Encinal’s baseball coach seeks a final playoff run
Jim Saunders’ 28th and final season as head baseball coach at Encinal-Alameda is nearing the end.
He led the Jets to North Coast Section titles in 1995, 1996 and 2001 and coached 2003 National League Rookie of the Year Dontrelle Willis and 2007 NL MVP Jimmy Rollins.
The 60-year-old Saunders had his No. 22 jersey retired last week during a ceremony at Willie Stargell Field. There will be a retirement party for Saunders on June 7, and about a week after that he and his wife, Suzie, will move to Eagle, Idaho, where their youngest daughter resides.
“I’ve had a smile on my face since we made the decision” in January to move, Saunders said. “I’ve been a Bay Area guy for 60 years. I’ve loved all my time here and had wonderful baseball memories living through Jimmy and Dontrelle and all the other kids.
“Life is good.”
Before he goes, however, Saunders has been enjoying one more parting gift for the past four seasons: starting shortstop Osiris Johnson.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound senior is hitting .548 for the Jets (18-6-1) with 40 hits, five home runs, 13 doubles, 16 steals and 28 runs.
The Cal State Fullerton commit is projected as a third-round pick in the upcoming Major League Baseball draft by draftsite.com.
“I think he’s a first- or secondround pick,” Saunders said. “Whoever gets him is going to be very, very happy. He’s a pure baseball talent. He runs like a deer. He’s got a great glove and a big-time arm. And God gifted him with an incredible body.”
On Tuesday, he was named CalHiSports’ Northern California Player of the Week after going 6-for-8 with two home runs, two doubles and six RBIs in a pair of wins.
Johnson is a second cousin of Rollins — their fathers are first cousins — so the comparisons are inevitable.
“They’re different, for sure, but in terms of making spectacular plays and carrying a team, they’re similar,” Saunders said. “Jimmy was more of a leader and in control. Osiris is more on the quiet side. He’ll get there. He’s made giant strides as a teammate. His teammates really enjoy playing with him.”
The Jets, who moved into the West Alameda County playoff semifinals Tuesday with a 6-0 win over Tennyson-Hayward, could play five more games, including a run in the NCS Division 3 playoffs. With the return from injury of senior Sandeep Mahl (3-0, 0.72 ERA) and big seasons from junior Jon Atases (.367; 7-1, 1.04 ERA) and sophomore Jeriah Lewis (.406, 28 runs), Saunders likes his team’s chances.
“We have a couple of real good starters (pitchers) and we’re just hitting our stride,” he said. “I’m not thinking about the end just yet. I’m truly enjoying just one game and one practice at a time.”
Diamond playoffs: Central Coast Section baseball and softball playoffs begin Wednesday. Top seed Bellarmine (22-7), ranked fifth by The Chronicle, hosts 16th-seed Lincoln-San Jose (19-8) in Division 1, while in D2, 15th-seed Half Moon Bay (18-9) plays at second-seed St. Francis (20-8) and third-seed Mitty (20-7) hosts No. 14 Westmont Campbell (12-14).
Lowell (22-9), off its sixth straight San Francisco Section title, travels to play Oakland Section champion Oakland Tech (19-5) at 4 p.m. at Laney College in the first game of the TransBay best-of-three series. Tech has seven straight shutouts.
In CCS softball, D2 top-seed Hillsdale-San Mateo (20-6) hosts Mercy-Burlingame (13-9-1) at 4 p.m. Gilroy (15-9-1) is the top seed in D1.
Briefly: Lowell downed Washington 416-453 Monday at Lincoln Park G.C. to claim its 34th SFS boys golf title. Lowell’s Josh Lim shot a 2-over-par 70 for medalist honors. … Mitty’s Daniel Kim shot a 5-under 67 to win the medalist honor Tuesday and St. Francis won the team title in the CCS Golf Championships at Laguna Seca Golf Ranch in Monterey. Kim edged Menlo’s Max Ting (68) and Menlo-Atherton’s Jackson Lee and Carmel’s George McNeely, who each shot 69. St. Francis (358) bettered Menlo (362) and PalmaSalinas (372) for the team title.