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Read more Baseball teams battling for position before CIF-SS playoff pairings released
Fullerton and JSerra’s softball teams, both highly-ranked in the CIF Southern Section power ratings, lost their final games of the regular season.
On Saturday, the schools learned how much the setbacks affected their playoff seeding.
The answer? Not much.
Fullerton and JSerra mostly held their positions and earned the No. 3 and No. 6 seeds, respectively, on the same side of the 32-team bracket for Division 1 to highlight the playoff draw for Orange County teams.
First-round games across eight divisions are Thursday and Friday.
The championship games will be played at Deanna Manning Stadium in Irvine on May 28-30.
Fullerton (24-3), ranked No. 1 in Orange County, opens the Division 1 playoffs by playing host to Cypress (16-12) on Friday.
Fullerton lost to Millikan 4-3 in its regular-season finale. The Indians took the defeat as a reminder about the demands of the postseason. They fell to Roosevelt 1-0 in the first round of the Division 1 playoffs last season.
Fullerton has gained confidence this spring. The Indians beat No. 2-seeded Norco and Trinity League champion Orange Lutheran on the final day of the Dave Kops Tournament of Champions. They also placed second to Norco in the Carew Classic.
“D1 is a gauntlet. Every team is good,” Fullerton coach Trevor Holton said after the Millikan game. “We know we have to play our best to beat some of them.”
JSerra (20-8), ranked No. 2 in Orange County, plays host to Yucaipa (21-6) in the first round Friday.
The Lions lost to Mater Dei 9-5 in the Trinity League to close the regular season.
JSerra is led by ace Liliana Escobar, who helped the Lions place second to top-seeded Murrieta Mesa in the Dave Kops Tournament of Champions.
Last season, JSerra was the Division 2 runner-up to Los Alamitos.
If Fullerton and JSerra win Friday and in the second round, which is scheduled for Saturday, the schools would collide for the first time this season in the quarterfinals May 20.
The Division 1 bracket, along with the other odd-numbered divisions, feature consecutive days of games in the first two rounds but that’s not necessarily how the schedule will work out.
“Games can be played on different days by mutual agreement by both schools,” assistant section commissioner Thom Simmons said. “These dates are not set in stone except for the championships.”
“One of the reasons we released early was so teams could actually play first round games on Tuesday or Wednesday if they so choose,” he added.
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Orange Lutheran (19-8) plays host to Moore League champion Millikan (22-6) in one of the intriguing first-round matchups in Division 1.
Cypress and Canyon received at-large berths to join fellow Crestview League members El Modena, La Habra and Pacifica in Division 1.
La Habra was the lone Crestview League team to draw a home game Friday. The Highlanders (20-7), part of a three-way tie for first in league, play host to Los Altos (20-8).
Also in Division 1 are Los Alamitos and Marina, both of which claimed section titles last season.
Los Alamitos (19-8), the reigning Division 2 champion, plays at La Mirada on Friday. The Griffins beat La Mirada 10-0 early in the season.
Marina (19-8), the reigning Division 3 champion, plays at defending Division 1 champion Norco in another top game.
Los Alamitos and Marina enter the showdowns with two pitchers to watch, Jaliane Brooks and Mia Valbuena.
Mater Dei (15-11), under first-year coach Nicole Wise, surged late in Trinity League play and received the No. 2 seed in Division 2 as an at-large team.
The Monarchs play host to sizzling Foothill (18-9) on Thursday at Fountain Valley Sports Park. The Knights, with several young players, went 12-0 in the North Hills League and have won 16 of their past 17 games.
“It’s a great first matchup,” Wise said. “Foothill is a competitive team so this will give us a good look of what the division consists of.”
“(Our) girls have worked tremendously hard throughout the school year for the moment to not only play in CIF, but to take it all,” the coach added.
Villa Park (14-14) and San Juan Hills (19-6-2) are seeded second and fourth, respectively, in Division 3.
Orange County’s other top seeds for the playoffs are Northwood (second seed in Division 5) and Irvine (first seed in Division 6) from the Pacific Coast League. Irvine (11-16) tied Rosary for first place in league while Northwood (10-7-1) took third.
University (14-9), the fourth-place team from the Pacific Coast, earned an at-large berth in Division 5. The Trojans won Division 6 last season. They play host to University Prep (15-10) of Victorville on Friday.
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