Southern Section Baseball : Esperanza to Play Diamond Bar for 5-A Championship Saturday

Esperanza High School of Anaheim will make its third consecutive appearance in a large-division championship baseball game Saturday night at Anaheim Stadium when the Aztecs play Diamond Bar for the first Southern Section 5-A title at 7:30.

Esperanza (21-8), which won the 4-A championship in 1986 and lost in the final last year, finished third in the Empire League and made the playoffs only after defeating Westminster in a wild-card game.

The Aztecs advanced to the final by routing Beverly Hills Tuesday in a semifinal game, 12-3.

Diamond Bar (23-7), the Sierra League champion, eliminated Riverside Poly in the other 5-A semifinal, 3-1.

In the 4-A championship game, West Covina South Hills (20-6) will play Valle Vista League rival Covina (24-5) at 4:30 p.m.

La Mirada (21-6-1) plays El Toro (18-13) for the 3-A title at 1 p.m., and Riverside Norte Vista (21-6) will play Sunkist League rival Bloomington (17-9-2) at 10 a.m.

The 1-A and Small Schools divisions will play a championship doubleheader today at Blair Field in Long Beach. The 1-A game between Santa Monica Crossroads (21-10) and Fillmore (22-1) is set for 7:30 p.m., and the Small Schools game, between Pasadena Poly (19-3-1) and Leffingwell Christian of Norwalk (19-4-1) will be played at 4:30 p.m.