NEWS AND NOTES FROM PRESS ROW: Important games ahead for several area baseball and softball teams

April 8, 2026

By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X

 Seven of the eight area schools are enjoying Spring Break, but not for the baseball and softball teams. But when school is back in session on Monday, there will be three and a half weeks remaining in the regular season for the baseball and softball teams of the CIF-Southern Section with a lot of playoff positioning to be done. While no one has officially clinched a playoff spot, several teams are looking great to capture a league title while others are vying for a top three finish which would get them to the postseason. Here’s a look at what is ahead for the upcoming week, and beyond.

BASEBALL

Artesia High, which is coming off a sweep over John Glenn High last week, a 6-3 win over Long Beach Cabrillo High this past Monday and an 11-6 loss to the Jaguars this past Wednesday in non-league action, is 5-11 overall and 2-2 in the 605 League as it begins a home and home series with Whitney High on Tuesday at Cerritos Park East. The Pioneers are tied with Glenn for third place but own the tiebreaker over the Eagles while Whitney (5-11, 0-4) needs to start winning games if it wants to end a playoff drought that is over 30 seasons.

Speaking of sweeps, Cerritos High was all over defending 605 League champion Oxford Academy last Thursday in a 12-0 win to complete a weekly sweep over the Patriots. The Dons then dropped a 7-4 decision to Bellflower High this past Wednesday in a make-up game from Feb. 18. Cerritos (10-5, 4-0) hosted Valley Christian High on Apr. 9 and will entertain West Torrance High on Friday before visiting Santa Fe High on Monday. The Dons get back into league action on Tuesday when they travel to second place Pioneer High in the front end of a home and home series.

Gahr High evened its Gateway League mark to 3-3 after sweeping Bellflower 6-2. 7-2 and 7-1 last week. The Gladiators faced Patrick Henry High this past Tuesday in the first round of the Boras Classic, coming away with an 11-1 win over the Patriots. The Gladiators then faced Orange Lutheran High this past Wednesday in the quarterfinals and were edged by the Lancers 2-1 in eight innings. The Boras Classic ends on Friday, then third place Gahr (9-8-1, 3-3) is off until Apr. 21 when it begins a home and home series with second place Warren High. The series with the Bears begins a stretch of seven games left in the regular season.

Glenn (7-9, 2-2) defeated Firebaugh High 6-5 this past Wednesday and went to Bell Gardens High on Apr. 9. But the Eagles need to win at least four of their final six 605 League games to have a chance for the playoffs and the quest for those four wins begins on Tuesday at Oxford Academy in the first of two games with the Patriots.

The best team in the area has been, and remains La Mirada High as the Matadores (13-4, 3-0 in the Gateway League) have been off since Apr. 1 when they fell to Linfield Christian High 2-1 in eight innings. La Mirada faces Servite High on Friday on the road, then hosts Warren on Tuesday in the first of three games next week with the Bears.

Norwalk High began the season with four straight losses, then went on a five-game winning streak. But the Lancers snapped a three-game skid with a 4-3 win over Maywood CES last Saturday and at 6-7 overall, they will host Dominguez High on Tuesday in Mid-Cities League action. Norwalk is tied with Firebaugh for third place in the league with six games remaining (seven overall). Norwalk and Firebaugh face each other in the last week of league competition.

After is game with Cerritos on Apr. 9, V.C. will host Whittier Christian High on Tuesday in Olympic League action. The Defenders (10-5), who lost to Sunny Hills High 7-6 this past Wednesday in a make-up game from Mar. 17 in the Anaheim Lions Tournament, have won nine of their last 11 games and are in third place with a 2-1 mark. Both V.C. and Whittier Christian have played three league games while the other three teams in the circuit have played half a dozen of the 12 league contests.

SOFTBALL

The only thing that’s near certainty in the 605 League is that Cerritos isn’t showing any signs of letting up. The Dons (6-5, 3-0) previous game was last Thursday and took care of Pioneer 16-2. They are the only undefeated team in the league with Artesia the only other team with a league win. Cerritos goes to Glenn High on Tuesday while Artesia (6-7, 1-1), which has been in the Rancho Mirage Tournament this past week, hosts Pioneer on Tuesday.

The best area team continues to be La Mirada, which defeated Downey High 10-2 last Saturday in the final game of the La Mirada Classic. It was the second time in three days the Matadores (18-2, 2-0) had faced the Vikings, who are in second place in the Gateway League. La Mirada has pounded out at least 10 hits in 13 games and will go to Warren on Tuesday before hosting Gahr on Thursday.

Norwalk slammed Lynwood High 20-0 last Thursday to improve to 8-7-1, 3-1 in the Mid-Cities League as the Lancers, who are off this week, will host Firebaugh on Tuesday and Paramount High on Thursday.