Baseball: City Section playoffs finally begin on Wednesday

Most City Section baseball teams have been off for two weeks but will finally start the playoffs on Wednesday. Division I should be a tournament with lots of intrigue.

First up is how many coaches will try to get through their first-round games by saving their No. 1 pitchers for Friday’s quarterfinal games? It’s a risky decision that can backfire quickly.

San Fernando could hold off using All-City pitcher Alonzo Garcia until a possible Friday game against Narbonne. But the Tigers’ opening opponent, Granada Hills, is known for its pitching and could be tough to beat.

This year’s tournament is loaded with more than one or two good pitchers, which should make for some tough openers. No. 2 Narbonne will have to deal with Cleveland ace Ben Kaser. Chatsworth, a nine-time champion, will have to beat North Hollywood’s Andrew Marmor, a four-year standout.

The best opener could be No. 8 Sylmar vs. No. 9 Palisades, the Western League champion.

Chatsworth is hoping its two top pitchers, Josh Garcia and Tommy Palomera, are finally healthy after missing the final week of the regular season with injuries.

The key to this tournament and making it to Dodger Stadium on June 7 is playing defense and getting hot. Top-seeded El Camino Real has a hot hitter in sophomore Eric Yang, and sophomore pitcher Jeremy Polon knows how to throw strikes. Narbonne has a standout two-way player in Daniel Rocha. Then there’s underrated Kennedy, seeded No. 3. The Golden Cougars have two solid junior pitchers who will have to deal with playoff pressure, plus standout shortstop Nick Rodriguez.

The winner of Birmingham-Marshall will get a chance to play the winner of Kennedy-Hamilton in the quarterfinals, and anything can happen.

Banning, which at the begnning of the season was playing terrific baseball, has lots of pitching depth but will need to avoid errors to advance.

In Division 2, top-seeded Dorsey will try to use lessons learned from last season’s playoffs to get to the final. The Eastern League has two dangerous teams in Huntington Park and South East likely to provide strong competition for the Dons.