• Support
  • Advertise
  • Locations
  • Contact
Saturday, December 9, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTERS
San Clemente Times
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye on SC
    • Soapbox
      • Submit a Letter
    • Getting Out
    • SC Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • SC Surf
    • Dana Point Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of SC
  • Explore SC
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classifieds
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Submit an Announcement
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well – For the Young at Heart
    • Best of San Clemente
    • Crib to College
    • Festival of Whales Event Program
    • Go See Do
    • Good Eats
    • Graduation Special
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Home Improvement Guide 2023
    • Money Matters
    • San Clemente Trolley Route Map
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • Swallows Day Parade & Mercado Event Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Triton Football Preview
    • WSL Rip Curl Guide 2023
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye on SC
    • Soapbox
      • Submit a Letter
    • Getting Out
    • SC Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • SC Surf
    • Dana Point Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of SC
  • Explore SC
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classifieds
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Submit an Announcement
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well – For the Young at Heart
    • Best of San Clemente
    • Crib to College
    • Festival of Whales Event Program
    • Go See Do
    • Good Eats
    • Graduation Special
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Home Improvement Guide 2023
    • Money Matters
    • San Clemente Trolley Route Map
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • Swallows Day Parade & Mercado Event Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Triton Football Preview
    • WSL Rip Curl Guide 2023
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who
No Result
View All Result
San Clemente Times
No Result
View All Result

Baseball League, CIF-SS Playoff Races Come Down to Final Week; SCHS Aims for Sea View League Title

Zach Cavanagh by Zach Cavanagh
April 24, 2023 4:07PM
in SPORTS & OUTDOORS, Sports Headlines
Baseball League, CIF-SS Playoff Races Come Down to Final Week; SCHS Aims for Sea View League Title

Mike Erspamer. San Clemente baseball. Photo: Zach Cavanagh

0
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

For in-game updates, news and more for all the San Clemente High School sports programs, follow us on Twitter @SouthOCSports and on Instagram @South_OC_Sports, and sign up for weekly South OC Sports updates straight to your inbox.

League championships and playoff spots will come down to the final series of the season this week for nearly every South Orange County baseball team. CIF-SS playoff brackets will be announced next Monday, May 1.

The tightest playoff race is in the Sea View League, where San Clemente, San Juan Hills and Aliso Niguel are locked in a three-way tie atop the league entering play on Monday. In the four-team Sea View League, only two teams are guaranteed a CIF-SS playoff berth, and with San Juan Hills (12-13) and Aliso Niguel (11-13) coming into the week with sub-.500 records, these games are essential to their postseason fates.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by South OC Sports (@south_oc_sports)

After a dramatic series against San Juan Hills last week, San Clemente, ranked No. 9 in CIF-SS Division 3, has the most straightforward path, as the Tritons (16-9) will host two of three games against last-place El Toro. The series is at San Clemente on Monday, April 24, and Thursday, April 27, and at El Toro on Tuesday, April 25. One win will clinch a playoff berth for the Tritons, as San Clemente split its series with both Aliso Niguel and San Juan Hills and holds a strong winning record.

The nature of the Sea View League championship race and the league’s other guaranteed CIF-SS playoff berth will be decided as Aliso Niguel hosts San Juan Hills for two of three games this week. If either team wins just two of three games, San Clemente can clinch a shared league title with two wins or can win the league title outright with a sweep of El Toro. Either way, the winner of the San Juan Hills-Aliso Niguel series will take the other guaranteed playoff spot.

The most high-profile playoff race is in the Trinity League, where JSerra, Mater Dei and Orange Lutheran come into the week with the same league record playing for two of the league’s three playoff spots. Santa Margarita, ranked No. 2 in CIF-SS Division 1, already clinched the league title last week, are tied for the second through fourth spots.

@JSerraLionsBB highlights of Tuesday's 4-2 win over Servite. Lions face off in game 3 today at home at 4:00. Thank you Joe Bond Media! pic.twitter.com/G4bk3dADCv

— JSerraAthletics (@JSerraAthletics) April 21, 2023

Reigning Division 1 champion JSerra, ranked No. 4, and Orange Lutheran, ranked No. 8 in Division 1, play a three-game set this week, including the opener at Hart Park in Orange on Monday. JSerra hosts on Tuesday, and Orange Lutheran hosts the finale on Thursday. Mater Dei, ranked No. 5 in Division 2, plays a three-game set against Servite.

While there is intrigue across the board for the Trinity League race, JSerra, Orange Lutheran and Mater Dei should all end up with CIF-SS playoff spots, either through a guaranteed league spot or an easy at-large selection.

In the South Coast League, Dana Hills has one last shot to make a desperate charge into the CIF-SS playoffs.

