Southern Section Baseball Playoffs : El Dorado Is the Top-Seeded Team in New 5-A

El Dorado High School, which advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Section 4-A baseball playoffs the past two seasons, is the top-seeded team of the newly formed 5-A division for the 1988 playoffs beginning Friday.

The Golden Hawks (22-3) earned the top seeding after Mater Dei lost to rival Servite, 13-5, last Friday. Mater Dei (20-3) is seeded second, Long Beach Millikan (21-5) is third and Simi Valley (21-5) is fourth.

Steve Gullotti, who has reached the final once and the semifinals twice in eight seasons as El Dorado coach, said his team is peaking. They open against Rolling Hills, the Bay League’s third-place team.

“Right now, we’re right where we want to be,” Gullotti said. “We’re getting good pitching, playing good defense and scoring runs.”

Gullotti noted that there isn’t a dominating team in the division, nor a dominating pitcher comparable to Mike McNary of Lakewood, who earned victories last season over El Dorado, 5-4, in the semifinals and Esperanza, 1-0, in the championship game.

“If there is a dominating team, it’s Mater Dei,” Gullotti said. “I saw them beat Servite, 10-0, last week. I think they should be the favorite.”

Bob Ickes, Mater Dei coach, thinks his team’s chances of winning the title depend upon its offense. He also has three capable starting pitchers, led by ace Tony Pena (9-1).

“I don’t have anyone who has thrown more than 57 innings, so that could be a real plus for us if we end up playing five games,” Ickes said. “There are easily a dozen teams who could win the title. There are some very good second- and third-place teams.”

Esperanza and Westminster, two exceptional third-place teams, are matched in a wild-card game at 3:15 today at Esperanza.

Esperanza has advanced to the 4-A division championship the past two years. Westminster was the co-champion of the Sunset League with Huntington Beach but was forced to forfeit its last victory over Ocean View when league officials ruled the Lions used an ineligible player.

La Quinta, which has 20 consecutive victories since losing a doubleheader to Marina March 16, is seeded No. 1 in the 3-A division. La Quinta (23-4) will play host to Estancia (16-9) in the first round.

“I wasn’t surprised with the pairing at all,” said Dave Demarest, La Quinta coach. “Our teams have been matched in the playoffs with schools in the Sea View League all year.”

Unseeded Laguna Hills (16-8) is coming on with 13 straight victories.