The CIF Southern Section softball playoffs will commence Tuesday, May 2, with wildcard games and Thursday, May 4, with opening round games. (All games are scheduled for 3:15 p.m. start times, unless otherwise noted.)
Two teams from the Valley News coverage area earned top five rankings in their respective divisions and both will open with home games. Murrieta Mesa, Southwestern League champions for a third consecutive year, finished the year ranked fifth and will open the playoffs at home on Thursday against the winner of a wildcard game between Corona Centennial and South Hills.
Also ranked in their division’s top five is Liberty after winning the Mountain Pass League championship in their first year in a league. The Bison are ranked fifth in the final CIF-SS division five coaches’ poll and will open the playoffs on Thursday against the winner of a wildcard game between Ontario Christian and Shadow Hills at home.
In total, 16 teams qualified for the CIF-SS Ford Softball Championships. Among that number are both of last year’s finalists in Linfield Christian and Elsinore. The Lions were runners-up in Ambassador League play to Aquinas and will open the Division 5 playoffs against Kaiser (Fontana) in a wildcard game on Tuesday. After a second straight league title, Elsinore will open the Division 4 playoffs on Thursday at home against Santa Fe.
Here is a list of the softball league champions from our area: Southwestern – Murrieta Mesa; Mountain Pass – Liberty; Sunbelt – Elsinore; South Valley – Santa Rosa Academy.
*(With inclement weather moving in, if games get moved, look for updates here)
Tuesday, May 2: Wildcards
Division 3:
Hemet – 15, Diamond Bar -3
Division 5:
San Jacinto Valley Academy – 8, Twentynine Palms – 3
Linfield Christian – 10, Kaiser – 4
Thursday, May 4: Round One
Division 1:
Murrieta Mesa – 9, South Hills – 2
Division 2:
Vista Murrieta – 11, Don Lugo – 0
Great Oak – 5, Arcadia – 0
Division 4:
Chino – 11, Paloma Valley – 1
Fullerton – 6, San Jacinto – 0
Santa Fe – 11, Elsinore – 4
Division 5:
Liberty – 9, Shadow Hills – 8
Linfield Christian – 9, Santa Rosa Academy – 6
Division 6:
Nuview Bridge at Bloomington
St. Joseph’s Lakewood – 10, at Hamilton – 1
Division 7:
Santa Ana Valley – 26, California Lutheran – 11
Tahquitz – 22, Public Safety Academy – 0
Second round games are on Tuesday, May 9, with the quarterfinals on Thursday, May 11, and semifinals on Saturday, May 13. Championship games are set for Friday, May 19 and Saturday, May 20, at Irvine’s Deanna Manning Stadium.
If there are any changes in times, dates, or sites please email either Derryl at socaltrekkie@gmail.com or JP at sports@reedermedia.com with corrected information.
