first-round bye and face the winner of the No. 9 Burney vs. No. 8 Modoc clash at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. Burney and Modoc square off at noon Tuesday on the East Nicolaus field.

"This is the first time in four years we're the No. 1 seed," said East Nicolaus coach Richard Quick said. "We've always been the No. 2 seed before. It's nice to be the No. 1 seed and playing at home throughout the playoffs."

Quick said he does not know a lot about Burney or Modoc, although he did talk Saturday with the Fall River coach. All three are in the Shasta Cascade League.

"The Fall River coach said both are pretty solid," Quick said. "They are solid and have good, but not super, overpowering pitching."

One of the keys for East Nicolaus, Quick said, will be if pitchers Lydia White or Holli Bingaman can throw strikes.

"And we need to keep our bats working," Quick said. "We have a tendency to score a few runs and then let up. We need to come out with a lot of intensity."

Colusa, the No. 3 seed in the Northern Section Div. V playoffs, host No. 14 Chester at noon on Tuesday. If the Redskins win, they turn right around and play the winner of the No. 6 Esparto vs. No. 11 Portola contest at 4 p.m. Esparto and Portola clash at 2 p.m. in Colusa on Tuesday.

Maxwell, the No. 5 seed in the Northern Section Div. VI playoffs, travels to No. 4 Loyalton on Tuesday for a 4 p.m. contest.

Lindhurst is the lone Mid-Valley team to qualify for the playoffs in the Sac-Joaquin Section. The Blazers, the No. 3 team from the Golden Empire League, takes on Woodland Christian, the No. No. 1 seed from the Central Valley Christian League, at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Lodi Softball Complex in the Div. VI playoffs.

NORTHERN SECTION

DIV. IV

Mt. Shasta at Wheatland

The Pirates (13-13-1) are led by Anna West, who is hitting .446 and Chylsi Coker, who is batting .407.

MacKenzie Hannah leads Mt. Shasta (11-12) with a .467 batting average.

Live Oak at Corning

The Lions (11-11) are led by Mercedez Duenas, who is hitting .559, Allison Yanez, who is batting .457 and Chelsie Eas on, who is hitting .409.

Jessica Flores leads the Cardinals (19-15) with a .500 batting average.

Live Oak-Corning winner

at Sutter

Jackie Sizemore and Chanell Thurman led the Huskies (33-2) at the plate with .495 batting averages. Jessica Moore is hitting .477, Heidi McAllister is batting .468 and Ashley Rovito is hitting .465.

Moore is 23-1 in the circle, having registered 17 shutouts and eight no-hitters.

DIV. V

Burney-Modoc winner

at East Nicolaus

The Spartans (24-3) are led by Alex Ortiz, who is batting .671, Nikki Bingaman, who is hitting .571, Heidi Goss, who is batting .451, Lydia White, who is hitting .412 and Holli Bingaman, who is batting .406.

Kayla Jones leads Burney (14-11-1) with a .452 batting average, while Maryah Snow is hitting .446 and Courtney Jones is hitting .442.

Sami Schmidt leads Modoc (15-11) with a .470 batting average while Emily Connor is hitting .463.

Chester at Colusa

The Redskins (22-7-1) are led by Mimi Juarez, who is batting .426, Ashley Lambert, who is hitting .418, and Kiley Herrick, who is batting .404.

Alisha Espindola leads Chester (6-13), hitting .433.

DIV. VI

Maxwell at Loyalton

The Panthers (14-8) are led by Lucinda Wells, who is hitting .476 and Laura Wells, who is batting .409.

Alexandra Shelton leads the Grizzlies (8-9) with a .523 batting average, Codi Carmichael is batting .500 and Amber Wilson is hitting .409.

SAC-JOAQUIN SECTION

DIV. VI

Lindhurst vs. Woodland Christian

The Blazers (13-8-1) are led by Jennifer Rodriguez, who is batting .443 and Jordan Stanaland, who is hitting .348.

Mica Romero leads Woodland Christian (22-5-1) with a .632 batting average, Brittany Keehn is hitting .529 and Nicole Dove is batting .500.