St. Francis-Soledad baseball

Central Coast Section Division II Finals
Saturday's game
No. 2 St. Francis (23-8) vs. No. 1 Soledad (24-5) at San Jose Municipal Stadium, 7 p.m.
 Despite being the top seed, there were doubters that the Aztecs would be in this position, playing for their first ever CCS baseball title.
 Two seventh inning rallies against Saratoga and Christopher have catapulted Soledad into the finals against West Catholic Athletic League power St. Francis.
 Soledad will ride into the finals having won a school record 17 straight games en route to a Mission Trail Athletic League title.
 Yet, the playoffs have been filled with dramatics and emotion, as evident by the Aztecs rallying from four runs down against Christopher, then picking up a run in the seventh to force extra frames.
 Aaron Rodriguez solidified his place in Soledad baseball, stealing two bases before scoring the tying run in the seventh, then knocked in the game-winning run in the 11th.
 St. Francis, who beat league rival Mitty to advance to Saturday's finals, was dominate in the first two rounds, outscoring two opponents 23-3.
 It has some power at the plate, with Ryan Jeffries hitting .451. Jeffries also sports a 1.74 earned run average while Gianluca Shinn is 9-1 with a 2.11 ERA.
 Ben Pajas and Isaac Lopez have carried hot bats all season for Soledad, as both are hitting over .500 this spring while Chris Villarreal sits at .418.
 Anthony Ramirez will likely draw the start for the Aztecs, having gone 5-1 with a 2.00 ERA. Pajas, who has a 0.58 ERA in relief, will also be available.