NEWS AND NOTES FROM PRESS ROW: Spring season winding down for baseball, softball as playoffs arrive for other sports

April 23, 2026

By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X

While most of the focus has been on the baseball and softball league races, the first CIF-Southern Section spring sport began playoffs this past Tuesday with girls beach volleyball. This is the fourth season the sport has had playoffs and one area team advanced but fell in the first round.

Gateway League champion Gahr High (17-4) lost to visiting Greak Oak High 3-2 in Division 3 action. Only two area teams have fielded a girls beach volleyball team since the sport was introduced. In 2023, the CIF-SS had 21 playoff teams in Division 1 and 46 teams in Division 2. Artesia High, which was in Division 2, was swept by Warren High 3-0 in a wild card match.

The next season, five more teams advanced to the Division 1 playoffs while Artesia and Gahr were two of 46 teams fielded in Division 2. Artesia dropped a 4-1 decision to Palm Desert High in a wild card match while Gahr was edged by El Segundo High 3-2, also in a wild card match. Last season, the CIF-SS expanded to three divisions with 16 teams advancing to the Division 1 playoffs while 30 teams were in Divisions 2 and 3. Gahr was swept by Thousand Oaks High 5-0 in a Division 2 first round match.

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

The regular season ended this past Wednesday, and the playoff brackets will be released on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. Oxford Academy won the 605 League mark with a 9-1 record followed by Whitney High (14-10, 8-2) and Cerritos High (14-10, 7-3). John Glenn High (9-10, 4-6) finished in fourth place while Artesia went winless in 14 overall matches.

In the Gateway League, Norwalk High (12-17-1, 3-5) finished in a tie for third place with Bellflower High with both teams splitting their regular season matches. Gahr lost all 11 regular season matches to finish in last place.

In the Mid-Cities League, La Mirada High (14-14, 5-5), Lynwood High and Mayfair High were tied for third place and the final automatic berth. Ironically, all three split their regular season matches with each other, and all were at least .500, which is a requisite for at-large consideration.

Valley Christian High (14-11-1, 6-2) finished in second place in the Olympic League behind Village Christian High (8-0) and ahead of Maranatha High (4-4).

BOYS TENNIS

Apr. 23 marks the last league contest with the playoff brackets being released on May 2 at 11:00 a.m. Of the area schools who fielded a boys tennis team this season, four have earned postseason berths.

Cerritos (13-8, 9-0) hosted third place Oxford Academy while second place Whitney (12-8-1, 7-2) entertained fourth place Valley Christian (8-10, 4-5) in 605 League action with Artesia finishing in fifth place at 3-10, 2-8.

In the Gateway League, La Mirada (11-4, 5-3) is the second place representative while Gahr (9-7, 8-2) also claimed second in the Mid-Cities League. Finishing in fifth place in the league is Norwalk (2-14, 2-8).

BASEBALL

With two weeks remaining in the regular season, six of the area teams have all but either clinched a playoff berth or is on the verge of winning their respective league. The last regular season contest is May 6 with the release of the brackets coming on May 9 at 1:00 p.m.

The top three teams in the 605 League have separated from the other three teams as Cerritos (14-6, 7-0) needs one more win to clinch no worse than a tie for first place. The Dons travel to Glenn (7-13, 2-5) on Friday before going to Cerritos Park East to face Whitney (5-14, 0-7) on Tuesday and Los Alamitos High on Wednesday in a non-league tilt.

Artesia (8-12, 5-2), which blanked Pioneer High 9-0 this past Tuesday, is tied with Oxford Academy for second place. After visiting Pioneer on Friday, Artesia will travel to Wiseburn-Da Vinci High on Saturday ahead of its battle for second place with Oxford Academy on Tuesday at home.

La Mirada is in good shape to win the Gateway League despite falling to Downey High 8-6 this past Tuesday. The Vikings scored seven runs in the top of the third inning and while the Matadores (18-5, 7-1) answered with five runs in their half of the inning, they were held scoreless over the last four frames. La Mirada will visit Downey on Friday, then host last place Bellflower on Tuesday before going to Bellflower on Wednesday.

Gahr used an eight-run bottom of the third to rout Warren 9-1 this past Tuesday, all but locking up second place. The Gladiators (12-9-1, 5-3) moved ahead of Warren in the standings with the Bears hosting Gahr on Friday in their last league game of the season. Gahr has won the season-series, so even if it falls to Warren on Friday, Gahr needs at least one win against Downey to keep the Bears behind the Gladiators.

Norwalk (9-7, 7-5) whitewashed Lynwood High 10-0 this past Tuesday to remain in third place in the Mid-Cities League. The Lancers are three games behind Mayfair with three to play and Monsoons hold the tiebreaker. Norwalk goes to Lynwood on Friday, and Firebaugh High on Tuesday in a battle for third place. The Falcons are two games behind Norwalk.

One way or another the Olympic League will be settled next week as Valley Christian (15-6, 6-2), which knocked off third place Heritage Christian High 6-2 this past Tuesday, will face league-leading Maranatha for three games beginning with a road game on Tuesday against the Minutemen, who current own an 8-1 league mark. Before that, the Defenders hosted Heritage Christian on Apr. 23.

SOFTBALL

The last regular season contest is May 6 with the brackets being released on May 11 at 9:00 a.m. At least two area teams will be assured of calling themselves league champions, but six of the eight area teams are currently league leaders or within a game of first place.

In the 605 League, Cerritos (8-5, 5-0) and Artesia (9-9, 4-1) are playoff locks and face each other on May 5. Before that, Cerritos hosts third place Pioneer High on Friday and last place Glenn (3-10, 0-5) on Tuesday while Artesia goes to Pioneer on Friday and Oxford Academy on Thursday.

Another tight race hails from the Gateway League where La Mirada (20-3, 4-1), which blasted Mayfair 14-0 this past Tuesday, leads Warren (3-1 in league) and third place Gahr (13-10, 3-2), a 4-3 winner over Downey in eight innings this past Tuesday. La Mirada hosts Downey on Tuesday and Warren on Thursday while the Gladiators went to Warren on Apr. 23 and will visit last place Mayfair on Tuesday.

Norwalk’s 18-0 win over Bellflower this past Tuesday moved the Lancers to 12-8-1, 5-1 in the Mid-Cities League as they are chasing league-leading Paramount High. Those two teams face each other on May 5 at Paramount. Before that, the Lancers visited Dominguez High on Apr. 23 and will host Legacy High on Wednesday before going to Firebaugh on Thursday.

Valley Christian posted a 7-3 non-Olympic League victory over Yorba Linda High this past Tuesday to improve to 9-6, 3-1. The Defenders are in second place, a game behind Whittier Christian High and those teams face each other on Wednesday at Valley Christian. Before that, the Defenders went to Heritage Christian on Apr. 23 and will welcome Village Christian on Tuesday.

SWIMMING AND DIVING

The CIF-SS diving championships will be held on Wednesday and Thursday at the Marguerite Aquatic Complex in Mission Viejo while the swimming preliminaries and finals will be May 5-9 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.