Six teams advance to playoffs
The CIF-San Diego Section baseball playoffs are set to begin later today with a number of local teams advancing to this year’s tournament.
A total of six teams spanning two divisions will continue action this week including Brawley Union, Calexico, Southwest, Imperial, Holtville and Calipatria high schools.
Brawley, Calexico and Southwest all advanced to the Div. III tourney, while Imperial, Holtville and Calipatria will compete for the Div. IV crown.
In Div. III, Brawley earned the No. 2 seed, Calexico earned the No. 10 seed and Southwest earned the No. 11 seed. As a top-four team, the Wildcats automatically advanced to the double-elimination tourney and will host a first-round home game Wednesday.
The Wildcats (19-6 overall, 11-1 IVL) will face the winner of today’s play-in game between Calexico and No. 7 Del Norte.
The Bulldogs will travel to face Del Norte, who compete in the Palomar League and go into the game with a 6-9 league mark and 14-15 overall record.
The Bulldogs finished the regular season with a 10-2 Imperial Valley League record and an overall record of 13-8.
The Eagles will also travel today facing No. 6 Sage Creek in another play-in game.
Southwest will go into the contest with a 6-6 IVL mark and a 15-10 overall record.
The hosting Bobcats of the Avocado West League will go in with a 5-9 league mark and a 12-16-2 overall record.
In Div. IV, Imperial High earned the No. 3 seed and like the Wildcats will host a firstround game on Wednesday.
The Tigers (15-7 overall, 6-6 IVL) will host the winner of No. 6 Mar Vista and No. 11 Mission Vista.
Also playing in the Div. IV tourney are Holtville and Calipatria.
The Vikings earned the No. 8 seed, while the Hornets earned No. 9 seed, setting the stage for a local play-in game to be played at Calipatria High at 7 p.m. today.
The Vikings finished IVL play with a 5-7 record and an overall record of 12-13, while Calipatria went 12-1 in Citrus League action, 16-5 overall.
This will be the third meeting between Calipatria and Holtville this year, with the Hornets winning a March 7 matchup 8-0 and falling 2-1 in an April 10 contest.
The winner of today’s game will advance to the double-elimination tourney playing in a firstround game at No. 1 Chula Vista on Wednesday.