There's no denying the quality of Stockdale's baseball program the past few years behind coach Dan Lemon and first baseman/pitcher K.C. Hobson, perhaps the Central Section's premier player, who's signed with Texas A&M.

But, my gosh, how the Mustangs have caught a few monstrous breaks in the process.

First, in last year's D-I title game at home against Clovis, Cougars pitcher David Rohm threw what appeared to be a perfect two-strike, two-out slider that should have ended the game. It was called a ball and Stockdale -- to its credit -- scored three runs to tie it in the bottom of the seventh before winning it in the eighth.

Head to head results screamed true in the Central Section's baseball seeding today.

It represents only one part of the seeding committee's five-point criteria, but there's no denying its impact. Consider:

** The Tri-River Athletic Conference received the top three Division I seeds in Buchanan, Clovis West and Clovis. Making this possible was Clovis' season-opening sweep of D-I defending champion Stockdale, which is seeded fourth. The reputation of TRAC muscle was obvious, given league champions who were stuck with lower seeds. Besides Southwest Yosemite League titlist Stockdale, they were Southeast Yosemite's Liberty (No. 6) and the County/Metro Athletic Conference's Bullard (No. 8).

A couple baseball thoughts:

** Clovis West has won 14 of 15, and the Golden Eagles only loss in the run was a walk-off grand slam by Buchanan's Seth Batty. Was I premature in leapfrogging the Bears over the Golden Eagles as No. 1 in the Central Section?

** When Fresno High clinched another North Yosemite League title Tuesday, I wondered once again: How long will 35-year coach Ken Papi hang as co-head coach with his son, Jason? I know this: They're having a marvelous time filling out a lineup card together.

Two hours after Buchanan drummed Clovis 10-2 Monday, Clovis West required a seventh-inning passed ball to win 5-4 at Clovis East, which is 2-9 in the TRAC -- granted, the best 2-9 team in the Central Section by far.

And that, essentially, is why I flopped the Bears and Golden Eagles atop the Central Section baseball rankings.

While the teams are tied for the league lead with 9-2 records, Buchanan beat Clovis West in 2 of 3 TRAC games, as did the Bears with No. 3 Clovis.

Today, Buchanan is the section's best team. Whether the Bears remain there will depend on their No. 2 pitcher behind 9-1 super soph Seth Moranda.

True, about those apples not falling too far from the trees. Sons of former stars establishing their own identification in Central Section baseball:

** K.C. Hobson, pitcher/infielder of fifth-ranked Stockton (dad: former major leaguer Butch Hobson).

** J.D. Salles, pitcher/infielder of No. 1 Clovis West (dad: former McLane and Fresno State star John Salles).

** Seth Moranda, sophomore pitcher of No. 3 Buchanan (dad: former Fresno High, Fresno City College and minor league pitcher Dean Moranda).

** Top-ranked Clovis avoided a third-straight loss by scoring three runs in the seventh inning to defeat Memorial 6-5 in a tournament opener. With first baseman Evan Wolf able to pitch but not hit for a month, nothing's going to come easy for the Cougars. And a repeat appearance in the Central Section D-I title game is unlikely.

** D-I title game? Ever since Stockdale rallied for that dramatic 7-6 victory over Clovis for the D-I crown, I've expected it would be the Mustangs' K.C. Hobson against Clovis West's J.D. Salles for the 2009 title. And I haven't changed my mind.

** This is the 40th Easter Classic, and there have only been two rainouts -- 1991 and 2005. But with rain forecasted Tuesday and Wednesday, it's going to be difficult to get in all 61 schedled games on nine sites. It could be extended a day, to Thursday.

Around the horn:

** Friday night, at Buchanan, I'm going to check out Bears super soph pitcher Seth Moranda against Clovis in a TRAC showdown. This will come a week after he chucked a perfect game against Madera and two weeks after he shut out Clovis for the Coca-Cola Classic championship. Seth's brother, Steven, was a JC preseason All-America pitcher for Fresno City. And Seth's father, Dean, was a former standout pitcher for Fresno High and FCC before going pro.

** More bad news spewing out of Fowler, where the non-throwing (right) shoulder of Bee All-Star slugging first baseman Clay Cederquist hasn't responded to rest. An MRI showed no tear, but there's major concern surrounding the Fresno State bound player.

Clovis North, with freshmen and sophomores, defeated perennial power Fresno 4-2 today in a nonleague baseball game to improve to 6-1.

Chances are, effective the 2010-11 school year, the Broncos and Bullard will join the Tri-River Athletic Conference.

That will add two strong baseball programs to an already powerful group composed of Clovis, Clovis West, Clovis East, Buchanan, Central and Madera.

The TRAC can already stake claim to being the finest baseball league in the state. Throw in Clovis North and Bullard in the spring of 2011 and there will be no question.

We're taking a stance -- no more co-Players of the Year in Bee All-Star selections.

This promises to be difficult, but we'll make the choice.

Tough examples:

** Top wrestler? Clovis' Scott Sakaguchi and Selma's Alex Cisneros both won state titles.

** Boys basketball POY? How about Clovis East's Robert Sandoval, Edison's Jameal York or Central Valley Christian's Lance Reeves?

More good winter news for Fresno Unified, with Bullard's boys soccer team leading Torrey Pines 3-0 in the second half of their Southern California Regional semifinal at Chukchansi Park.

Bullard's Central Section D-I championship in boys soccer was one of four for Fresno Unified.

The others -- Roosevelt in D-IV boys soccer and D-III girls basketball, and Edison in D-I boys basketball.

So, final winter tally: Fresno Unified 4, Clovis Unified 1 (Buchanan D-I girls soccer).

It's no accident, given an upgrade in Fresno Unified coaching hires.