One week to go, who is still in the hunt?
The final week of the CIF Southern Section spring sports playoffs is here, and this is a look at just exactly who remains, and for what sport.
On the baseball diamond, 19 local teams, inside the Valley News coverage area, advanced to the postseason, and after wild-card 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 took place Friday, May 13.
In Division 5, the Citrus Hill Hawks (17-5), out of Perris, had a home bid to take on the Buena 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, with playoff wins over Pomona (11-1) and Sunny Hills (4-1), could not get past the Bulldogs, falling 5-4.
In the Division 7 brackets, Cornerstone Christian (Wildomar) traveled to face Hueneme High School (16-8) of Oxnard, who were the No. 2 seed out of the Citrus Coast League. Cornerstone (20-8) was the No. 1 seed out of the Majestic League and with wins in the postseason over Nuview Bridge (7-3) and Cathedral City (6-0), they were hoping to get the best of the Vikings. Unfortunately, Hueneme handled business rather quickly, knocking off the Crusaders, 10-1. That would be the last game for any local team in the postseason.
On the softball field, in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinals, undefeated Oaks Christian (31-0) blanked Murrieta Mesa, 9-0, and finished with 16 hits on the day, and three home runs. The Lady Rams would only have four hits in the game with Zoe Karam, Kaylee Oh, Paige Bambarger and Taelyn Holly doing their part. Read the full story by clicking the link below:
Winners in the quarterfinal round included Elsinore (20-7) with their 13-1 routing of San Jacinto Valley Academy, Temescal Canyon (22-5), who beat Heritage in a showdown at home, 6-5, in nine innings, and Linfield Christian, with their 10-9 come-from-behind victory over Rosemead.
The Lady Lions fell behind 5-0 in the second inning before chipping away and pulling even at 7-7 in the fifth inning. With the game on the line, junior Vanessa Perez sent a line drive over the right field fence in the bottom of the 6th to give Linfield Christian (15-8) the lead 8-7. Rosemead did not back down and scored twice in the top of the 7th inning to give the Lady Panthers a 9-8 lead. In the bottom of the seventh, Perez got on base with her fourth hit of the game, and in dramatic fashion, with two outs, sophomore Faith Stamper would end the game with a single to left field, scoring Perez, securing Linfield’s bid to the semifinal round.
Orange Vista and San Jacinto were the only other teams that had quarterfinal games, but both fell without scoring any runs in their final game of the season.
Top-seeded Bonita (26-5-1) shut down Temescal Canyon (22-6) in the Division 3 semifinals. The Lady Titans were riding the wave of two comeback victories in the playoffs and had averaged more than 14 runs per game over a 15-game winning streak. That all came to an end as Temescal Canyon’s Marissa Sanchez and Haley Garcia had back-to-back doubles in the third inning to score their lone run.
It took eight innings, but the Elsinore softball team beat Indio, 4-3, in their Division 6 semifinal game. On the road, the Lady Tigers advanced to a CIF Southern Section championship game for the first time in school history. Mikaela Matamoros and Bella Harris had three hits apiece to lead a 13-hit attack for the Lady Tigers. Nakiya Logan went the distance, allowing two earned runs while striking out seven batters. Elsinore (21-7) will face Hillcrest (17-14), another finals newcomer, at Barber Bark in Irvine Saturday, May 21 at 3:30 p.m.
Finally, in the Division 7 semifinals, Linfield would need one big hit to get them to the final round of the Division 7 brackets. Danica Perez delivered that one hit, belting a two-run home run in the eighth inning to eliminate Duarte, 2-0. Makaylyn Eden finished with a complete-game shutout, giving up six hits and striking out four batters. The Lady Lions now advance to this week’s championship game, their first title appearance since 2001. They will take on Capistrano Valley Christian (26-1) at Barber Park in Irvine Saturday, May 21, at 9:30 a.m.
On the boys’ lacrosse fields, the Vista Murrieta Broncos (19-4), were the only local team to make it to the CIF Southern Section finals. With wins over Long Beach Poly (17-2), Thacher (11-4) and Mission Viejo (9-8), the Broncos took on Crescenta Valley (19-2), the No. 2 seed out of the Gold Coast League. Vista Murrieta, the No. 2 seed out of the Southwestern League defeated the Falcons 9-8, to win the school’s first Division 3 boys’ lacrosse title.
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 a Southwestern League title under their belt, and wins over JSerra (6-4), Westlake (11-6) and Mater Dei (10-9 in OT), the Lady Rams faced Newport Harbor for the Division 2 title Saturday, May 14, at Downey High School. Murrieta Mesa was looking to avenge one of their two losses this season, which Newport Harbor won 11-7 in nonleague match March 26.
Despite some solid scoring opportunities, particularly in the first half for the Lady Rams, Newport Harbor goalie Lucy Valdes played a pivotal role in keeping Murrieta Mesa at bay. The Lady Sailors beat Murrieta Mesa 11-6 to claim its first CIF-Southern Section Division 2 championship in school history. Sophia Tresvan had a free-position goal to open the scoring for the Lady Rams, Lauren Kuschel had the assist, while Carson Dickey scored three times and Ryan Smith scored twice.
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, swim, and boys’ golf are the only other CIF Southern Section sports with post season tournaments taking place and those updates can also be found online at www.myvalleynews.com.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
