A look ahead

What’s happening in high school playoffs this week:

Baseball

City Section Championship and Invitational division semifinals are today and finals on Saturday at Dodger Stadium, where the Invitational Division final will begin at 9 a.m. and the Championship Division final at noon. The Small Schools Division championship game between top-seeded Maywood and second-seeded Sherman Oaks CES is at 4 p.m. Friday at USC’s Dedeaux Field.

On Thursday, the Southern Section-Toyota Division III final between second-seeded Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and West Covina South Hills is at 4:30 p.m., and the Division II final between top-seeded Redlands East Valley and Lake Forest El Toro is at 7:30 at Dodger Stadium. On Friday, the Division IV final between top-seeded Covina Northview and Pomona Diamond Ranch is at 4:30 p.m., and the Division I final between fourth-seeded Simi Valley and defending champion Long Beach Wilson is at 7:30 at Dodger Stadium.

On Saturday at UC Riverside, the Division VII final between Upland Christian and Avalon is at noon, the Division VI final between top-seeded San Jacinto and Pasadena Maranatha at 3:30 p.m., and the Division V final between top-seeded La Puente Bishop Amat and third-seeded Santa Fe Springs St. Paul at 7.

Softball

Taylor Petty, the City Section’s career win leader, will lead top-seeded San Pedro against second-seeded Woodland Hills El Camino Real in the Championship Division title game at 4:15 p.m. today at UCLA. The programs have accounted for the last 20 City championships.

The Invitational Division championship game between 11th-seeded Los Angeles Lincoln and 17th-seeded L.A. Crenshaw, featuring home run-hitting sensation Alia Williams, at 2 p.m. at UCLA.

The Southern Section softball finals will be Friday and Saturday at Bill Barber Park in Irvine.

Top-seeded Simi Valley will play third-seeded Valencia in Division I; Orange El Modena will meet Glendora in Division II; Whittier La Serna will play Paloma Valley in Division III; fourth-seeded Huntington Beach Ocean View will meet La Puente Bishop Amat in Division IV; top-seeded Torrance will play third-seeded North Torrance in Division V; top-seeded Riverside Christian will meet second-seeded Calvary Murrieta in Division VI; and in Division VII, top-seeded Calabasas Viewpoint will play second-seeded Canoga Park Faith Baptist.

Which teams will play when has yet to be determined, but the first of three back-to-back title games begins at 2 p.m. Friday and the first of four straight championship games begins at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Boys’ golf

The CIF/SCGA tournament, which is the state qualifying tournament, takes place Thursday with an 8 a.m. shotgun start at the SCGA Members’ Course in Murrieta. Among those competing will be senior Andrew Perez, who won the Southern Section-Toyota individual title after defeating Johnny MacArthur of Newhall Hart in a two-hole playoff, and freshman Robin Jang of Van Nuys, who won the City Section individual championship.

The top three teams and the top six individuals not already on a qualifying team will advance to the CIF state championships, which begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday at Santa Maria Country Club.

Boys’ tennis

Southern Section championships in five divisions will be determined today at the Claremont Club.

Play begins with the Division III final between top-seeded Los Angeles Brentwood (17-6) and second-seeded Beverly Hills (20-4) at 11 a.m., and the Division II final between Palm Desert (21-1) and second-seeded Diamond Bar (23-1) follows at 11:30 a.m.

Top-seeded Irvine University (24-0) meets second-seeded Santa Barbara (26-0) at 1 p.m. in the Division I championship match.

The Division IV final between top-seeded Cerritos (23-3) and second-seeded Rowland (19-2) begins at 2 p.m., followed by the Division V final between fourth-seeded Pasadena La Salle (20-4) and second-seeded Ojai Thacher (11-3) at 2:30 p.m.

Also today, the City Section boys’ individual playoffs continue with semifinal play in singles and doubles at 2 p.m. at Balboa Tennis Center in Encino.

The championship and third-place matches will take place 2 p.m. Monday at the same venue.

Track and field

The CIF state championships will be Friday and Saturday at Cerritos College. The first-day preliminaries begin with field events at 2 p.m., followed by running events at 5. On Saturday, the finals will begin with the field events at 3 p.m. and the running at 5 p.m.

Two-time defending state champion Christine Babcock, a senior from Irvine Woodbridge, will be the favorite in the girls’ 1,600 after she broke the National Federation of State High School Assns. record in the event by running 4:36.57 at the Southern Section-Toyota Masters meet.