Who is still in the hunt?
— Only a couple of weeks remain for local prep teams advancing through the CIF Southern Section spring sports playoffs and here is a look at just exactly who remains, and for what sport.
On the baseball diamond, nineteen local teams, inside the Valley News coverage area, advanced to the postseason, and after wildcard games, and first-round action, only five teams had moved on. A week later, only two teams found themselves prepping for the quarterfinal round, which is taking place Friday, May 13.
In Division 5, the Citrus Hill Hawks (17-5), out of Perris, will be home to take on the Buena High School Bulldogs, who were No. 2 seed out of the Pacific View League. Citrus Hill was the No. 2 seed out of the Mountain Pass League. The Hawks have playoff wins over Pomona (11-1), and Sunny Hills (4-1).
In the Division 7 brackets, Cornerstone Christian (Wildomar) will be traveling to face Hueneme High School (15-8) of Oxnard, who were the No. 2 seed out of the Citrus Coast League. Cornerstone was the No. 1 seed out of the Majestic League and have wins in the postseason over Nuview Bridge (7-3) and Cathedral City (6-0).
On the softball field, the Murrieta Mesa Lady Rams continue to turn heads in their quest to win Division 1, especially after their latest bout, a 12-8 last inning win over Norco, the Big VIII No. 2 seed. Murrieta Mesa’s 12 runs was the most scored against a Norco softball team in at least 19 years. Since 2015, the Division 1 softball champion has either been Norco or the team that eliminated Norco. Also, the case in 2012 and 2013. Murrieta Mesa will continue their quest when they host top-seeded, undefeated, Oaks Christian (30-0) in the quarterfinals Thursday, May 12.
Other area softball teams that have quarterfinal matchups include Temescal Canyon (21-5) versus Heritage (22-4), where only one will move on to the Division 3 semifinals. That game will be at Temescal Canyon. Orange Vista (19-3) will travel to Temple City High School (21-6) for their Division 4 matchup, San Jacinto (26-4) is home to face Cajon (19-6) in the Division 5 brackets, Elsinore (19-7) will travel to face San Jacinto Valley Academy (20-4) in Division 6, and wrapping up in Division 7, Linfield Christian (13-7-1) will be home to face Rosemead (14-6). Game times are set for 3:15 p.m.
Top teams for both baseball and softball have the opportunity to advance to State Regional tournaments, but in most divisions, they must either make it to the semifinals, or win there and advanced to the finals to even be considered.
On the boys’ lacrosse fields, the finals will be taking place over the next few days and only one local team made the push. The Vista Murrieta Broncos (19-4), with wins over Long Beach Poly (17-2), Thacher (11-4), and Mission Viejo (9-8), they will be taking on Crescenta Valley (19-2), the No. 2 seed out of the Gold Coast League. Game time for this Division 3 matchup is set for 1 p.m. at Crescenta Valley Saturday, May 14. Vista Murrieta is the No. 2 seed out of the Southwestern League.
On the girls’ side of the field, again, only one local team went unscathed through the brackets, which was a red-hot Murrieta Mesa squad. With wins over JSerra (6-4), Westlake (11-6), and Mater Dei (10-9 in OT), the Lady Rams will face Newport Harbor for the Division 2 title Saturday, May 14, at 4:30 p.m. at Downey High School. Murrieta Mesa will look to avenge one of their two losses this season, which Newport Harbor won 11-7 in nonleague match March 26.
On the boys’ tennis courts, no local teams remain after Heritage got knocked off in the semifinals of the Division 4 brackets by Cerritos, 15-3. The same goes for the boys’ volleyball courts, where no local teams advanced past the second round.
Track and field and boys’ golf are the only other CIF Southern Section sports with post season tournaments taking place and those updates can be found online here:
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
