A baseball team needs great pitching, reliable fielding, timely hitting and some luck to win a CIF-SS championship.
A sportswriter needs a lot of luck to predict which teams win CIF championships.
Now that the appetizer of the playoffs, the wild-card round, has been consumed, let’s get to the main course and zero in on what is going to happen in these baseball playoffs.
DIVISION 1
Top 4 seeds: 1. JSerra; 2. Loyola of Los Angeles; 3. Fountain Valley; 4. Agoura
O.C. angle: The county has plenty of teams that are good enough to win this division. Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach and JSerra have such dangerous batting orders, and they have enough pitching, too, with aces such as Scott Schultz at Fountain Valley, Noah Davis at Huntington Beach and Quentin Longrie at JSerra. Foothill is having a magical year, going from last place in 2013 to the Century League championship this year. There could be a Fountain Valley-Santa Margarita game in the second round.
Final four: JSerra; Huntington Beach; Fountain Valley; Long Beach Wilson
Champion: JSerra
DIVISION 2
Top 4 seeds: 1. Great Oak of Temecula; 2. Dana Hills; 3. Vista Murrieta; 4. Glendora
O.C. angle: The Sea View League was pretty much a Division 1 league in quality. The top three teams – Aliso Niguel, Dana Hills and San Clemente – would have been playoff contenders in any league in the county. The Empire League’s top two teams – Cypress and Pacifica – are very talented, too. Beckman, of the Pacific Coast League, is a bona fide top-10 club. Cypress won this division last year and one must acknowledge its championship pedigree. But that Sea View group, especially Dana Hills led by Louis Raymond and Luke Williams, stands out.
Final four: Aliso Niguel; Pacifica; Vista Murrieta; Dana Hills
Champion: Dana Hills
Division 3
Top 4 seeds: 1. Palm Desert; 1. Bonita of La Verne; 3. Downey; 4. Santa Monica
O.C. angle: The strongest county team here is Loara, champion of the Golden West League. Sure, that is a so-so league, but Loara had close games against top teams – a one-run loss to Cypress, a two-run loss to Santa Margarita. The Saxons, however, are in the Palm Desert part of the bracket. Garden Grove, led by Eddie Carranza and Chris Williams, looks good enough to make a move into the quarterfinals.
Final four: Palm Desert; Santa Monica; Bishop Amat of La Puente; Bonita
Champion: Palm Desert
Division 4
Top 4 seeds: 1. Kaiser of Fontana; 2. Sonora; 3. San Dimas; 4. Oaks Christian of Westlake Village
O.C. angle: Sonora has two fine pitchers in Gabe Armstrong and Evan Sonny and a solid offense. Laguna Beach is something of a mystery. The Breakers have players with great statistics – Richie Nunis is among CIF leaders in RBI with 41, Grant Wilhelm is batting .500 with 38 RBI and Steven Harrison has six home runs and 28 RBI. But their league, the Orange Coast, is not the most-challenging circuit, and they don’t have that “this proves they can play with anyone” win on the schedule. There could be a Laguna Beach-Sonora quarterfinal.
Final four: Kaiser; South Torrance; Torrance; Sonora
Champion: Sonora
Division 5
Top 4 seeds: 1. Santa Ynez; 2. Tahquitz of Hemet; 3. Oak Hills of Hesperia; 4. Woodcrest Christian
O.C. angle: There is only one county team here, Whittier Christian. The Heralds finished second in the Olympic League. That’s a good league of medium-small private schools in many sports. Whittier Christian, though, is in the Woodcrest Christian corner of the bracket. And a team in a lower division like this one never knows if it is destined for a long road trip against a top-quality team. Like, maybe Whittier Christian, if it advances, would wind up playing at De Anza League champion Big Bear.
Final four: Santa Ynez; Big Bear; Oak Hills; Taquitz
Champion: Tahquitz
Division 6
Top 4 seeds: 1. Crean Lutheran; 2. Pasadena Poly; 3. Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth; 4. Hamilton of Anza
O.C. angle: Crean Lutheran quickly has established itself in a few sports, such as swimming, and is steadily climbing the ladder in others, such as baseball. The Saints won the Academy League, a good baseball league. St. Margaret’s beat Crean Lutheran in a league game and bears watching. The best county team here, though, is Capistrano Valley Christian. The Eagles played several higher-division teams and beat a couple of them, too, such as Pacifica.
Final four: Crean Lutheran; Capistrano Valley Christian; Desert Christian of Lancaster; Pasadena Poly
Champion: Capistrano Valley Christian
Division 7
Top 4 seeds: 1. Santa Clarita Christian; 2. Nuview Bridge of Nuevo; 3. Rolling Hills Prep of San Pedro; 4. Coast Union of Cambria
O.C. angle: There is one county team in this division. St. Michael’s Prep finished second, to Catalina Island’s Avalon, in the Express League. The Archangels take a 5-14 record into the playoffs. They are in Rolling Hills Prep’s quadrant of the bracket.
Final four: Santa Clarita Christian; Coast Union; Rolling Hills Prep; Nuview Bridge
Champion: Santa Clarita Christian
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
