CIFSS semis are in the books and it will be Edison of Huntington Beach going for No. 1 in baseball title game at Anaheim Stadium. The highest-ranked softball team still going after Tuesday is Norco, which is playing Corona Santiago in championship game this weekend. At least two No. 1 teams this week have already lost and both of those are in baseball. The softball races for No. 1 mythical state titles are all just about over.

Compiled by Steve Brand & Mark Tennis
Contributing: Paul Muyskens, Harold Abend

(Based on games played through Saturday, May 30)
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
*Indicates season is complete.
*Asterisk after season record indicates forfeit wins, losses not included.

BASEBALL

Division I
1.  (5)  Edison (Huntington Beach) 22-5
2.  (7)  Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 24-5
3.  (6)  *Chatsworth 29-4
4.  (8)  Capistrano Valley (Mission Viejo) 24-6
5.  (2)  *Norco 25-5
6.  (11) *Serra (San Mateo) 30-6
7.  (12) Poway 26-6
8.  (13) *Jesuit (Carmichael) 27-5
9.  (1)  *Yucaipa 27-3
10. (nr) Redlands East Valley (Redlands) 23-6
11. (3)  *El Toro (Lake Forest) 23-6
12. (nr) *Stockdale (Bakersfield) 26-5
13. (9)  *Clovis West (Fresno) 29-6
14. (4)  *Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 23-6
15. (10) *JSerra (San Juan Capistrano) 22-7
Bubble: *Buchanan (Clovis) 23-5-1, *Cleveland (Reseda) 25-8, Clovis 24-7, Crespi (Encino) 19-11, *De La Salle (Concord) 18-9, *Elk Grove 22-7, *Freedom (Oakley)* 23-4, Huntington Beach 18-12, *Marina (Huntington Beach) 22-7, *Monte Vista (Danville) 17-8, *Palos Verdes (Palos Verdes Estates) 25-5, Poly (Riverside) 20-10, Rancho Bernardo (San Diego) 23-10, Rancho Buena Vista (Vista) 23-9, *St. Mary's (Stockton) 25-8, *Temecula Valley (Temecula) 22-6, *Tesoro (Las Flores) 20-8, *Valley Christian (San Jose) 25-9, Vista 24-11.
Comments: When the top four teams lose, there is bound to be some serious movement. Edison of Huntington Beach benefited by moving right up to No. 1, but the Chargers will need to win out in the Southern Section's DI playoffs to hold the spot as Mater Dei of Santa Ana slid right in behind them.
In Tuesday's CIFSS semis at Blair Field, Edison and Mater Dei faced each other and the Chargers won the thriller, 2-1, when Kyle Jones smacked a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh with two outs. Sophomore Henry Owens again pitched well for Edison, which will start ace Kurt Heyer in Saturday's final at Anaheim Stadium.
Capistrano Valley won in the other Tuesday semifinal at Blair Field with a 1-0 triumph over Riverside Poly. The Cougars threw their ace, Tyler Matzek, who pitched a two-hitter and also drove in the game's only run with an RBI single in the first inning. Matzek will only be available for a handful of innings in the title game against Edison.
In the CIFSS Div. II semifinals on Tuesday, Redlands East Valley was eliminated after a 7-5 loss to Crespi of Encino. The Celts, who have been a staple in the CIFSS semis and finals in recent years, will play Huntington Beach in Saturday's championship. Both teams have been hot lately, but have been inconsistent throughout the season, which is why neither team is ranked above.
Like REV, state-ranked Poway also lost on Tuesday as the Titans ran out of magic in a 2-0 defeat to Rancho Bernardo in the San Diego Section Div. I playoffs. They must now play Rancho Bernardo again in a do-or-die playoff game on Thursday.

