Valencia beat Pacifica, 8-1, in baseball on Friday to capture the Empire League’s third and final guaranteed playoff berth.
Valencia and Pacifica finished the regular season tied for third place with 5-5 league records. The Tigers earned the playoff spot based on tiebreakers.
Vicente Guzman pitched a complete game for the Tigers, allowing four hits and striking out four.
Cade Briggs was 4 for 4 for Valencia, which scored four runs in the first two innings. Will Van Dam was 2 for 3 with three RBI.
Valencia will be the league’s No. 3 representative in the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs. Cypress earned the No. 1 seed and Tustin secured the No. 2 seed.
BASEBALL SATURDAY
There are several baseball games with playoff implications that will be played Saturday. All of them start at 9 a.m.
In the Garden Grove League, Garden Grove at Santiago, and Rancho Alamitos at La Quinta. Both games have myriad playoff implications.
In the Trinity League, JSerra at Santa Margarita, and Servite at Mater Dei. If Mater Dei wins, it gets the league’s third and final guaranteed playoff berth. If Mater Dei loses and Santa Margarita beats JSerra, the Eagles get the No. 3 berth.
SOFTBALL SATURDAY
Canyon and Yorba Linda are scheduled to play a Crestview League game Saturday at Canyon at 9 a.m.
If the Comanches win, they will share the league title with the Mustangs and El Modena, while the Mustangs can avoid sharing the title with a victory.
In the Trinity League, Orange Lutheran will be at Santa Margarita at 9 a.m. The winner will share the league title with Mater Dei.
