By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
Graduation for the area schools is anywhere from two weeks away to the first week of June and for those senior athletes, this is the last chance to compete for a CIF-Southern Section divisional championship, or a team title in certain sports. Here’s a rundown of what happened the previous week and what’s on the docket in the upcoming week or so.
BASEBALL
Artesia High ended the regular season with a 3-1 win over Santiago High this past Tuesday and enters the playoffs with an overall record of 17-8-1. The Pioneers finished in third place in the 605 League with a 5-4-1 mark. They are looking up at league champion Oxford Academy and second place Cerritos High, which went 14-13, 7-3 after getting swept by the Patriots in the last week of the season. This is the first time since 2018 the Dons have not had a piece of the 605 League crown.
Gahr High has been in playoff mode since the first game of the season and that included this past week when the Gladiators fell to Orange Lutheran High 4-3 this past Tuesday and Huntington Beach High 13-6 this past Wednesday. Gahr, the second place team from the Gateway League, enters the postseason at 16-12, 9-3 in league.
Gateway League champion La Mirada High wrapped up the regular season with a come from behind 7-5 win over Arcadia High this past Tuesday and a 4-1 victory over Tesoro High the next night. The Matadores (21-6, 10-2) lost both league games to Gahr.
Norwalk High bounced back from a disastrous 2024 season by going 15-8 this season and won 11 of 15 Mid-Cities League games, good enough for third place.
At one point, Valley Christian High was 4-7 before bouncing back in Olympic League play to finish in second place, a game behind Maranatha High. The Defenders (15-10, 6-2), shutout Maranatha 2-0 last Friday, then edged Bishop Montgomery High 5-4 this past Tuesday as they enter the postseason winners of seven of the last eight games and 11 of 14.
The playoff brackets will be released on Monday at 10:00 a.m.
SOFTBALL
Cerritos doesn’t know anything about finishing somewhere other than first place in the 605 League because all the Dons have done is win league title after league title. Six full seasons since the birth of the league and six straight first place showings is what the program has done. Cerritos blanked Oxford Academy last Friday and Artesia this past Tuesday by identical 10-0 scores to go undefeated in 10 league games for the fourth time since 2021.
Gahr blanked Downey High 4-0 this past Tuesday to end the regular season 13-12-2, 6-2 in the Gateway League. The Gladiators have yet to move two games north of .500 and their longest winning streak is three games, accomplished twice.
The champions of the Gateway League once again is La Mirada, which moved to 23-4, 8-0 after an 11-3 win at Mayfair High. The Matadores lost consecutive games after winning four straight to begin the season and a few games later, went on a 15-game winning streak and half their losses came to Orange Lutheran.
Norwalk had an up and down season and at one point, was struggling at 2-8-1. But two days later came the beginning of Mid-Cities League action and just like that, the Lancers begin the playoffs with a 12-13-1 record, 8-2 in league and second place. Norwalk has not been above .500 all season.
A little late season surprise propelled Valley Christian to an Olympic League title. Last Wednesday, the Defenders were in second place in league with a 4-1 record, trailing Whittier Christian High, which was 6-0. V.C. then crushed Whittier Christian 14-1 last Thursday and defeated Village Christian High 13-2 and Marantha High 16-0 this past Monday and Tuesday, respectively while Heritage Christian High surprised Whittier Christian earlier in the week. V.C. would fall to El Segundo High 9-2 this past Wednesday to conclude the regular season at 15-6-1, 7-1.
The playoff brackets will be released on Monday at noon.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
A pair of area teams advanced to the second round of the playoffs, but neither could pull off a victory. Norwalk fell to El Toro High in four sets in Division 6 action while in a Division 7 match, Whitney High lost to Jurupa Valley High in four sets as well.
BOYS TENNIS
First round matches began this past Wednesday and Whitney got past El Dorado High 11-7 in Division 2 action. The Wildcats will host Great Oak High on Friday while Cerritos cruised past Yucaipa High 16-2 in Division 5 action and will face Trabuco Hills High on Friday. The Mustangs slammed V.C. 16-2.
In Division 6 action, La Mirada tied Arroyo High 9-9, but prevailed in games won, 85-75 and will host Heritage High on Friday while in Division 7 action, Gahr knocked off Palmdale High 13-5 on the road to earn a home match against Elsinore High on Friday.
TRACK AND FIELD
Many athletes will be all over Southern California in the CIF-SS preliminaries all day Saturday. Cerritos and Norwalk will compete in Division 2 at Ontario High, Artesia, Gahr and La Mirada will be at Yorba Linda High in Division 3 competition while Carpinteria High is home to Division 4 schools, including John Glenn High, V.C. and Whitney.
SWIMMING AND DIVING
Whitney sophomore Trisha Lapidario had a score of 321.80 in the Division 2 1-meter diving event. She was one of 14 divers who competed in the event last Wednesday at the Marguerite Aquatic Complex and picked up six points that will go towards her team score once the swimming events have been completed. The Division 2 and 3 preliminaries were this past Wednesday with the finals on Friday while the Division 4 finals were held on May 8. The preliminaries and finals are at Mt. San Antonio College.
In the Division 4 prelims this past Tuesday, Gahr senior Carlos Valderrama had the top time in the 200-yard IM (1:56.10) and in the 100-yard butterfly (49.60).
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