Esperanza, El Dorado Top Seeds in 4-A Baseball

Esperanza High School, the defending Southern Section 4-A champion, and Empire League rival El Dorado, a semifinalist in 1986, are the top two seeded teams in this year’s 4-A baseball tournament, which begins with wild-card games Wednesday and first-round games Friday.

The top-seeded Aztecs will play host to Riverside Poly Friday, while the second-seeded Golden Hawks will play Culver City at home. No Orange County teams in the 3-A division were seeded. Capistrano Valley earned the No. 2 seed in the 2-A playoffs, and La Quinta is seeded fourth.

Capistrano Valley plays host to Duarte Friday, while La Quinta plays host to the winner of Wednesday’s wild-card game between Apple Valley and Canyon Country Canyon.

In other wild-card games Wednesday, St. John Bosco will play at Los Alamitos in a 4-A game, Santa Ana will play host to Sonora in a 3-A game, and Woodbridge is at Irvine and Rancho Alamitos at Corona del Mar in 2-A games.

The second round is scheduled for May 26, followed by the quarterfinals (May 29), semifinals (June 2) and the championships (June 6) at Dodger Stadium.