seen him against Sierra Vista [a 13-0 second-round win] he was very
confident and throwing all of his pitches well. He threw just 52
pitches in five innings, before we took him out with a big lead."
Northwood, which finished third in the PCL, has won eight of its
last 10, with the only two losses during that stretch to CdM.
The Sea Kings, bidding for their third appearance in a CIF title
game, having won section crowns in 1981 and '99, are stocked with
productive hitters.
Senior Barrett Sprowl is hitting .505 with 50 hits, four home
runs, 25 RBIs and 14 doubles. He has hit two homers off Northwood
pitching this season.
Senior Josh Bradbury, bound for UNLV, has 11 homers and 23 RBIs to
go with his .379 average. Of his 33 hits this season, 18 have been
for extra bases. He is one homer shy of tying the school and
Newport-Mesa single-season record set by CdM's Ty Harper and Eric
Wiethorn in 1999. He is three behind Harper's career dinger mark of
24.
Palchikoff has a team-best 31 RBIs and has five homers, as well as
a .319 average.
Juniors Wess Presson (.341 with 22 RBIs) and Tyler Lance (.434
with 22 RBIs) are additional weapons in the CdM lineup.
Today's winner will meet either top-seeded La Quinta or PCL
runner-up Tesoro in Saturday's title game.
