Fresno City College won 7 of its final 9 ball games, including its last three in a row, to edge Merced College for the 2024 Central Valley Conference baseball championship. It was the third straight CVC title for the Rams, the program's 26th over the last 35 seasons.
Second-year head coach Mitch Karraker led Fresno City to an 18-6 record to beat out second-place Merced by one game at 17-7. For Karraker, it was his second conference title in as many tries.
It was a solid season overall for the conference. Third-place Taft College put together a seven-game winning streak to lift them to a 14-10 conference mark. Reedley College was right behind at 13-11, followed by College of the Sequoias (11-13), Porterville College (10-14), and Coalinga College (formerly West Hills Coalinga, 1-23). Porterville closed out the year on a five-game winning streak. | FINAL STANDINGS
The top four squads earn spots in the upcoming Northern California Regional Playoffs. Fresno City was the CVC's top seed at No. 2 for the tourney. The Rams, 30-10 overall, will host No. 23 Cabrillo College (19-20) in a best-of-three-game series. | REGIONAL BRACKET
Merced (21-18) is the No. 18 seed and is set to travel to No. 7 Chabot College (29-10). Taft (20-18) earned the No. 20 seed and is headed to No. 5 San Joaquin Delta College (27-13). Reedley (24-16) picked up the No. 22 seed and will play at No. 3 West Valley College (30-10).
The winners of the opening series will advance to a three-team, double-elimination Super Regional on May 9-11. Winners of the Super Regionals meet in a three-game Regional Finals series on May 17-19 with a trip to the state championships on the line.
The 3C2A State Championships are scheduled for May 25-27 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.