Manteca is going back to where it made history two years ago.
Ripon Christian will also be there for what will be a benchmark occasion for the program.
Both are vying for Sac-Joaquin Section championships at Tony Zupo Field in Lodi on Memorial Day.
Manteca (22-7) takes on third-seeded Christian Brothers (24-5-1) for the Division III banner starting at 6 p.m. In 2014, the Buffaloes seized the Division IV pennant — their first-ever in any division — on their way to earning Cal-Hi Sports Division III State Team of the Year honors.
The 2014 club boasted of the section’s top pitching combinations in Jacob Corn and Lucas Vaughn, and they joined batterymate Buddy Reeder on the Cal-Hi Sports All-State Medium Schools Team.
This year’s team reached the section finals in a higher division with a less heralded group of players which has overcome more talented teams to get to this point. Manteca stunned top-seeded and state-ranked Vista del Lago with a series sweep in the best-of-three semifinal, the same team the Buffaloes beat with a wild finish in the 2014 final.
“It’s gratifying because in 2014 everybody kind of expected that,” Manteca coach Neil MacDannald said following a 1-0 win over the Folsom-based powerhouse Wednesday at Sacramento’s McAuliffe Memorial Ballparks. “What’s special about this team is that I would guess that most of the local public would expect us to be a third- or a fourth-place team in our league.
“It’s a testament to the guys in the dugout and how hard they work,” he added. “I’m lucky to coach them, because they bring it every day in practice and in every game.”
Manteca doesn’t have history with Christian Brothers, the runner-up to Vista del Lago in the Capital Athletic League. The Falcons swept No. 2 Yuba City, the defending champion of this division, in the other semifinal.
Christian Brothers owns a .380 team batting average, and Rudy Mendoza (.556, 18 RBIs) is one of three Eagles hitting better than .450 for the season. Ceto Munoz (7-2, 1.35 ERA, 54 strikeouts) will likely get the starting nod opposite Manteca ace Tyler Graves-Kelso (9-0, 1.21 ERA, 54 strikeouts).
Coming off a dominant sweep of Woodland Christian in the Division VI semifinals, Ripon Christian (23-5) is matched with a familiar foe in Mariposa (17-7). The two teams split their Southern League contests, with the winner of each game squeaking out one-run thrillers that were decided in the bottom of the seventh. They’ll get to settle the score Monday starting at noon.
Mariposa had captured at least a share of the last six SL titles until Ripon Christian ended the Grizzlies’ reign by capturing the crown outright.
The Knights have won 14 straight since dropping a 10-9 heartbreaker at Mariposa on April 6. Two days later, they overcame a three-run deficit in the final inning and won 5-4 on a bases-loaded balk.
“It’s been like this for years, it seems,” Ripon Christian coach John DeVisser said after the rematch.
Senior infielder/pitcher Jake Williams (.565, five HRs, 21 RBIs; 6-3, 1.56, 85 strikeouts) is Mariposa’s top player, while Westmont College-bound third baseman/pitcher Travis Vander Molen (.625, five HRs, 44 RBIs; 3-1, 1.04, 88 strikeouts) leads Ripon Christian.