League champs Heritage, Paloma ready for baseball playoffs

Coming off championships in their respective leagues, Heritage and Paloma Valley high schools learned their first-round CIF baseball playoff opponents today.

Sunbelt League champion Heritage takes an 18-3 overall record into the playoffs. The Patriots have won 16 consecutive games after starting the season with a 2-3 record. They will be at home against Segerstrom High (13-13) of Santa in a Division 4 first-round game on Friday.

The Patriots’ leading hitter is freshman Johnny Alley, who is hitting .443 with 21 RBIs. Senior Ethan Perez is hitting .429 and junior Justin Heslip is hitting .400. Junior Sebastian Mandujano is hitting .357 with 18 RBIs.

In the pitching department, senior Andrew Banda has a 3-0 record and 0.51 ERA. Senior Aiden Ramos is 4-1 with a 1.85 ERA. Senior Nathaniel Helton is 6-2 with a 1.85 ERA. Senior Dylan Montgomery has no decisions but a 1.75 ERA in 13 appearances.

Paloma Valley, 14-10 overall and the Ivy League champion with an 8-4 record, will be at home against El Dorado High of Placentia in a Division 2 first-round game on Friday. The Golden Hawks are 17-10 overall.

Senior Dylan McEvers is hitting .481 with 4 home runs and 15 RBIs for the Wildcats. Senior Kobe Gomez is hitting .385 and junior Ryan Shubert is hitting .368 with 12 RBIs. Sophomore Juni Rodriguez is hitting .350 with 15 RBIs.

Senior pitcher Matt Gaunt is 8-1 with a 1.92 ERA. Senior Diego Castillo is 3-2 with a 3.57 ERA.