Servite, El Dorado, La Quinta, Calvary Chapel Seeded No. 1

Servite, El Dorado, La Quinta and Calvary Chapel will be the top-seeded teams in Divisions I, III, IV and V in the Southern Section baseball playoffs, which begin today.

Other teams of note include Trabuco Hills, seeded second in Division III, and Corona del Mar, seeded fourth in Division IV.

Today’s wild-card matchups include San Clemente at Esperanza, El Toro at Aliso Niguel, Artesia at Magnolia, Garden Grove at Sonora, Pomona Garey at Canyon and Whittier Christian at St. Margaret’s. All games will be at 3 p.m.

Division I

Defending champion: La Crescenta Crescenta Valley, an 11-3 winner over Esperanza.

Top teams: Servite (23-2), Riverside Arlington (24-2), Yucaipa (22-3), La Crescenta Crescenta Valley (20-4).

Dark horse: Los Alamitos (17-9), which won its first Sunset League title since 1979. The Griffins are not sluggers (14 home runs as a team) but are very patient at the plate (145 walks).

Noteworthy: Esperanza, which finished third in the Sunset League and starts out as a wild-card entry, is seeking a third consecutive appearance in the final. The Aztecs won the title in 1997.

Division II

Defending champion: Corona, a 6-1 winner over Riverside Poly.

Top teams: La Verne Damien (22-3), Newhall Hart (22-4), Cerritos Gahr (23-4), Whittier California (22-2).

Dark horse: Edison (18-7). The Chargers came out of a grueling league season on a five-game winning streak.

Noteworthy: Cypress-University and Villa Park-Edison are the two all-county first-round games in this division. Katella (20-6), which hosts San Bernardino Cajon (13-12) in the first round Friday, is another team that bears watching in this division.

Division III

Defending champion: West Covina South Hills, a 9-2 winner over Westlake Village Westlake.

Top teams: El Dorado (21-5), Trabuco Hills (18-6), Palm Desert (21-4), Calabasas (12-12).

Dark horse: La Habra (19-6). The Highlanders were supposed to be rebuilding but instead won a second consecutive Freeway League championship, shared with Sunny Hills.

Noteworthy: Foothill and Villa Park shared the Century League title, putting Canyon, a two-time section champion, in the unaccustomed position of having to play a wild-card playoff game.

Division IV

Defending champion: Ocean View, a 9-3 winner over La Quinta.

Top teams: La Quinta (24-2), West Covina South Hills (22-2-1), El Segundo (23-6), Corona del Mar (15-8).

Dark horse: Ocean View (14-12). The Seahawks finished third in the Golden West League, but came out of nowhere to win the title last year.

Noteworthy: La Quinta had to finish a game this season with eight players on the field--and won. But the Aztecs were weakened significantly by the loss of senior right-hander Steven Lee (broken arm).

Division V

Defending champion: Temecula Linfield, a 2-1 winner over Lake Isabella Kern Valley.

Top teams: Calvary Chapel (23-1-1), Bermuda Dunes Desert Christian (20-1), Redlands Arrowhead Christian (19-5), L.A. Brentwood (15-7).

Dark horse: Capistrano Valley Christian (17-4). The Eagles, champions of the Academy League, returned all nine starters from last year’s team which also went 17-4, with one tie. Noteworthy: Calvary Chapel’s only loss was to La Habra. Among their victories was a 12-9 decision over Riverside Arlington, seeded second in Division I.

Division VI

Defending champion: Simi Valley Grace Brethren, a 3-1 winner over La Verne Lutheran.

Top teams: Grace Brethren (17-3), Lutheran (17-4), Arcadia Rio Hondo Prep (14-6), Murrieta Calvary Chapel (19-3).

Dark horse: Bermuda Dunes Desert Christian (14-5), which has been in the division’s top 10 rankings most of the season.

Noteworthy: Heritage Christian (5-6) is the only county team in this division. It plays Palos Verdes Estates Rolling Hills Prep (9-5) in a first-round game Friday.

* COMPLETE PAIRINGS D10