{"id":4556,"date":"2026-05-11T15:47:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T15:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=4556"},"modified":"2026-05-11T15:47:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T15:47:00","slug":"santa-margarita-baseball-receives-at-large-spot-in-cif-ss-playoffs-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=4556","title":{"rendered":"Santa Margarita baseball receives at-large spot in CIF-SS playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The CIF Southern Section baseball playoff brackets probably surprised a lot of people Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Read more Sunny Hills boys volleyball finishes strong to beat Crossroads in semifinals<\/a><\/p>\n

The section had set Saturday as the release date for the pairings but then, without a \u201cheads up\u201d about a change in plans, released the brackets Friday.<\/p>\n

The other surprise, although not as big, was that Santa Margarita got into the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Santa Margarita finished last in the six-team Trinity League with a 4-11 league record. The Eagles were eligible to get into the playoffs as an \u201cat-large\u201d team and they got one of those spots in Division 2. There were three at-large spots in Division 2.<\/p>\n

The Eagles will play at Sunbelt League champion Rancho Christian (22-4) in the first round Thursday.<\/p>\n

Santa Margarita coach Chris Malec might have had an inkling his team would get an at-large berth. The Eagles were having practice when the brackets were released Friday.<\/p>\n

A team that did not earn an automatic spot in the playoffs was eligible for an at-large berth if it had an overall record of .500 or better. Santa Margarita finished the regular season 15-13.<\/p>\n

Teams were placed into divisions and seeded for the playoffs according to the rankings (Massey Ratings System)\u00a0 at the end of the regular season.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The format for the Division 1 playoffs was changed this year to a 16-team field that begins with pool play.\u00a0The other eight divisions have 32-team, single-elimination brackets.<\/p>\n

Every Division 1 team will have at least two playoff games this season.<\/p>\n

The first round for Divisions 2, 4, 6, and 8 is Thursday. The first round for Divisions 3, 5, 7 and 9 is Friday, May 15.<\/p>\n

Read more Santa Margarita boys lacrosse sticks to plan, beats St. Margaret\u2019s in semifinals<\/a><\/p>\n

Two teams that are in the Orange County Top 10 rankings did not make the playoffs: No. 9 JSerra (11-17) and No. 4 Mater Dei (13-15). They tied for fourth place in the Trinity League but did not meet the requirements for an at-large berth.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Three Orange County teams are in Division 1 and have pool-play games Tuesday: Sunset League champion Huntington Beach (21-6-1) will play at Southwestern League champion Temecula Valley (24-4) in Pool B; Crestview League champion Cypress (21-7) is at Trinity League champion St. John Bosco (22-5); Trinity League second-place finisher Orange Lutheran (23-5) will be at home against Big VIII third-place finisher Corona Santiago (18-10).<\/p>\n

The championship games will be played at Cal State Fullerton on May 29 and 30 and at Loan Mart Field in Rancho Cucamonga on May 30. The location for each final, plus the date and time, will be announced later.<\/p>\n

This is the second season in which the playoff divisions and seedings were determined by current-season data and rankings. A result of those rankings is that a third-place team could be the home team against a league champion in the first round.<\/p>\n

For example in Division 2, Trinity League third-place finisher Servite (15-13) is at home against Empire League champion Costa Mesa (21-7) on Thursday.<\/p>\n

In other first-round games between two Orange County teams:<\/p>\n

\u2014 South Coast League champion Trabuco Hills (17-11) is at Sunset League second-place Newport Harbor (19-9) in Division 2;<\/p>\n

\u2014 Fullerton (15-12), second place in the Empire League, is at Sea View League third-place San Juan Hills (16-12) in Division 3;<\/p>\n

\u2014 North Hills League second-place Sonora (17-10) is at Empire League second-place Katella (15-11) in Division 4;<\/p>\n

\u2014 Rancho Alamitos (11-11), third place in the Grove League, is at Orange League champion Los Amigos (17-5) in Division 8. This is a matchup of longtime rivals in the old Garden Grove League.<\/p>\n

Read more Congress doing little to prepare for potential AI job losses<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Santa Margarita finished last in the Trinity League, but still made it into the CIF Southern Section baseball playoffs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facts","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSanta Margarita baseball receives at-large spot in CIF-SS playoffs - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=4556\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Santa Margarita baseball receives at-large spot in CIF-SS playoffs - 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