Baseball fans turned out in big numbers for opening round CIF playoff games in OC

Fans came out in big numbers at Irvine High Friday and at other playoff venues. (Photo courtesy James Tomlin, For OC Sports Zone)

Irvine High’s baseball team hadn’t been to the CIF playoffs since 2013.

That may explain why there was such a big crowd at Friday’s CIF playoff Division 4 game between Irvine and Rancho Alamitos.

It was also the first day of use for the newly constructed bleacher set up. Fans got a much better view of the game since they were elevated about 18 inches off the ground in the bleachers which now lay on the concrete foundation.

Eventually there will be some landscape added to the facility.

Irvine Coach Gabriel Cota made it a point to thank all of those involved in the new project, including booster parents and officials at the Irvine Unified School District, along with the fans who showed up.(For pictures and a game story, please click here)

Former Irvine High baseball coach Bob Flint said the big crowd reminded him of some of the games many years ago when the Vaqueros were a consistent playoff team.

Many fans were standing outside of the bleacher area.

Fans were very much a part of the playoff games throughout the county.

At Capistrano Valley High on Thursday, hundreds of fans showed up for the Division 1 match-up between Capistrano Valley and Beckman. The fans of the two schools were sitting in the same bleachers, but all of the fans seemed to get along as they cheered for their teams.

A parking attendant at Capistrano Valley politely helped direct fans going to the baseball game where to park, this at a time when school was also ending.

Capistrano Valley won the game of league champions 8-5 to advance into Tuesday’s game against Cypress. (Please click here for a report)

We’re guessing there were scenes like the ones at Irvine and Capo Valley all throughout the county this week, including at Cypress where the CIF’s second seeded Division 1 team the Centurions defeated Servite 5-2 and at Loara, where the Saxons rallied for a 3-2 victory over El Rancho.

With second round games coming next week, the crowds could be even larger.

The many fans who showed up at the CIF Division 2 Villa Park vs. Corona del Mar game saw a classic, which Villa Park winning the game in 13 innings, 2-1. (Please click here for game story and pictures)

It just shows you how popular high school baseball is.

OC Sports Zone is thrilled to be a part of the playoff journey and we look forward to more excitement next week.

We hope you will check out our special coverage from this week’s games and please tell your friends and remind them that all of our content is free!

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com