Bobcats and Vikings to face off
The Saddleback baseball team will play West Valley College in the winner's bracket of the California Community College Athletic Association (3C2A) State Baseball Tournament on Sunday at Mt. San Antonio College. The two programs have never faced one another in baseball.
Saddleback is in its 56th season of competitive baseball, but for the second straight day will face a program they have never played in West Valley. The Vikings were 8-6 winners over Santa Ana College on Saturday in their first appearance in the state tournament since 2008.
Saddleback enters the game at 32-17 overall. The Bobcats have gone 8-2 in the playoffs so far. Saddleback defeated Orange Coast College (2-games-to-1) in the opening round of the playoffs before going 3-0 in the 3C2A Southern California Super Regional round against Fullerton College (1) and Los Angeles Valley College (2). The Bobcats then defeated top-seeded Cerritos College in a best-of-three series (2-1) to advance to the state tournament. It is the second straight appearance in the state tournament for Saddleback, who lost in the state championship last May. The Bobcats finished in second place in the Orange Empire Conference in 2024 (12-9). The program has won one state championship, capturing the title in 2004.
West Valley College enters the game at 38-12 overall and were the champions of the Coast Conference's South Division (16-4). Much like Saddleback, West Valley has gone 8-2 in the playoffs so far. The Vikings swept Reedley College on opening weekend before beating Los Medanos in the opening game of the Northern California Super Regional Round and having to go three games to defeat Folsom Lake College, including a marathon 18-17 win in the final game. West Valley then got pushed to the brink in the regional finals before streaking past Chabot in a third and decisive game (12-2) to advance to the tournament. The Vikings have never won a state title in baseball.
Saddleback and West Valley have no direct history as the two programs have never met in baseball. The lone common opponent in 2024 was Santa Ana College, who the Bobcats beat 2-games-to-1 in a series earlier in the season.
The winner on Sunday will advance to the championship game(s) on Monday. The loser will move into the elimination bracket and play the winner of Santa Ana College and San Joaquin Delta College, who play at 10:00 AM in an elimination game.
TALE OF THE TAPE:
| HITTING | PITCHING | FIELDING | |||||
| Batting Average | w/state rank | Team ERA | w/state rank | Fielding % | w/state rank | ||
| West Valley | .342 (1) | Saddleback | 4.51 (13) | West Valley | .976 (6) | ||
| Saddleback | .295 (33) | West Valley | 5.17 (29) | Saddleback | .972 (8) | ||
| On-Base % | w/state rank | K's-per-9 | w/state rank | Caught Stealing | w/state rank | ||
| West Valley | .445 (2) | Saddleback | 7.83 (33) | Saddleback | .213 (33) | ||
| Saddleback | .390 (44) | West Valley | 6.42 (66) | West Valley | .195 (46) | ||
| Slugging % | w/state rank | WHIP | w/state rank | ||||
| West Valley | .539 (2) | Saddleback | 1.38 (9) | ||||
| Saddleback | .448 (23) | West Valley | 1.49 (21) |
RATINGS/RANKINGS:
| COACHES RANKING | BY REGION | MASSEY RATINGS | STATE | |
| West Valley | 4 (north) | Saddleback | 3 | |
| Saddleback | 6 (south) | West Valley | 16 | |