PREP BASEBALL OUTLAWS EYE PLAYOFFS.

Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer

Getting to the playoffs is something the Canyon High baseball team should be familiar with by the spring.

After narrowly earning a playoff berth with a third-place finish in the Foothill League last season, Canyon's players have formed competitive teams that haven't had a problem reaching the postseason in various leagues. They were one of the area's most dominant programs this past summer in American Legion and now, as the Outlaws traveling team, they are headed to playoffs of the All-Wood Fall League. The first game of the single-elimination tournament is today against Redondo.

The Outlaws have been together for five years and originally contained players from other schools but are now essentially the same players who compete for Canyon High.

Junior infielder Ryan Burke, senior infielder Ryan Hawkins, senior catcher Josh Lagrotta and senior pitcher Keith Leduc are among those who played important roles in making the Outlaws one of 16 teams from the 26-team league to qualify for the playoffs.

Since several of the players also play for the So Cal Panthers traveling team and were in Arizona for a tournament last weekend, they were unable to join Frank Zapata and Ryan Pipito in representing the Outlaws in last weekend's all-star game.

The group's success gives Canyon optimism about improving on last season's finish - which included a mercy-rule loss to Royal of Simi Valley in the wild-card round of playoffs - despite the graduation of eight seniors.

--An array of opportunities: Canyon's Chris Seddon continues to deal with the interest generated from a breakthrough summer in which he emerged as a top left-handed pitching prospect.

His playing time with teams such as the Outlaws has often been put on hold to make recruiting trips. Seddon has made trips to Fresno State, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, Loyola Marymount and is scheduled to visit Long Beach State this weekend.

A decision will come ``pretty soon,'' he said. ``I want to wait until I've made all my trips and I'll sit down with all the information and see what's best for me.''

The fall signing period begins Nov. 6.

--A new look all around: The Saugus baseball team will have more than just a new coach this season. When Casey Burril, the former Hart standout and Valencia assistant, filled the vacancy left by Doug Worley's retirement, the entire program began to get a fresh look. The Centurions selected a new team logo and are making even bigger changes to their field.

Earlier this month, the team resodded the infield. New fences and concrete around the field are also part of the upgrades made possible by donations from local construction companies and the team raising nearly $20,000.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for after Thanksgiving, with an exact date yet to be set.

The Centurions' first scheduled home game is the Foothill League opener March 16 against Valencia.

--Etc.: Castaic residents Richie Martin and Tim Cantu grew up playing together in youth leagues, but the buddies were separated at the high school level when Martin enrolled at Valencia and Cantu went to Alemany of Mission Hills. They were reunited this summer as teammates on the Area Code team and now they get a chance to play against each other during their senior season when Alemany hosts the Vikings on March 24.