Division II
1.  (1) *Yuba City 27-3
2.  (2) *Clayton Valley (Concord) 24-3
3.  (3)  Beckman (Irvine) 25-4
4.  (7) *Los Gatos 27-5
5.  (4) *Alameda 22-5
6.  (nr) South Hills (Covina) 22-8
7.  (5) *Bonita (La Verne) 21-6
8.  (6) *Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 22-6
9.  (9) *Rocklin 23-8
10. (nr) Grossmont (La Mesa) 23-9
Bubble:  *Charter Oak (Covina) 17-10, *Edison (Fresno) 22-11, El Capitan (Lakeside) 18-13, *El Diamante (Visalia) 22-9, *Gahr (Cerritos) 19-9, *Granite Bay 22-11, *Irvington (Fremont) 19-7, *Paramount 19-10, *Pleasant Valley (Chico) 27-5, *Scotts Valley 23-5, Steele Canyon (Spring Valley) 23-7, *Wilcox (Santa Clara) 26-8.
Comments: Clayton Valley nailed down the No. 2 spot with its 3-0 victory over Alameda in the North Coast Section championships and now it's up to Beckman to win out to hold the No. 3 spot. The Patriots  beat Lancaster, 15-3, in their CIFSS Div. III semifinal game on Tuesday behind Edgar Zamora, who pitched five innings for the win and drove in six runs at the plate.
Beckman's opponent in its title game is tradition-rich South Hills, which counts Jason Giambi among its many baseball graduates. The Huskies won their semifinal game, 9-3, over Corona del Mar of Newport Beach.
Also on Tuesday, in the San Diego Section, Grossmont advanced to the title game with an 8-7 win over Bonita Vista of Chula Vista. The Foothillers will meet El Capitan of Lakeside in the final.

Division III
1.   (2)  Bishop Amat (La Puente) 26-5
2.   (3)  Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 24-6
3.   (4)  San Dimas 22-5
4.   (6)  *Palma (Salinas) 27-5
5.   (7) *Miramonte (Orinda) 23-3-1
6.   (1)  *Northview (Covina) 21-5
7.   (5)  *Central Valley (Shasta Lake) 32-2
8.   (nr) Torrance 25-7
9.   (8)  *Placer (Auburn) 20-8
10. (nr) Montgomery (San Diego) 23-7
Bubble: *Aragon (San Mateo) 26-6, *Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) 20-5, *Campolindo (Moraga) 20-5, *Casa Grande (Petaluma) 19-7, *Drake (San Anselmo) 23-6, *El Segundo 23-9, *Hanford 20-9, *La Quinta 20-8, *Oakdale 26-4, *Palm Desert 22-6, Santana (Santee) 22-11.
Comments: Bishop Amat's steady climb back got the Lancers into No. 1 this week but with fellow Southern Section playoff participant San Dimas and up-and-down Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) of the San Diego Section still alive, that spot is tenuous, at best.
On Tuesday, that new ranking proved to be so tenuous, in fact, that next week it will be gone as Bishop Amat was defeated in the CIFSS Div. IV semifinals, 6-5, by San Dimas. The Saints will play Torrance in the title game this weekend.
Cathedral Catholic, meanwhile, defeated University City, 4-1, on Tuesday to clinch a spot in this weekend's San Diego Section Div. III final. The Dons, who are trying to add a mythical Div. III state title in baseball to the actual Div. II state title they won last December in football, will play either Santana or Montgomery in the championship. Santana won a game on Tuesday over the Aztecs to force a do-or-die rematch on Thursday.

Division IV
1.   (1) San Jacinto 26-1
2.   (2) *Washington (Easton) 31-3
3.   (6) *Central Catholic (Modesto) 25-6
4.   (7) Horizon (San Diego) 24-6
5.   (8) *Escalon 26-1
6.   (9) Maranatha (Sierra Madre) 24-5
7.   (nr) Woodcrest Christian (Riverside) 22-5
8.   (nr) *St. Mary's (Albany) 21-6
9.   (nr) *Salesian (Richmond) 19-7
10. (nr) Windward (Los Angeles) 23-7
Bubble: *Bloomington Christian 20-4, *Bret Harte (Altaville) 19-7, Christian (El Cajon) 17-10, *Gladstone (Covina) 18-6, *Kingsburg 21-5, Madison (San Diego) *Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 20-7, Oxford Academy (Cypress) 21-5, Rosamond 20-4, *Santa Ynez 22-4, *Selma  18-12, *Stevenson (Pebble Beach) 19-7-1, *St. Joseph (Alameda) 16-8, Tahquitz (Hemet) 19-8.
Comments: Head coach Michael Curran of Washington informed us earlier this week that several of his players were so pumped up about possibly finishing No. 1 in this division that they wanted to drive down on Tuesday to see San Jacinto play. "That's five hours away,” he told them. "But they didn't care.” We don't know if the players actually made that trip, but if they did they sure came home happy because San Jacinto lost in its CIFSS Div. V semifinal, 7-3, to Woodcrest Christian. This clears the deck for the final No. 1 ranking and mythical state title to be going to Washington. Woodcrest Christian is playing Maranatha in the championship game.
Like San Jacinto, Horizon also dropped a game in the San Diego Section playoffs, but the Panthers will get to play again vs. Madison of San Diego on Thursday in the double-elimination format. Madison won on Tuesday, 9-7.
In the CIFSS Div. VI title game, it will be Rosamond vs. Oxford Academy. Rosamond bested Windward, 7-4, to advance. Like in our Division I state rankings in which we combine both the CIFSS Div. I and Div. II teams, our Division IV state rankings combines the CIFSS Div. V and Div. VI teams. Whichever team wins between Rosamond and Oxford will get a spot in the final top 10.

