Redondo’s dream of an undefeated Bay League season failed to materialize, but the Sea Hawks have a larger goal in their sights as they look for back-to-back CIF-Southern Section Division 3 titles.
In the regular season finale last Thursday, Mira Costa handed Redondo only its second loss of the season with a 2-1 victory that tarnished Redondo Senior Day.
Mira Costa pitcher Trevor Franklin improved his record at 8-1 with a 1.34 ERA to lead the Mustangs who finished second in the highly-competitive Bay League.
The loss did not hurt Redondo (24-2) who retained the top seed in Division 3 and will host wild-card winner Wilson/Hacienda Heights (13-7) in the first round on Friday.,
Unless mutually agreed upon, all games with the exception of the finals are set to begin at 3:15 p.m., however Redondo’s game has been moved up to 12:30 p.m. because Wilson has its prom Friday night.
Danny Zimmerman leads the Sea Hawk offense, batting .440 with 36 RBI and 10 home runs.
Redondo’s pitching staff is deep with Sean Reynolds (8-0, 1.31 ERA), Connor Riley (6-1, 1.99 ERA) and Zimmerman (4-1, 1.87 ERA).
“This is a tough division and anything can happen in a one-game playoff system,” Redondo head coach Jeff Baumback said. “We can’t afford to take anyone lightly. A couple of bad bounces or seeing-eye singles can change the outcome of the game. I hope someday the CIF will go to a double-elimination format which will show who the better team is because you figure every team in the playoffs has one really good starting pitcher.”
Mira Costa (24-6) hosts Ocean League runner-up El Segundo (14-16) in its first-round game., The Mustangs have one of its better teams this season and look for a deep run in the postseason with the return of their top hitter Zack Chan (.439, 18 RBI) and surprising freshman pitcher Merrick Baldo (6-1, 0.83 ERA) who compliments Franklin on a tough pitching staff.
Palos Verdes (20-1-1) earned the third spot out of the Bay League and defeated Beverly Hills in a wild-card game Wednesday and plays at No. 6 Bishop Amat (18-13) on Friday.
Pioneer League champion West Torrance (19-10) earned the No. 3 seed in Division 4 and will host wild-card winner El Rancho (15-14) in the first round on Thursday.
Torrance (17-12) finished No. 9 in the division poll and will host Fullerton (16-13). North Torrance (10-17) had its season come to an end with a 3-1 loss to visiting Alhambra in a wild-card game.
In Division 5, Bishop Montgomery (16-9-1) won its wild-cad game with a 1-0 victory over Santa Maria and will travel to face Ganesha (16-4) on Friday.
In Division 6, Chadwick (9-12) travels to Irvine to take on No. 2 Crean Lutheran (19-7) in the first round on Thursday.
