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A good start to the season didn't translate to a good start for the home opener.

After the 66ers went 5-2 on the road to open the season, left-hander Nick Maronde (0-1) walked four of the first five batters in the game and allowed three runs in the first inning. He eventually walked five and allowed five runs in four innings, tying for the most walks he's had in 13 professonal starts.

That took the air out of the crowd of 2,572. The Sixers fell behind 5-0 and scored runs in the fifth and sixth innings (on an error in the fifth and a Jett Bandy RBI double in the sixth) but could get no closer, losing 6-2 to the High Desert Mavericks.

Both the 66ers and Quakes finished up their season-opening seven-game stretch with victories on Wednesday.

The Sixers won at Lake Elsinore 4-2 and will return to San Manuel Stadium for their home opener on Thursday against High Desert. Both the Sixers and High Desert are 5-2, tied with San Jose for the best record in the league.

California League rosters are out in advance of Thursday's opening day.

My previews will run in Thursday's paper, but here are some thoughts on the teams.

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QUAKES: First baseman Austin Gallagher and third baseman Tony Delmonico are back. Gallagher was with the 66ers in 2008 and 2010 and Quakes in 2011, so even if he hasn't been in one place long enough to be mayor, he could run for county board of supervisors. Delmonico was in the Cal League each of the last two seasons. The rotation will be stout: with four-fifths of the rotation rannked among the Dodgers' top 12 prospects: No. 1 Zach Lee, No. 5 Chris Reed, No. 6 Garrett Gould and No. 12 Angel Sanchez. The top of the order will include speed: Casio Grider and Leon Landry combined for 59 steals for low Single-A Great Lakes last year. Logan Bawcom, who saves 13 games in 21 appearances for the Quakes last year, is back as the team's closer

66ERS: The Sixers have a mix of prospects: including 1B C.J. Cron (No. 5), 2B Taylor Lindsey (No. 7), and also has pitchers in lefty Nick Lamonde (No. 10) and righty Fabio Martinez (No. 13). Two of the big bats in the middle of the lineup: outfielders Travis Witherspoon (No. 15) and Randal Grichuk (No. 17) shone for the SIxers in the final month of 2011 after promotions from low Single-A Cedar Rapids and are back.

MAVERICKS: The player local high school fans were looking for is Yucaipa HS product Taijuan Walker, Seattle's No. 1 prospect as a right-handed starter. But by all accounts, it appears Walker is headed to Double-A Jackson instead.

The Cal League season opens next Thursday. Usually, it's several days after the big leaguers start, but this time the Cal League actually opens before some big league teams, like the Angels, who open on Friday. The 66ers open at the Quakes on April 5.

No rosters are out yet but Here are some possibilities of players it would be interesting to see:

When the High Desert Mavericks came to Rancho Cucamonga for a four-game series that began on Wednesday, the Quakes had a chance to put a stranglehold on the first half South Division race. The Quakes led by 5 games with 18 to play. Instead, thanks to the Mavericks winning 3 of 4 (including Saturday's 7-4 win), the Quakes' once formidable lead is down to 3 games with 14 remaining.

The teams are done playing each other for the first half, but the Mavericks hold all the momentum now.

The Quakes' remaining first half schedule beginning today: 3 at Bakersfield (29-27), day off, 4 vs. Visalia (25-30), 3 vs. 66ers (24-32), 4 at Stockton (29-27). The Mavericks' remaining schedule beginning today: 3 vs. 66ers (24-32), day off, 4 vs. Lake Elsinore (25-31),  3 at Stockton (29-27), 4 at Lake Elsinore (25-31).

Meanwhile, the Mavericks will have a deal with a big leaguer for at least one game beginning Sunday: Angels outfielder Vernon Wells, who will begin a rehab assignment with the 66ers as he recovers from a groin strain. Game time in Adelanto is 5:05 p.m. It seems Wells was originally supposed to rehab with Triple-A Salt Lake, but possible bad weather in Reno (where Salt Lake is supposed to play) had the Angels shift his rehab assignment to the Cal League. No word on how many games he's scheduled to play for the 66ers.

It wasn't the ideal pitching matchup for the Quakes on paper, but the games, they say, aren't played on paper.

The Quakes scored in four of the first five innings and routed the High Desert Mavericks 6-1 at the Epicenter on Thursday. The win gave the Quakes (31-23) a five-game lead over the Mavericks (26-28) in the South Division with 16 games to play.

All-star candidate Chris Sorce started for the Mavericks, sporting a 5-1 record and a sparkling 2.92 ERA. Arismendy Ozoria (0-2, 9.72 ERA) was slated to pitch for the Quakes after Dodgers reliever Blake Hawksworth pitched the first inning in a rehab assignment.

