The article below originally appeared in the San Mateo Daily Journal and is being reprinted with permission.
The Skyline College and College of San Mateo baseball teams qualified for the 3C2A’s Northern California Regional Playoffs beginning this weekend.
Skyline (30-10), one of only three teams in the Northern California to record 30 wins, received one of eight top seeds and will host an initial three-team, double-elimination playoff series Friday through Sunday in San Bruno. CSM (25-14) received a No. 2 playoff seed and will participate in a regional at Modesto.
The Skyline regional opens Friday at 11 a.m. with West Valley (27-12-1) playing Los Medanos (26-13). Skyline faces the loser at 3 p.m. Competition continues Saturday and concludes on Sunday.
San Mateo, the No. 2 seed at the Modesto regional and No. 14 seed overall, will open the tourney at 11 a.m. Friday with third-seeded and 22nd-rankedReedley College (20-20). The loser faces top-seed Modesto (29-10) at 3 p.m.
Skyline finished second in the Coast North Conference, behind Chabot (22-17-1), and was the only non-champion to receive a host seed.
Skyline has reached the postseason each of the five seasons under manager Tony Brunicardi, having advanced to the super regional round three times. The Trojans won the previous two Coast North titles. They were 14-6 in Coast play this year.
West Valley finished Coast South play with a six-game winning streak and a 13-7 record but placed second to Ohlone. Los Medanos was second in the Bay Valley at 14-7, a game behind champion College of Marin.
Skyline defeated West Valley, 8-6, in a Coast crossover game in February but did not play Los Medanos this season.
CSM is returning to the postseason for the fourth straight season. Current head coach Riley Goulding has taken the Bulldogs to the playoffs all three seasons leading the program. The Bulldogs finished third in the Coast North Conference with a 13-7 mark this season and have won seven of their last 10 games.
Modesto captured a Big 8 Conference co-championship this season, tied with San Joaquin Delta College with a 17-7 record. MJC is back in the playoffs after a one-year absence.
Reedley finished tied for third in the Central Valley Conference at 12-12, as state top-ranked Fresno City College (37-3 overall) won a seventh straight title. Redley is making its fourth straight postseason appearance.
CSM has yet to face either team this season. Last year, the Bulldogs defeated Reedley in a three-game, opening-round playoff series to earn a spot in the super regionals.
Winners of each of the eight initial regionals advance to super regionals May 7-9. Regional finals are May 15-17, with the top two teams advancing to the 3C2A State Championships at Great Park in Irvine May 23-25.
