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Congratulations. You have found the spot for live up-to-the-minute North Coast Section East Bay baseball seeding meeting updates. Just a reminder for you softball fans: Ben Enos is blogging the softball meeting live on our sister blog site, Contra Costa Times, beginning at 9 a.m.

Anyway, I will be sitting in at the NCS 3-A East Bay baseball meeting here at Las Lomas and will bring you updates. Just remember to keep hitting refresh. I will update the information below as it comes. Join in and comment. I will answer as many questions as possible. The 3-A updates will be the quickest. I will have to run over to the 2-A room every now and then for that information so it will come a bit slower. So be patient! I will do my best.

12:02 p.m. OK, we got Class A and Class B fields up. Sorry to all the Redwood Empire fans out there. But I will do my best to get those fields to you ASAP. 

11:56 a.m. I just got the Class A and Class B fields. I will have those up very shortly. 

11:48 a.m. I couldn’t get another internet outlet to work for some reason so I wrote what they had finished down and went to my house where I have wireless access. You will have to wait for the NCS website (http://www.cifncs.org/) for the Class A, B and Redwood Empire results. Sorry about that. The complete schedule for East Bay 3-A and 2-A is up now. 

10:53 a.m. Game times and locations are up for the 3-A field. I have to shutdown and hope another room has internet so I can fill out the 2-A schedule. They are locking this room down.

10:41 a.m. I just put in the 2-A field matchups. Scroll down to take a look. Next I will get the scheduling in here. 

10:35 a.m. Scheduling will be set right now. I am going to run over to the 2-A room to check out the seeding. Livermore gets to choose to play Tuesday or Wednesday. They elect to play Tuesday. 

10:31 a.m. Clayton Valley looks to be No. 11. That is horrible news for Freedom. The two will meet again. Clayton has already took down Freedom twice. No. 12 is De La Salle.  DLS gets Arroyo for the second year in a row except this time Arroyo is the better seed. Quickly the rest of the field fills out. No. 13 is Pinole Valley; No. 14 Liberty; No. 15 College Park; No. 16 Castro Valley.

10:30 a.m. Monte Vista gets No. 10 and will open against Bishop O’Dowd. Tough matchup for the Dragons.

10:28 a.m. Berkeley grabs No. 9. Man, these top seeds are going to have some tough opening games with Monte Vista, De La Salle and Clayton Valley still on the board. Very tough first-round opponents. 

10:26 a.m. Irvington gets the No. 8 seed. Surprisingly, the MVAL and HAAL are getting a lot of respect here. I can’t believe it really. I would think Clayton Valley would have a better seed than they are going to get.  Same with Monte Vista.

10:25 a.m. Irvington has been nominated for No. 8. No second yet, though. 

10:24 a.m. Bishop O’Dowd motioned for No. 7. And a second. O’Dowd grabs No. 7.  

10:22 a.m. Freedom grabs the No. 6 seed.  

10:20 a.m. The committee is leaning toward Arroyo for the No. 5 seed. Still discussing it right now, though. Motion made for Arroyo and a second. Arroyo a No. 5 seed and I know they are happy with that one. 

10:19 a.m. Alameda grabs the No. 4 seed. Nearly went to Arroyo before they realized Alameda beat Arroyo.  

10:18 a.m. Guess those two losses to Irvington didn’t hurt Newark Memorial at all. Cougars get the No. 3 seed. 

10:16 a.m. Well, now that we have our 16 teams the seeding begins. Livermore right away gets the No. 1 seed and Foothill No. 2. Now it gets tough. 

10:13 a.m. A motion for Castro Valley. And a second. Trojans are in. Aguilar is a tad upset to say the least. He says right away, “Why do you even play games against each other? Why do you have head to head then.” Dave Aguilar is disgusted as Castro Valley gets the final spot. 

10:10 a.m. The committee is saying Castro Valley has played better toward the end of the season. The Trojans, I believe, went 9-3 in their final 12 games. They are still deliberating.  

10:09 a.m. They are asking Castro Valley coach Jon Lavine when they played Washington and Livemore. Lavine said it was early in the season. A nomination for Castro Valley, but no second as of the moment. 

10:07 a.m. Aguilar is getting anxious. Saying “Head-to-head doesn’t count for anything?” Still deliberating here. Castro Valley beating Livermore is what is making this take so long. 

