With two league games against Point Loma left to play, La Jolla's baseball team finds itself in third place in the Western League behind Madison (8-2 in league, 17-9 overall) and the Pointers (7-3, 15-10), yet ranked second in Division II ahead of Madison.
The Vikings (6-4, 19-8), going into Tuesday, May 19's home game against Point Loma, have righted the ship after a slow start in league play. In Saturday's seeding meeting for the CIF Division II playoffs, they should find themselves in a favorable position.
Timmy Holdgrafer, Tuesday's starter, is 8-1, enjoying a fabulous season as a senior. He leads the team with a .356 average and 19 RBI's, with 17 runs scored, tied with teammate Weston Clark in the last category.
Towering first baseman Noah Strohl has experienced a second season of an alive bat after starting out hitting .207 after the first 12 games. The 6'6" senior is now hitting .304 and is second only to Holdgrafer with 17 RBI's.
Another bat that has come alive is that of left fielder Luke Bucon, who has raised his average from .233 to .338 in the last 15 games.
A bat that has cooled considerably is Trenton Fudge's, down to .259 after the early lofty heights of .385 when anything he swung at seemed to scream out of the infield.
If the playoffs follow last year's pattern, there will be play-in games next Tuesday for seeds 5-12, which La Jolla as a higher seed will be exempted from. Then games will take place Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, the following Tuesday and Thursday, with the championship at USD's beautiful Fowler Park Sat., June 6.
That should mean La Jolla is guaranteed games next Tuesday and Thursday in the double-elimination format that has been in place the last several years.
Copyright 2015 Ed Piper
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