Cypress, Rosary Are Feeling Left Out

Two of the top teams in Orange County will watch the Southern Section playoffs from the sidelines. The section office released playoff pairings on Monday, and Cypress and Rosary were not included.

Cypress (19-7) was one of four teams that shared first place in the Empire League. Rosary (18-11) was one of the top teams in the county and in its division, but finished third in the four-team Serra League, failing to get one of that league’s two automatic berths.

There were no at-large berths available in five of the six divisions. In Division VI, there were four berths, two filled by freelance schools and two by at-large entries, including Oxford Academy of the Academy League.

For Rosary Coach Tom Tice, whose team was ranked fifth in Division IV a week ago, it wasn’t a surprise. “We had chances,” said Tice, whose team lost its last four games. “I feel bad for Cypress. That was out of their control.”

Cypress shared first place with Kennedy, Loara and El Dorado. The section allows only three guaranteed berths per six-team league. To determine which three advanced automatically, the league picked Kennedy and Loara out of a hat and had Cypress play El Dorado in a one-game playoff. El Dorado won, 1-0. Kennedy, meanwhile, is seeded fourth in Division III.

Here’s a look at each division:

Division I--Colton (22-0) is top-seeded, but its schedule is suspect. Not a single opponent reached last year’s quarterfinal round. Pitcher Desiree Serrano is 21-0 with a 0.05 ERA. . . . The other top teams in the division are Valencia (23-4), Chino Hills Ayala (24-2) and Corona Santiago (23-2-1). . . . Fountain Valley set a school record with 15 consecutive victories but lost two of its last three games.

Division II--The top teams are Foothill (28-2), La Crescenta Crescenta Valley (25-1), Riverside Poly (23-2) and Newhall Hart (23-5). . . . Crescenta Valley has won 22 in a row. . . . Riverside Poly’s Melissa Backstrom is 11-0 with a 0.49 ERA, and Elizabeth Peterson is batting .538 with 23 RBIs. . . . Foothill beat Mater Dei for the Division I title, 1-0, in eight innings a year ago, but the Southern Section requires teams to play within their designated enrollment class, so both teams are in Division II this year. Among its victories, Foothill has beaten fourth-seeded Hart, 1-0. . . . . Mater Dei has gone 8-1 under Ernie Rodriguez, who has been interim coach since Ed Ulloa resigned after heart surgery. . . . . Woodbridge has won 10 of its last 12 to win the Warriors’ 17th league title in 18 seasons.

Division III--The top teams are Whittier La Serna (22-3), Laguna Hills (22-5), Hacienda Heights Wilson (21-5) and Kennedy (19-6). . . . The top two teams played two months ago, when La Serna defeated Laguna Hills, 4-0. . . . Wilson defeated Pacifica for last year’s championship. Pacifica will have to go through Kennedy to return to the final. . . . Seven Orange County teams that won or shared a league title are in this division. Two that didn’t are Santa Margarita, ranked No. 8 in the county, and No. 9 Laguna Hills.

Division IV--The top teams are West Hills Chaminade (16-8-1), La Canada (22-2-1), Morro Bay (22-2) and El Segundo (17-6-1). . . . A possible dark horse could be Rancho Alamitos. The Vaqueros were overshadowed in the Garden Grove League by Pacifica, but could face Bay League champion El Segundo in the second round. Five of the eight times El Segundo has allowed two runs or more, it has lost.

Division V--The top teams are Sun Valley Village Christian (19-4), Lancaster Paraclete (18-4), Thousand Oaks La Reina (16-9) and Orange Lutheran (18-8).

Division VI--The top teams are Westlake Village Oaks Christian (22-4-2), Canoga Park Faith Baptist (16-10), Temecula Linfield (17-4-1) and Camarillo Cornerstone Christian (13-5). . . . Capistrano Valley Christian’s Jill Jeranko has 26 RBIs, and teammate Lynn Andrews has scored 26 runs.

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SOFTBALL TOP 10

Orange County Sportswriters’

Final Poll

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Pos. School League Rec 1. Foothill (1) Century 28-2 2. Kennedy (3) Empire 19-6 3. Canyon (4) Century 23-7-1 4. Foun. Valley (2) Sunset 23-7 5. Pacifica (5) G. Grove 22-6 6. Esperanza (6) Sunset 20-5-1 7. Mater Dei (7) Serra 18-8 8. S. Margarita (9) Serra 19-7 9. Lag. Hills (10) Sea View 21-5 10. Cap. Valley (NR) S. Coast 20-7-1

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Others: Cypress (19-7), Dana Hills (17-10), El Dorado (18-10), El Modena (16-10-1), Rosary (18-11).

Last week’s rankings in parentheses