OCHS opens baseball playoffs on the road

The Oak Park and Oaks Christian high school baseball teams are taking scenic routes in pursuit of a section championship.

Oak Park travels to Palm Desert for today's CIF-Southern Section Division IV first-round matchup, while Oaks Christian heads to Santa Fe Springs.

All of today's games are slated to begin at 3:15 p.m.

By first pitch, the Eagles will have driven approximately 160 miles to Palm Desert searching for their eighth consecutive victory, including an 8-0 wild-card win Tuesday over Bishop Montgomery.

"I've got to get the kids out of school at about 9 a.m.," said Eagle first-year head coach DJ Cook. "We probably won't get back until 10 p.m., and six hours of that will be driving. . . .

"It's a great bonding experience, but the only thing I worry about is them being on the bus too long, losing focus and kind of just losing that mental edge," he said.

Red-hot Oak Park (14-11), which has outscored the opposition 53-8 in its last five contests, faces a formidable foe at Palm Desert (21-5), winners of eight of nine games.

"We know they're a good team and that they finished 21-5, and that's something to be cautious about," Cook said. "But I think we're playing some of our best baseball of the year right now. I think we can beat anyone right now if we play our game."

For Oak Park, staff ace Jake Hagen suffered a back injury during the team's wild-card victory. The senior was pulled after three scoreless innings and is questionable to pitch today.

Cook said senior Thos Brewer would start on the mound.

Oaks Christian, the Tri-Valley League's secondplace finisher—Oak Park tied for third and St. Bonaventure was first— also begins the postseason a long way from home.

The Lions (12-8) play at St. Paul of the Del Rey League. St. Paul (16-12) is more than 50 miles from Westlake Village, near Santa Fe Springs.

At the conclusion of an otherwise solid regular season, Oaks Christian lost a pair of blowout games to St. Bonaventure. With the defeats went any hope of a league title for the Lions.

"I think it really was a wakeup call for us," said OCHS firstyear head coach Tim Penprase. "They'd been playing so well all year, and then we had a few mistakes against St. Bonaventure.

"I felt like we were looking ahead to the playoffs a little bit instead of focusing on trying to get that TriValley League championship. Our ultimate goal, though, is to win CIF."

Sophomore pitcher Travis Radke (5-3, 2.71 ERA) gets the starting nod for Oaks Christian.

"I have no doubt in my mind that he's going to come out and show exactly what he can do," Penprase said.

Also today in Division VI action, Liberty League champion Viewpoint hosts Baptist Christian.

The Patriots (12-6-1) haven't lost a game since April 16 and enter the postseason with a .313 team batting average and 60 stolen bases.

Viewpoint's biggest asset, however, is a highquality pitching staff led by junior Gil Brozki (5-1, 1.05 ERA) and freshman Tyler Sprague (4-5, 1.82 ERA).

Newbury Park Adventist (6-6) plays at Pacifica Christian of Santa Monica (12-3) on Friday in a Division VII clash.

Also on Friday, Marmonte League powers Simi Valley and Royal both open the Division I playoffs at home. Simi Valley is the defending section champion.

Moorpark and Newbury Park both lost Division I wild-card games at home Tuesday.