OCVarsity columnist Steve Fryer. |
Heat turned up for final week of regular season
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Baseball notes: League titles and playoff spots are at stake across the county.
This is the final week of the regular season. Playoff seedings and first-round pairings will be released Monday, May 12, with wild-card round games Tuesday, May 13.
There are no at-large berths in baseball. To qualify for the playoffs, teams in four-team leagues need to finish second or higher, teams in five- and six-team leagues need to finish third or higher, and teams in seven- and eight-team leagues need to finish fourth or higher.
In some of the CIF-Southern Section's seven divisions, some third-place and fourth-place teams (a league's No. 3 and No. 4 playoff representatives, in CIF lingo) might have to play wild-card round games.
A look at leagues involving Orange County teams:
Academy: Sage Hill and Oxford Academy are fighting for first place. Brethren Christian will be the league's No. 3.
Alpha: Whittier Christian clinched a playoff berth, and could be the league's No. 1.
Century: Canyon and El Modena are tied for first, and play each other today at Canyon. Tustin and Brea Olinda are competing for No. 3, and they play each other today.
Empire: Katella clinched the league championship. Cypress is in the playoffs. Valencia would be the league's No. 2 by sweeping Kennedy this week, but two losses to Kennedy would put Kennedy in and Valencia out of the playoffs.
Express: St. Michael's Prep and Pioneer Baptist of Norwalk are the two playoff teams from this four-team league.
Freeway: First-place Sonora leads La Habra by one game, and plays at La Habra today. If Fullerton beats Buena Park today, it clinches third.
Garden Grove: La Quinta clinched its state-record 16th consecutive league championship. Rancho Alamitos will be No. 2. Garden Grove and Santiago are vying for No. 3.
Golden West: First-place Ocean View leads Orange by one game, and plays at Orange today. Westminster will be No. 3.
Orange: Savanna is No. 1, Anaheim is No. 2, and Century and Magnolia, which play each other this week, are competing for No. 3.
Orange Coast: Calvary Chapel and Costa are the two playoff teams from this four-team league.
San Joaquin: League champion Saddleback Valley Christian is the only county team going to the playoffs.
Sea View: First-place El Toro leads Foothill and Trabuco Hills by one game, and plays host to Foothill today. Those three teams clinched playoff berths.
South Coast: Aliso Niguel, Capistrano Valley and Tesoro are tied for first; all have clinched playoff berths. The order of playoff representation will be greatly affected by today's Aliso-at-Capo game.
Sunset: Los Alamitos clinched the No. 1 designation. Edison, Esperanza and Fountain Valley are fighting for the remaining two berths.
Trinity: Orange Lutheran is the league's No. 1. Mater Dei has clinched a playoff berth. JSerra and Servite were vying for the a berth going into Monday's games.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
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