The wild card round, plus first-round action, is in the books, and all but five of 19 teams remain from the local field of high school baseball squads that started the postseason last week. The most surprising outcomes came from the Division 2 bracket where four of the five area teams all lost their playoff opener, including Southwestern League champions Vista Murrieta and Ivy League champions, Temescal Canyon.
The Broncos fell 5-3 to the Baseline League’s No. 3 seed, Rancho Cucamonga, who, for the second year in a row, have knocked out a Southwestern League titleholder. Last year the Cougars defeated Murrieta Mesa, 2-0, in the semifinals of the Division 4 playoffs, where they advanced, and lost to Royal High School in the CIF Southern Section finals (3-2).
Temescal Canyon fell 3-1 to Pacifica (Garden Grove), the Empire League’s No. 2 seed. With the game tied at 1-1 in the fourth inning, the visiting Mariners plated two runs, and held the lead for the remainder of the game.
Also in Division 2, Temecula Valley, the SWL No. 2 seed, and Great Oak, the SWL No. 3 seed, both dropped their playoff openers, while the Ivy League’s No. 2 seed, Paloma Valley, was the only team to advance after beating Northview, on the road, 13-4. The Wildcats will have to travel again, this time to face those Cougars of Rancho Cucamonga in second-round action.
Other local teams that did not make it out of the early week first-round games include Elsinore, Lakeside, Santa Rosa Academy, Hemet and San Jacinto, just to name a few. A handful of local teams had their first-round games take place Friday, May 6, with hopes of advancing.
The Heritage Patriots dropped their Division 6 away game against Palm Desert 2-1, and in Division 7, Temecula Prep squeaked out a 4-3 win over Coachella Valley and Cornerstone Christian (Wildomar) got past Nuview Bridge, 7-3.
Here are the scores for the first week of playoffs and schedules for round 2, which begin Tuesday, May 10. Quarterfinal playoff action will take place Friday, May 13, for teams advancing past the second round.
CIF-SS BASEBALL PLAYOFFS
DIVISION 1
No local teams
DIVISION 2
– First round, Thursday, May 5
Paloma Valley 13, Northview 4
Rancho Cucamonga 5, Vista Murrieta 3
Maranatha 8, Great Oak 2
Pacifica 3, Temescal Canyon 1
Etiwanda 10, Temecula Valley 2
– Second round, Tuesday, May 10
Paloma Valley at Rancho Cucamonga
DIVISION 3
– First round, Friday, May 6
Palm Desert 2, Heritage 1
– Second round, Tuesday, May 10
No local teams
DIVISION 4
– Wild-card games, Tuesday, May 3
Elsinore 4, Alhambra 1
– First round, Thursday, May 5
Tahquitz 3, Elsinore 1
La Salle 6, Hemet 3
– Second round, Tuesday, May 10
Tahquitz at Fullerton
DIVISION 5
– First round, Â May 6
Citrus Hill (No. 4 seed) 11, Pomona 1
– Second round, Tuesday, May 10
Sunny Hills at Citrus Hill (No. 4 seed)
DIVISION 6
– First round, Thursday, May 5
Arrowhead Christian 16, Santa Rosa Academy 1
Rim of the World 5, Lakeside 4
Hesperia Christian 9, San Jacinto 5
– Second round, Tuesday, May 10
No local teams
DIVISION 7
– Wild-card games, Wednesday, May 4
Mountain View 15, Anza Hamilton 8
Nuview Bridge 14, California Lutheran 1
– First round, Friday, May 6
Temecula Prep 4, Coachella Valley 3
Cornerstone Christian 7, Nuview Bridge 3
– Second round, Tuesday, May 10
Temecula Prep at Baldwin Park
Cornerstone Christian at Cathedral City
* Playoff brackets can be found at the top of CIF-SS webpage at www.cifss.org.
** If we missed any local high school teams or posted scores are wrong, please report them to the Valley News Sports Department by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
