Preview of championship weekend for prep baseball, softball

Preview of championship weekend for high school baseball and softball

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame players celebrate a win on the diamond

Columnist

May 19, 2022 9:30 AM PT

It’s championship weekend for baseball and softball on Friday and Saturday in the Southern Section. There are top matchups for baseball at Cal State Fullerton and for softball at Barber Park in Irvine. And the City Section softball championships will be held Saturday at Cal State Northridge.

Here’s some featured matchups.

Division 1 baseball

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame vs. JSerra at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Cal State Fullerton: Both teams have top pitchers rested and ready to go. Notre Dame has its ace, Cole Clark, a Loyola Marymount commit, set to oppose a JSerra team that has relied on pitching by committee but still has JJ Hollis (8-0) available, along with Oregon State commit Tyler Gough. These are evenly matched teams who like to bunt if needed and are good defensively. Neither coach Tom Dill of Notre Dame nor coach Brett Kay of JSerra has won a Division 1 title. JSerra lost in last year’s final to Harvard-Westlake.

Division 2 baseball

Etiwanda vs. Torrance at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Cal State Fullerton: With seven straight wins, surging Etiwanda enters the final with momentum. Senior Armando Briseno has 40 hits. Freshman Brady Ebel has made major contributions on the mound and at the plate. Torrance has shown it belongs by using outstanding pitching to eliminate top-seeded Arlington in the second round and knock off Maranatha in the semifinals.

Division 1 softball

Los Alamitos vs. Eastvale Roosevelt at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Barber Park: Los Alamitos coach Rob Weil is seeking his seventh championship with a team that has defied expectations. “We’ve got a great group of kids,” he said. “We’re very talented. It was just a matter of working together.” The Griffins upset top-seeded Oaks Christian in the semifinals. Roosevelt made it out of the tough Big VIII League. Coach Mike Smith is trying to win his third CIF title with three different teams.

Division 2 softball

Long Beach Millikan vs. Mission Viejo at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Barber Park: Sophomore pitcher Sofia Elliott has been solid on the mound for Mission Viejo, which started the season 10-0. Millikan battled to the championship game behind talented sophomores.

City Section Open Division

El Camino Real vs. Kennedy at 3 p.m. Saturday at Cal State Northridge: The defending champion Royals are seeking their 18th City title. Pitcher Brooke DeSmet has benefited from strong defense and lots of hitting. Kennedy has been the underdog from the beginning but upset No. 2 Granada Hills in the playoff opener and has scored lots of runs in the playoffs.