Division V
1.   (1) *St. Bernard's (Eureka) 21-1
2.   (2) Cornerstone Christian (Camarillo) 20-0
3.   (4) *Liberty (Madera Ranchos) 24-7
4.   (3) *Christian Life (Escondido) 21-4*
5.   (6) *Head-Royce (Oakland) 24-2
6.   (nr) Cate (Carpinteria) 18-1
7.   (7) *Fall River (McArthur) 21-8
8.   (8) *Capitol Christian (Sacramento) 20-7-1
9.   (5) *Milken Community (Los Angeles) 18-3
10.  (10) *Redwood Christian (Castro Valley) 23-4
Bubble: *Bakersfield Christian 19-7, *College Prep Oakland) 17-8, *Colusa 17-6, *Durham 13-9, *East Nicolaus (Nicolaus) 22-3, *Faith Baptist (Canoga Park) 16-7, *Firebaugh (Lynwood) 17-10, *Hamilton (Hamilton City) 15-8, *Mariposa 16-7, *Maxwell 25-4, *Waterford 22-8.
Comments: Cornerstone Christian could wrap up an unbeaten season this week and that might be enough to allow the pitching-rich Eagles to soar over St. Bernard's in the final poll. Or maybe not. St. Bernard's certainly did nothing in its North Coast Section Div. V final to warrant any kind of a drop as the Crusaders pounded Tomales, 14-1. The team does have a loss, but it was to Miramonte of Orinda, which won the NCS Div. III title and has been one of the state's top Div. III teams all season long.
Cornerstone won in its CIFSS semifinal game on Tuesday, 5-3, over Rolling Hills Prep of Palos Verdes and will play Cate in the finals.
Some might question Christian Life not slipping more than one spot, but the Escondido-based school was one of the smallest teams in the San Diego Section Division IV playoffs, so it was really "playing up” in that division.

SOFTBALL

Division I
1.   (1) Norco 30-2
2.   (3) *Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) 26-5
3.   (4) *Sheldon (Sacramento) 28-3
4.   (6) Santiago (Corona) 26-4
5.   (5) Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 26-4
6.   (6) *Livermore) 25-2
7.   (2) *Freedom (Oakley) 23-4
8.   (8)  Hart (Newhall) 27-4
9.   (10) Etiwanda (Rancho Cucamonga) 27-2
10.  (nr) Poly (Riverside) 24-8
11. (13) *San Benito (Hollister) 27-4
12. (nr)  *San Pedro 28-4
13. (nr)  *Buchanan (Clovis) 26-7-1
14. (nr)  *Rancho Bernardo (San Diego) 26-7
15. (nr) *Edison (Huntington Beach) 22-6
Bubble: *Bullard (Fresno) 21-7, *Canyon (Anaheim) 24-8, *Centennial (Bakersfield) 23-6-1, *El Camino (Oceanside) 24-7, *El Modena (Orange) 22-10, *Los Alamitos 23-9, *Marina (Huntington Beach) 22-6, *Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 20-5-1, *Poway 24-9, *Stockdale (Bakersfield) 21-8-1, *Upland 21-7, *Valencia 25-7.
Comments: Is there any league that thinks it's tougher than the Big VIII? With three teams in the Southern Section Division I semifinals and among the Top 10 in the state, that league reigns supreme. Now, all Norco has to do is finish with two more wins and that will be that. But what if the Cougars lose? Could Santiago make that big leap? That would be tough as most would agree that outside of league play, Pleasant Grove and Sheldon played schedules just as strong as the Sharks.
Norco did not lose in Tuesday's CIFSS Div. I semifinals. The Cougars blanked Hart of Newhall, 2-0, and will now play Santiago in the final. The Sharks did their part to set up the final pitching duel between Tegan Gerhart and Kamerin May with a 5-1 victory over Riverside Poly.
In the CIFSS Div. II semifinals played on Tuesday, Vista Murrieta advanced with a 5-0 victory over Los Osos of Rancho Cucamonga while Etiwanda clipped Redlands, 1-0.
In case you are counting, that's four CIFSS finalists in the top two divisions from the Inland Empire compared to zero for Orange County.

