Reedley College will make a third straight appearance in the Northern California Regional baseball playoffs after a second place finish in the Central Valley Conference baseball race.

The College of San Mateo Bulldogs will the first opponent for Reedley in a best-of-three series, which begins Friday at 2 pm.  Game two on Saturday will be at 2pm with the Tigers denoted as the home team. If a third game is needed, it is planned it is planned for 2 pm Saturday.

San Mateo brings a six-game winning streak into the regionals while the Tigers had a modest three-game winning streak ended with a disappointing 6-4 loss to Taft in Reedley on Saturday. The Tigers were second behind Fresno with a 15-9 record after a 9-8 record in non-conference play, "Our pitching came around once we started conference along with our team defense," said Tiger head coach Steve Pearce. "San Mateo has some good offensive numbers and have had a lot of history in their program. We look forward to the opportunity."

Reedley started the regular season ending winning streak with a 9-6 victory over the College of the Sequoias Giants on April 22. The Tigers trailed 6-1 before tying the game with five runs in the fifth inning and winning it with three runs in the ninth inning.

Omari Barksdale put the Tigers ahead to stay with a three-run double in the ninth. Starting pitcher Francisco Espejo was the winning pitcher, improving to 7-2 overall.

San Mateo is expected to start Michael Volkman (7-3) in the opener Friday.

College of San Mateo won six straight to finish in a three-way-tie for the Coast-North Conference championship with a 15-5 conference record. The Bulldogs were 25-13 overall but did play a CVC team.

Tickets can be purchased at  https://sanmateo.prestosports.com/tickets/index

GO TIGERS!!

By Will Goldbeck