A look ahead

What’s happening in high school playoffs this week:

Baseball

For the sixth consecutive season, Chatsworth has been seeded No. 1 for the City Section Championship Division playoffs that begin today. But the Chancellors (25-5) don’t have an easy road because they were put in the same bracket as No. 4 Granada Hills Kennedy. Should host Chatsworth get past No. 16 Sun Valley Poly today, it would face a challenging second-round game Friday against the winner of the Palisades-Wilmington Banning game.

Southern Section-Toyota quarterfinals take place Friday, with semifinals Tuesday. The Division I semifinals will be held as a doubleheader at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at UC Riverside.

Softball

Southern Section-Toyota quarterfinals are scheduled for Thursday with the semifinals Tuesday.

The City Section Championship and Invitational division title games will be held May 28 at UCLA.

San Pedro’s Taylor Petty (24-1), who became only the second pitcher in City history to record 1,000 strikeouts when she fanned 12 in a 2-0 semifinal win over Granada Hills, will try to lead the top-seeded Pirates (28-3) to their third consecutive title when they meet second-ranked Woodland Hills El Camino Real (28-7) at 4:15 p.m. The two programs have accounted for the last 20 City championships.

In the Invitational game, Los Angeles Crenshaw (18-4), led by Alia Williams, who holds the state record with 19 home runs this season, will take on defending champion Los Angeles Lincoln (24-5-1) at 2 p.m.

Swimming

For all its recent success in the pool, Reseda Cleveland has never won the City Section boys’ and girls’ team titles in the same season. The Cavaliers will try to do just that in the finals that begin at 2:30 p.m. today at the John C. Argue Pool, which is next to the Coliseum.

Going into the season, Palisades, on depth alone, looked like a lock to win its third consecutive girls’ title. Cleveland’s performance at last week’s preliminary meet, however, makes it a serious threat to dethrone the Dolphins.

Cleveland Coach Teresa Frias figures to rest easier with her boys’ squad, which is a favorite to three-peat. San Pedro and Lake Balboa Birmingham figure to be the main challengers.

Boys’ tennis

City Section individual playoffs continue Thursday with quarterfinals at the Balboa Tennis Center in Encino.

The Southern Section-Toyota individual playoffs pick up at 11:30 a.m. Friday with round of 16 and quarterfinals play at the Seal Beach Tennis Center, where the semifinals and finals will take place Saturday beginning at 11:30 a.m.

The Southern Section Division I team semifinals will take place today, with top-seeded Irvine University traveling to fourth-seeded Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula and third-seeded Santa Ana Mater Dei playing host to second-seeded Santa Barbara at the Los Caballeros Racquet Club in Fountain Valley.

The winners advance to the division championships May 28 at the Claremont Club.

Track and field

Among those expected to compete in the City Section finals beginning at 2 p.m. Thursday at Lake Balboa Birmingham are Woodland Hills Taft sophomore D.J. Morgan, who won the 110- and 300-meter hurdles at last week’s preliminaries, finishing in 14.63 and 38.39 seconds, respectively.

The Southern Section-Toyota Masters Meet is scheduled Friday at Cerritos College. The pole vault begins at 4:30 p.m., followed by other field events at 5:30 p.m. and the running events at 6 p.m.

The top five competitors in each event at the Masters advance to the state finals May 30 and 31 at Cerritos College.

Boys’ volleyball

Divisions I and II of the Southern Section-Toyota playoffs have played to form as the top four teams in each advanced to the semifinals at 7 tonight. In Division I, top-seeded Newport Harbor plays host to fourth-seeded Santa Margarita and third-seeded Los Angeles Loyola travels to second-seeded Manhattan Beach Mira Costa, which lost in five games to Anaheim Esperanza in last year’s final.

In Division II, top-seeded Valencia plays host to fourth-seeded Goleta Dos Pueblos and third-seeded Corona del Mar travels to second-seeded Santa Barbara -- these semifinal foes met in last year’s finals, which Corona del Mar won in four games.

Championship matches take place Saturday at Cal State Dominguez Hills. The Division V final will begin at 9:30 a.m., followed by Division IV at noon, Division III at 2:30 p.m., Division II at 5 p.m. and Division I at 7:30 p.m.