Softball: Division II playoff preview

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Champion: Garden Grove Pacifica

Top Teams: 1. La Palma Kennedy (26-3), 2. Etiwanda (22-3), 3. Lakewood (23-5), 4. Mission Viejo (22-6-1).

Dark horse: Pacifica (17-12) doesn’t have its typical pitching, but the 11th-seeded Mariners hit like sledgehammer and could definitely knock off a favorite.

How it shakes out: Kennedy, led by twin sister outfielders Elia and Jamia Reid, is the best all-around team, but a potential semifinal against El Modena (21-8-1) could be the real championship game. That’s because unproven Etiwanda was placed at No. 2 and the dominoes stacked the bracket elsewhere. In Kennedy’s half of the bracket are two of the three teams it has been beaten by, Long Beach Wilson (20-8), a potential quarterfinal opponent, and Ayala (19-10-1). Hard-hitting Lakewood and Anaheim Canyon (22-7) are the class of the field in the lower bracket, but the latter has four freshman starters, including pitcher Cheyanne Tarango, and it may be too much for them to make a run this year.

-- Martin Henderson