The final week of the high school baseball regular season was a dramatic one.
Now it’s on to the playoffs. The brackets for the eight CIF Southern Section playoff divisions will be released Monday at 10 a.m.
Some basics on the baseball playoffs: teams are automatic qualifiers for the playoffs if they finish among the top two teams in a four-team league, top three in five- and six-team leagues, and top four in seven- and eight-team leagues; teams can apply for an at-large berth if their overall record is .500 or better; teams were slotted into playoff divisions before the season began.
So with that in mind and reviewing the final week …
The Trinity League had an interesting Thursday, the final day of the regular season for that elite six-team group.
Santa Margarita needed to beat Mater Dei and have Orange Lutheran lose to St. John Bosco for the Eagles to tie Orange Lutheran for the league championship. Orange Lutheran did lose to St. John Bosco 8-2. The Eagles had beaten Mater Dei in their first two matchups of the week, but lost to the Monarchs 6-3 on Thursday, so Orange Lutheran finished in first place with an 11-4 league record and Santa Margarita was second at 10-5.
Players on the Servite bench look on against St. John Bosco in the first inning of a prep baseball game at St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower on Friday, March 22, 2024. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Servite beat JSerra 9-2 on Thursday to complete a three-game sweep of the Lions. JSerra, which won a second straight CIF-SS championship last year, finished third to earn the league’s final guaranteed playoff berth.
St. John Bosco and Servite finished 6-9 each in league, with Mater Dei sixth at 5-10. All three of those teams are eligible for at-large berths.
Mater Dei won the statewide Boras Classic tournament, which annually is among the top regular-season tournaments in California. It says something about the quality of the Trinity League that the Boras Classic champion finished last in the league.
Mater Dei probably is going to be in the Division 1 playoffs. Division 1 has 35 teams and it will have a 32-team playoff bracket. Three teams – Capistrano Valley, Crespi and Etiwanda – are not automatic qualifiers and lack the .500 record to be at-large candidates. So Mater Dei is in a great position to be included.
El Dorado finished fourth in the four-team Crestview League. With its 14-14 overall record, El Dorado could be a Division 1 at-large team.
Servite has some competition for an at-large berth in Division 2, including Crean Lutheran. Crean Lutheran, a CIF-SS Division 4 finalist last year, finished fourth in the six-team Empire League and is 14-12 overall.
AROUND THE COUNTY
Canyon, the CIF-SS Division 4 champion last year, and Yorba Linda are North Hills League co-champions. Both are Division 2 teams this season. Because they are in the same division, Canyon goes into the playoffs as the North Hill League’s No. 1 playoff representative and Yorba Linda is No. 2 because Canyon beat Yorba Linda in two of their three league games. That designation is important because a No. 1 team is going to get a first-round home game in the playoffs and the No. 2 team might open the playoffs with an away game. …
Aliso Niguel is one of the hotter teams going into the playoffs. The Wolverines, last season’s CIF-SS Division 3 champions, have won six in a row, including a two-game sweep of San Juan Hills two weeks ago. Aliso Niguel, a Division 2 team, is Sea View League co-champion with San Juan Hills, which is a Division 4 team. …
Huntington Beach won the Surf League championship with its 7-2 league record and is off to the Division 1 playoffs. Fountain Valley finished second and will play in Division 3. Third-place Los Alamitos, with its 20-6 overall record, is in the running for a Division 3 at-large berth if the division does not have 32 automatic qualifiers. …
Capistrano Valley Christian won the San Joaquin League championship by beating Pacifica Christian 4-0 in a league tournament championship game. The Eagles have won 14 consecutive league championships. If assigned a home game in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2 playoffs, they play at Windrow Park. …
Costa Mesa won its first league championship since 2009. The Mustangs finished 11-1 in the Orange Coast League, one game ahead of Estancia. …
Century and Savanna tied for the Orange League championship with 8-1-1 league records. Anaheim finished third. Savanna went 10-0 in the league last year. …
Calvary Chapel and Santa Ana tied for third place in the Orange Coast League with 6-6 league records. They split their two league games against each other. As a seven-team league the Orange Coast League’s top four finishers get guaranteed playoff berths, so Calvary Chapel can go into Division 5 as a No. 3 team and Santa Ana can also be a No. 3 in Division 7.
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