May 1, 2025
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
While some spring sports have already begun their run through the CIF-Southern Section divisional playoffs, baseball and softball are in the final days of the regular season. And there will be plenty of drama coming from the two sports of the as first place and third place will be on the line in the 605 League for baseball simultaneously some three and a half miles apart from each other.
BASEBALL
By virtue of Cerritos High dropping a 4-3 decision to Oxford Academy this past Tuesday, the Dons fell to second place in the 605 League as the Patriots (9-15-1, 7-1-1) overtook them. Cerritos (14-12, 7-2) is slated to throw junior Eli Sarno in the title-clinching game on Friday at Oxford Academy. Sarno will be making his fourth start of the season.
Third place and an automatic berth in the playoffs will be determined when Artesia High hosts John Glenn High on Friday. The Pioneers defeated the Eagles 4-1 this past Tuesday to temporarily vault into third place with a record of 15-7-1, 4-4-1 while the Eagles fell to 7-15, 4-5. Glenn’s last trip to the playoffs came in 2019 while Artesia, which went through a 13-year playoff drought, is hoping to make it four straight trips to the postseason.
Gahr High began the week with a pair of shutout victories against Bellflower High while scoring a combined 16 runs. Junior Jake Ourique went the distance this past Tuesday while senior Noah Irwin pitched his third straight complete game the next day. The Gladiators (14-10, 8-3) have locked up second place in the Gateway League and will host the Buccaneers on Friday before facing El Segundo High on Saturday, Orange Lutheran High on Tuesday and Huntington Beach High on Wednesday.
Gateway League champion La Mirada High (19-6, 10-2) hasn’t played since Apr. 21 but will host Arcadia High on Tuesday and Tesoro High on Wednesday.
Norwalk High blanked Firebaugh High 7-0 this past Tuesday to move to 14-8, 10-4 in the Mid-Cities League, good for third place. The two will face each other again on Friday with the Falcons being the home team.
And Valley Christian High’s 6-2 loss to Maranatha High this past Tuesday meant the Defenders will finish in second place in the Olympic League. V.C. (13-10, 5-2) will host league champion Maranatha on Friday.
SOFTBALL
The Gateway League and Olympic League titles were won on May 1 while Cerritos had already wrapped up first place in the 605 League. Gahr (12-11-2, 4-1) visited La Mirada (21-4, 6-0) for supremacy in the Gateway League as the Gladiators are seeking to avenge an earlier 16-8 loss to the Matadores. Gahr will also host Downey High on Tuesday while La Mirada travels to Mayfair High on Tuesday.
V.C. went to league-leading Whittier Christian High on May 1 and hoped to even its Olympic League mark with the Heralds. The Defenders (12-4-1, 4-1) lost to Whittier Christian 3-1 on Apr. 8 and will also visit St. Joseph High on Friday and Village Christian High on Monday before entertaining Maranatha on Tuesday.
Cerritos eased past Whitney High 9-2 this past Tuesday to improve to 12-6, 8-0 and will entertain Oxford Academy on Friday and Artesia on Tuesday while Norwalk would catch Warren High for the top spot in the Mid-Cities League with a win over the Bears on May. 1. The Lancers (12-12-1, 7-1) were crushed by Warren 19-0 in the first meeting on Apr. 1 and will also travel to Bellflower on Tuesday.
Finally, Artesia lost a 20-12 slugfest to Oxford Academy this past Tuesday and goes into Friday’s contest against Glenn at 9-9, 3-4. The Pioneers are in fourth place, half a game behind Oxford Academy for the 605 League’s final automatic playoff berth. They will also entertain second place Pioneer High on Monday.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
First round action took place this past Wednesday and two of the five area teams that are in the playoffs are moving on to Friday’s second round action. In Division 6, Norwalk outlasted Millikan High in five sets and will host second-seeded El Toro High while in Division 7, Whitney eliminated Valley View High 25-22, 25-17, 22-25, 25-21 and will entertain Jurupa Valley High.
In Division 3, Valley Christian was swept by second-seeded Great Oak High, in Division 6, Pacifica Christian High/Orange County took care of Cerritos 25-15, 25-14, 25-21 and in Division 8, Katella High knocked out La Mirada 22-25, 25-15, 25-18, 25-21.
SWIMMING AND DIVING
The 605 League swimming preliminaries were held this past Wednesday at Kennedy High with the finals on Friday ahead of the CIF-SS prelims. The Division 4 prelims begin on Tuesday morning for Artesia, Gahr and the La Mirada girls while the Division 2 prelims for the Cerritos boys and Whitney girls are on Wednesday along with the La Mirada and Whitney boys followed by the Division 1 prelims for the Cerritos girls on Thursday. The Division 4 finals are also on Thursday with all action at Mt. San Antonio College.
Whitney sophomore diver Trisha Lapidario competed at the Marguerite Aquatic Complex this past Wednesday in the 1 meter event.
TRACK AND FIELD
The 605 League and Gateway League finals will take place on Friday at Pioneer High and Downey High, respectively while the Olympic League finals took place on May 1 at Heritage Christian High. The CIF-SS preliminaries will be on May 10 at Ontario High for Cerritos and Norwalk (Division 2), Yorba Linda High for Artesia, Gahr and La Mirada (Division 3) and Carpinteria High for Glenn, V.C. and Whitney (Division 4).
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