10:05 a.m. Castro Valley and Washington for the final two spots. Right away the board sees that Washington beat Castro Valley. Still deliberating, though. Going over common opponents. Other teams in: Bishop O’Dowd, Foothill, Clayton Valley, Liberty, Monte Vista, De La Salle, Alameda, Livermore, Pinole Valley, Berkeley, Freedom, Arroyo, Irvington and College Park. 

10:03 a.m.: BIG NEWS FOR MOREAU CATHOLIC FANS! They were selected over Heritage as the 12th team. Thanks to Chace Bryson for that news. In the 3-A, we have Washington, Castro Valley and College Park fighting it out for two spots. 

10:00 a.m. BIG NEWS! San Ramon Valley did not qualify for the playoffs and had to leave. They were 11-11 against 3-A schools and didn’t have a winning record in league or overall. That gives Washington and Castro Valley a fighting chance. I have to think Washington will get in since it beat Castro Valley head-to-head. If Logan showed, it probably would be in. Amazing.  Still no news on Moreau Catholic or Hertiage 

9:55 a.m. Over in the NCS 2-A meeting they have selected 11 of the 12 teams to get in. As expected, Heritage and Moreau Catholic have caused that meeting to slow down. The two are battling it out for the last spot right now. Teams that are in: Albany, Alhambra, Miramonte, El Cerrito, Campolindo, Piedmont, Concord, Las Lomas and Encinal. Here in the 3-A they took a bit of a break. We will have the teams that get in shortly. 

9:40 a.m. Livermore doesn’t have much to worry about. But the coach must be a bit scared of Newark Memorial getting the top seed so he points out that Foothill creamed Newark 13-1. Livermore should be the top seed. And that’s it for the coach’s speaking. I am going to run over to the NCS 2-A meeting to see where they are at. 

9:40 a.m. Irvington coach is up. Talks about beating Newark twice in the MVAL shoughnessy playoffs to capture the automatic berth to NCS.  Talks about taking Livermore to eight innings, before falling 7-6. Next up is Tony Torres, Pinole Valley. 16-7-1 overall for Pinole. Talks about the split with Alameda, who beat Newark and Arroyo. That’s pretty much it. Dan Freitas, Newark Memorial is up. 22-5 overall record for Newark. Loss to Foothill, Berkeley, Alameda and Irvington twice. 12-0 in MVAL regular season play.

9:35 a.m. Washington coach, Dave Aguilar, made his plea to get his team in the playoffs. He basically said his team had a tough preseason schedule but did beat all the teams they were suppose to. Liberty has gone, missed it because I needed to find a plug for my laptop, Sorry! Arroyo is up right now and points out they are one of four teams on the board with 20 wins. Points out Arroyo’s 5-3 record against the board and that they have won 14 of the last 15 games. Thinks they should be a top five seed. 

9:30 a.m. Cliff Coleman, points out 10-3 league record for College Park. Says he was hired just four weeks before the season so couldn’t change his schedule, which features just two 3-A teams. And that’s pretty much it. Eric Borba, of De La Salle, points out DLS tied for second with Clayton Valley. Says he thinks the BVAL is the strongest league. Says his league has had some big wins against every other league except the EBAL.

9:26 a.m. Berkeley just went up. it was short and sweet. Clayton Valley now up. Points out beating the BVAL champ Freedom, twice. He is playing the six degrees of separation game. He doesn’t really need it. Here comes Jon Lavine, Castro Valley. He needs a good speech. Says his school is the only team that can say they have beaten Livermore. And that is a huge angle for him to play.  Castro Valley has a 12-12 overall record.

9:29 a.m. Ken Arnerich of Alameda is up. Talking about losses in Japan against its national champion. Where do you get the scratch to go to Japan? Anyway, he is asking for a No. 2 – No. 4 seed.  

9:24 a.m. Next up is Bishop O’Dowd’s, Chris Kyriacou. Points out the Dragons have won 13 in a row to finish the season. Points out overall 19-5 record and again to the Dragons’ strong finish. Says they haven’t lost since March 26, which is true. Foothill coach is up. He points out wins over Freedom, Arroyo and Newark Memorial. And he is out! Quick one. 

9:22 a.m.: Bill Piona, Monte Vista, is the first to speak. He is pointing out his out of league record (10-2) and the strength of the EBAL. He points out Monte Vista has beaten three league champions (St. Mary’s-Stockton, Serra and Livermore). That sounds good enough for me.  

9:21 a.m. We are about ready to have the coaches make their presentations. They get two minutes to speak. They can’t speak about injuries or rankings. They must stick to the criteria. 