But the Quakes hit Sorce hard, as he allowed 10 hits and six runs (five earned) in 4 2/3 innings. Ozoria, meanwhile, allowed only three hits and one run in five innings. Greg Wilborn, just off the disabled list, pitched the final three shutout innings for the save.

Travis Denker (ninth) and Gorman Erickson (third) each homered for the Quakes.

What was a 7 game lead over the High Desert Mavericks is down to 4 with 17 games to play as the Quakes' comeback came up short on Wednesday, 7-6.

The Quakes really had no business to even be in the game.

They were out-hit 17-6 and High Desert scored in each of the first four innings. But the Mavericks didn't run away with it as they ran into four double plays and left 13 runners on base.

The Mavericks led 7-1 in the sixth before Angelo Songco hit his second home run of the game in the bottom of the sixth to make it 7-2. It was Songco's first two-homer game in his three-year pro career.

It was still 7-2 in the eighth, when a fielding error by Mavericks shortstop Nick Franklin opened the door for three unearned Quakes runs, capped by Blake Smith's two-run homer.

Trailing 7-5 in the ninth, the Quakes rallied again with help from the Mavericks defense as closer Daniel Cooper dropped a throw from first baseman Dennis Raben for an error on what would have been the second out. Then Franklin made another error on what would've been the third out. A fielder's choice and an RBI single by Rafael Ynoa made it 7-6 with two outs and Cooper struck out Songco to end the game.

The Quakes (30-23) are only seven games over .500 for the first time since May 11, when they were 20-13. The Mavericks have three more games in the current series to cut into the Quakes' lead.

Alex Freedman, who had been the Mavericks broadcaster for the last several seasons, will not be broadcasting games for the 2011 season for the team.

The new owners of the Mavericks have apparently changed the position, effictively eliminating a fulltime broadcaster.

Freedman had originally served as the Mavericks' No. 2 broadcaster under Jon Rosen beginning in the 2007 season, then succeeded Rosen when Rosen left for other opportunities  I believe for the 2008 season.

Freedman writes that William Calvert, who had broadcast games for Bakersfield and Lancaster in the last couple of years, will broadcast weekend Mavericks home and commuter games on the internet for the 2011 season.

For the record, I thought before the playoffs began that the Quakes would meet Stockton in the California League Championship Series, because those were the 2 hottest teams entering the playoffs. Well, I'm already half wrong, as Modesto swept Stockton in the North.

But in the South, the Quakes are looking good in a surprisingly easy sweep of the Mavericks by 12-5 and 7-1 scores. Next up is first-half champion Lake Elsinore. That best-of-five series begins Saturday at Lake Elsinore. Games 3 and 4 are Monday and Tuesday in Rancho Cucamonga.

Except for a hiccup in mid-August, the Quakes seem to be a team on a mission this season. They've got power (8 home runs in 2 playoff games), as well as a team that steals bases, bunts, has good pitching, and is the best defensive team in the league.

Lake Elsinore has some very good starting pitching including Anthony Bass (8-7, 3.13 ERA) and Juan Oramas (7-3, 3.00), who figure to start the first two games against the Quakes. The Storm has a slight advantage in starting pitching and their closer, Brad Brach is the best in the league. But the Quakes have some depth, too. The bullpen allowed only one run in 9 2/3 innings in the first two playoff games, so they can't be overlooked.

My pick: Quakes in 5 

The Quakes took Game 1 of the South Division first round of the playoffs by crushing the Mavericks 12-5 in Adelanto on Wedn.esday. Game 2 is at the Epicenter in Rancho Cucamonga Thursday

It was a rout in the end, but there were three key momentum changers.

1) Top of the third inning. Quakes lead 1-0 with runners on second and third and two outs. Gabe Jacobo strikes out on a wild pitch. Catcher Trevor Coleman can't get Darwin Perez coming home or Jacobo at first, keeping the inning going. Angel Castillo hits a grand slam later in the inning to give the Quakes a 6-0 lead.

2) Bottom of the fourth inning. Having scored four runs in the bottom of the third to close the gap to 6-4, the Mavericks had two on and one out in the fourth. That prompted Quakes manager Keith Johnson to replace starter Manny Flores with Christian Scholl. Scholl induced Edilio Colina to ground into an inning-ending double play, leaving the powerful Johermyn Chavez in the on-deck circle. Chavez homered leading off the next inning.

3) Top of the sixth inning. The Quakes were clinging to a 6-5 lead and had two outs and nobody on. Reliever Tim Boyce was about to complete his third shutout inning when Mike Trout hit a high drive to straight away center field. The center field wall is higher there than the rest of the ballpark. Denny Almonte lept high to catch the ball, but it hit about 10 feet up on the wall and bounded back toward second base. By the time Almonte retrieved the ball, Johnson was waving Trout home for an inside the park home run. The home run seemed to take the life out of the Mavericks, who didn't get a baserunner in the final four innings.