Soledad-Greenfield baseball

When these two schools came to live 18 years ago, the vision was it would be a rivalry for the ages, as Soledad and Greenfield High's are separated by less than nine miles.
 Truth be told, that really hasn't happened. There have been very few moments when both schools had a contender in the same sport.
 That changes Tuesday when the Aztecs visit Greenfield in a battle of 10-2 baseball teams that sit in second place in the Mission Trail Athletic League -- just one game behind Pacific Grove.
 While Soledad has been a perennial playoff team the last eight years, the Bruins are still looking for the programs first postseason appearance
 Greenfield needs three more wins to set a single-season school record.
 Right now the Bruins and Soledad have eyes on a league title. That vision got clearer after Pacific Grove fell from the unbeaten ranks last Saturday to Carmel.
 With six games left in the MTAL season, four of those games will come against each other as both the Aztecs and Greenfield each have two games with Pacific Grove.
 For now the focus is on each other. Last year the Bruins took Soledad out of title contention by sweeping their two-games series.
 A solid rotation, anchored by Tony Castro and Oscar Hernandez, and clutch hitting from the likes of JJ Rodriguez, Hernan Perea and Daniel Mendoza after triggered Greenfield.
 Soledad's rise has fallen on the arm of Adrian Lopez, who is 7-1 this year. Support at the plate starts with freshman Ben Pajas and junior Chris Villarreal.
 The Aztecs are tied with Palma for the most overall wins in the county with 17.