9:17 a.m.: Teams on the board: Alameda, Bishop O’Dowd, Freedom, Livermore, Irvington, Monte Vista, Washington, Liberty, Foothill, Castro Valley, Clayton Valley, College Park, De La Salle, Pinole Valley, Berkeley, Arroyo, Newark Memorial and San Ramon Valley. 

9:13 a.m. OK, we have gone through the league champs (Bishop O’Dowd, HAAL; Freedom, BVAL; Livermore, EBAL; Irvington, MVAL; Alameda, ACCAL). We have 13 at large teams applying for 11 spots. I have to think Washington and Castro Valley will be the odd teams out. 

9:07 a.m. OK, we are getting started. The guy running the show here, sorry didn’t catch his name, is going through the information on the chalk board with the coaches. Eric Anderson, the Arroyo coach, explains that the Dons were co-champs with Bishop O’Dowd but the Dragons got the tiebreaker and get the automatic bid. Other information on the board includes: Overall record, league record, non-league record, coach’s rating, record and score vs. top six opponents, most significant victories/defeats, head-to-head scores against team on the board and common opponents. 

9:02 a.m. The coaches are still filling out the requested information on the chalk board. It looks like James Logan didn’t bother to show up. Washington is here and has a slim chance to get in. Irvington taking it to Newark Memorial twice yesterday gave Irvington the MVAL title. That helped Washington’s cause a little. But I think Liberty and San Ramon Valley will be the final two teams to make the field. 

8:55 a.m. Wow, I am on time and grabbed a seat with internet access. Very lucky. I don’t have a wireless card so I had to find a hookup in the classroom. I have a terrible view of the board, where all the coaches fill out their information. So getting records and stuff might be tough. But I will do my best. At least we are up and running. We should be getting starting in about 5 minutes. Go back to my previous post about the bracketology if you want a quick preview of things to come. DOUGHNUT TIME!

NCS 3-A East Bay

In the playoffs: Bishop O’Dowd, Foothill, Clayton Valley, Liberty, Monte Vista, De La Salle, Alameda, Livermore, Pinole Valley, Berkeley, Freedom, Arroyo, Irvington, College Park and Castro Valley.

Seeds:

First-round matchups

(16) Castro Valley at (1) Livermore, Tuesday 5 p.m.

(9) Berkeley at (8) Irvington, Tuesday 5 p.m.

(13) Pinole Valley vs. (4) Alameda at Lincoln Park, Wednesday 5 p.m.

(12) De La Salle at (5) Arroyo, Wednesday 5 p.m.

(15) College Park at (2) Foothill, Wednesday 5 p.m.

(10) Monte Vista at (7) Bishop O’Dowd, Wednesday 5 p.m.

(14) Liberty at (3)  Newark Memorial, Wednesday 5 p.m.

(11) Clayton Valley at (6) Freedom, Wednesday 5 p.m.

NCS 2-A East Bay

In the playoffs: Albany, Alhambra, Miramonte, El Cerrito, Campolindo, Piedmont, Concord, Las Lomas and Encinal and Moreau Catholic.

Seeds:

First-round matchups

(9) Las Lomas vs. (8) Albany at Contra Costa College, Tuesday 5 p.m.  (Winner at (1) Northgate, 5 p.m. May 23 )

(5) El Cerrito at (12) Moreau Catholic, Tuesday 5 p.m.  (Winner at (4) Alhambra, 5 p.m. May 23)

(10) Concord at (7) Piedmont, Wednesday 5 p.m.  (Winner vs. (2) St. Mary’s )

(11) Encinal at (6) Miramonte, Wednesday 5 p.m. (Winner at (3) Campolindo, 5 p.m. May 24)

  

Class B

First-round matchups

(9) Rincon Valley Christian vs. (8) Mendocino (Winner vs. (1) St. Bernards )

(12) Potter Valley vs. (5) Ferndale (Winner vs. (4) Crystal Springs Upland)

(10) Bay School vs. (7) Hoopa Valley  (Winner vs. (2) International – San Francisco )

(11) Anderson Valley vs. (6) College Prep  (Winner vs. (3) Tomales )

Class A

First-round matchups

(8) Lick Wlimerding vs. (1) Cloverdale

(5) Fort Bragg vs. (4) Salesian

(7) Justin Siena vs. (2) St. Vincent

(6) Head-Royce vs. (3) Berean Christian