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There is nothing like a rainy weekend and The Masters on TV to have time to sit around and think about the chaos of the spring postseason that is looming large.
It’s not here yet, but it’s coming and it will be chaos – but wonderful, exciting chaos. The East Bay Athletic League excels in spring sports, and if you’re not aware, there are a lot of prep sports in the spring.
For the record, let’s run through them. There are baseball, softball, boys’ volleyball, boys’ and girls’ lacrosse, track and field, swimming and diving, badminton, boys’ tennis, boys’ golf and stunt (cheerleading).
And all have their postseasons that take place around the same time. Now do you understand the chaos?
But as I said above, it’s a wonderful, exciting time for prep sports fans as we run into a time of year when the EBAL athletes will compete for North Coast Section titles, and in some cases potential NorCal or CIF state titles.
Following is the scheduling for the spring postseason. Clip this out and post it so you can keep track. They start sooner than you think.
Swimming/diving: The EBAL meet is set for May 1-2, with NCS taking place May 7-9 at the College of Marin. The CIF State Meet is May 14-16 at the Clovis Swim Complex.
Badminton: The NCS team tournament is set for May 13 at James Logan. The NCS individual tournaments are May 16, with the Division I at Washington High and the D-II event at Newark Memorial High. The NorCal tournament is May 23.
Baseball: NCS playoffs take place May 19-30. CIF NorCal is June 2-6. Yes, that is after school gets out for some EBAL schools.
Boys’ golf: The NCS D-II tournament is May 11 at Baywood in Arcata, with the D-I event on May 18 at Windsor. The CIF NorCal tournament is May 26 at Poppy Ridge in Livermore, and the CIF State Championship is June 3 at the San Gabriel Country Club.
Lacrosse: The boys’ and girls’ tournaments are May 5-14 at various school sites.
Softball: The NCS tournament runs from May 19-30, with the CIF NorCal tournament runs June 2-6.
Boys’ tennis: NCS singles/doubles tournament is May 8-9, with the NCS team event running from May 12-16. The CIF NorCal team tournament is May 22-23 and the CIF team tournament is May 30.
Track/field: The NCS Area meets – the EBAL is in the Tri-Valley meet – is scheduled for May 16 at Foothill. The NCS Meet of Champions, where the athletes qualify for state, is set for May 22-23 at Dublin High. The CIF Championships are May 29-30 at Clovis High.
Stunt: The NCS event is sent for May 1-2 at Heritage High in Brentwood. The CIF Invitation meet is set for May 29-30.
Boys’ volleyball: The NCS tournament is May 5-14, followed by the NorCal tournament from May 19-23. Finally, the CIF Championship matches are set for May 30.
Livermore Stampede
Last week, we highlighted the Livermore Stampede and how it is arguably the best prep softball tournament in Northern California.
And now Livermore High stands on top after the Cowboys took the Championship Flight title.
The Cowboys beat Casa Grande (11-2), Eagle (5-3) and Sheldon (7-0) to finish first in their pool. In the semifinals they took down South Bay powerhouse Willow Glen 1-0 to advance to the championship game.
In the championship game, they faced another traditionally loaded team in Saint Francis and took the title with a 2-1 win.
Kaci Norton, who was our Playbook’s Fast Five participant two weeks ago, was picked as the Most Valuable Player of the Stampede.
Norton gave up seven hits, one run and struck out eight batters in the semis and final.
In the championship game, Laine Macosky had a home run for the Cowboys, and she scored the lone run in the semifinals. Gianna Willes drove in the game winning run for Livermore in the semifinals.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. To contact him about his Pleasanton Preps column, email acesmag@aol.com.