The Dolphins (8-17, 3-6) have had a down season, but upsets of league-leading Capistrano Valley and Tesoro set up Dana Hills for a three-game opportunity against Trabuco Hills (13-12, 5-4), which currently holds the league’s final guaranteed playoff spot. If the Dolphins can sweep the three-game set against the Mustangs, Dana Hills would surge into that guaranteed berth and the CIF-SS Division 3 playoffs.

Dana Hills hosts Trabuco Hills on Tuesday and Friday, April 28, with the second game of the series at Trabuco Hills on Wednesday, April 26. Elsewhere, Tesoro and Capistrano Valley lock up for a three-game league championship series with Tesoro as host on Tuesday and Friday.

There are a lot of moving parts for St. Margaret’s to possibly reach the CIF-SS playoffs through the Orange Coast League.

The Tartans (6-10, 4-6) sit in fifth in the seven-team league but could finish as high as third with two league games to play. Orange (13-11, 6-3) is in third place, Costa Mesa (17-7, 5-5) is in the fourth and final guaranteed playoff spot, and Santa Ana (6-15, 4-6) is in sixth.

St. Margaret’s is at Costa Mesa on Wednesday and hosts the Mustangs on Thursday. Orange hosts Santa Ana on Tuesday, plays at second-place Calvary Chapel on Wednesday and finishes at Santa Ana on Thursday. Both St. Margaret’s and Santa Ana need to get an automatic spot to get into the CIF-SS playoffs with losing records.

Capistrano Valley Christian, a team with four NCAA Division 1 power conference college signees, is in a complicated spot. The Eagles (17-10), who earned coach Clemente Bonilla’s 300th career win last week, had won 12 consecutive league championships in dominant fashion. This season, due to its dominance, CVC has no league games, so the Eagles will have to apply as an at-large team for the CIF-SS Division 2 playoffs. CVC closes its regular-season on Monday against Sonora.

300th Career Win Coach Clemente Bonilla https://t.co/N5BKNyF4Yi pic.twitter.com/AzanxqU31f

— CVCS Athletics (@cvcseagles) April 20, 2023

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Tags: BaseballCapistrano Valley ChristiancifCIF-SSdana hillsDana PointDolphinsEaglesFeaturedJSerraLeagueLionsOrange Coast LeaguePlayoff RacePlayoffsSan ClementeSan Juan Capistranosan juan hillsSea View LeagueSouth Coast LeagueSt. Margaret’sstallionsTartansTrinity LeagueTritons
ShareTweetPin
Zach Cavanagh

Zach Cavanagh

Zach Cavanagh is the sports editor for Picket Fence Media. Zach is a California Journalism Award winner and has covered sports in Orange County since 2013. Follow our sports coverage on Twitter @SouthOCSports and Instagram @South_OC_Sports, and follow Zach on Twitter and Instagram @ZachCav. Email at zcavanagh@picketfencemedia.com.

Related Posts

2023 San Clemente Winter Sports Showcase

2023 San Clemente Winter Sports Showcase

December 8, 2023
Local Business Owners Host Toy Drive for Charity

Better Buzz Opens San Clemente Location

December 8, 2023
Local Business Owners Host Toy Drive for Charity

Local Business Owners Host Toy Drive for Charity

December 8, 2023
Hundreds Gather to Protest Stay-at-Home Orders

Hostetter Sentenced to 135 Months for Role in Jan. 6 Capitol Attack

December 7, 2023
Next Post
Gene James

Councilmember James to Step Down from Local Office, Move to Wyoming

Discussion about this post

No Result
View All Result

SC Times Daily
Get important news and updates delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up here.

Subscriptions
Don’t get the SC Times delivered to your home? Subscribe today.

Advertising
Get new customers and drive traffic to your business. Advertise with us.

Support Local Journalism
For less than the cost of a couple of cups of coffee a month, become an “Insider” member and continue to get “Local News You Can Use” from the only independently owned, dedicated local news organization in South Orange County.

Contribute today.

Picket Fence Media is a proud member of the SoCal Media Network.

  • Archive
  • Contact Us
  • Dana Point Times
  • The Capistrano Dispatch
  • Terms of Use
  • About Us

© 2023 Picket Fence Media

No Result
View All Result
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye on SC
    • Soapbox
      • Submit a Letter
    • Getting Out
    • SC Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • SC Surf
    • Dana Point Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of SC
  • Explore SC
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classifieds
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Submit an Announcement
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well – For the Young at Heart
    • Best of San Clemente
    • Crib to College
    • Festival of Whales Event Program
    • Go See Do
    • Good Eats
    • Graduation Special
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Home Improvement Guide 2023
    • Money Matters
    • San Clemente Trolley Route Map
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • Swallows Day Parade & Mercado Event Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Triton Football Preview
    • WSL Rip Curl Guide 2023
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who

© 2023 Picket Fence Media