Division II
1.  (1) *Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 32-0
2.  (2) *Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 25-4-1
3.  (10) Tesoro (Las Flores) 25-4
4.  (4) *Rodriguez (Fairfield) 22-8
5.  (8) *Tulare Western (Tulare) 27-7
6.  (nr) *Mt. Carmel (San Diego) 27-5-1
7.  (9)   *Presentation (San Jose) 27-5-1
8. (nr) *Pinole Valley (Pinole) 24-3
9. (nr) Glendora 21-4
10. (nr) Chino Hills 22-9-1
Bubble : *Ayala (Chino Hills) 23-10, *Bonita (La Verne) 20-6-1, *Cajon (San Bernardino) 23-5, *Crescenta Valley (La Crescenta) 26-2, *Golden West  (Visalia) 22-13, Los Altos (Hacienda Heights) 23-6, *Montgomery (Santa Rosa) 26-2, *North (Bakersfield) 23-10-1, *Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) 26-4-1, *Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) 22-3-1, *Westmont (Campbell) 22-7-1, *Wilcox (Santa Clara) 21-7.
Comments: Congrats to Archbishop Mitty. Unbeaten seasons are hard to come by and Sarah Thomas' team did it in style, allowing only one opponent-Division I Sheldon-to score more than one run on them. The numbers are staggering, as in 26 shutouts, including the last five games. Behind the Monarchs and No. 2 Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) there was plenty of movement this week as Tesoro of Las Flores makes a major jump from No. 10 to No. 3. The Titans will need to win out this week to hold that spot and started out on the right foot with an easy 8-0 romp past Los Altos in Tuesday's CIFSS Div. III semifinals.
Glendora ended up as the team opposite Tesoro in this weekend's final. The Titans, who were almost ranked until they lost a pair in their league to Ayala, defeated Chino Hills in the other semifinal, 3-1.

Division III
1.  (3) *Notre Dame (Belmont) 27-7
2.  (4)  El Segundo 26-3
3.  (4)  *Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) 24-3
4.  (5)  *Bear River (Lake of the Pines) 26-4
5.  (3)  La Quinta 22-5
6.  (1)  *Notre Dame (Salinas) 26-6-1
7.  (2)  *Ocean View (Huntington Beach) 23-6
8.  (nr) *University City (San Diego) 20-7-1
9.  (nr) Paloma Valley (Menifee) 22-7
10. (nr) North (Torrance) 20-13
Bubble: *Aquinas (San Bernardino) 23-4, *Acalanes (Lafayette) 14-6-1, *Concord 20-6, *East Union (Manteca) 20-6, *Hanford West (Hanford) 20-13, *Las Lomas (Walnut Creek) 20-5, *Moreau Catholic (Hayward) 15-6, *Oakdale 24-6-1, *Rio Linda 23-5, *Santana (Santee) 24-7, *Segerstrom (Santa Ana) 19-4, *Santa Monica 24-7.
Comments: Notre Dame of Belmont took the title in the Central Coast Section Div. III playoffs with a 4-1 win against Stevenson of Pebble Beach. Stevenson is the team that knocked out previous No. 1 Notre Dame of Salinas with an upset in the semifinals. The Tigers may have seven losses, but two of those are to league rival Archbishop Mitty and another is to D2 state-ranked Presentation. They also beat Presentation once in league play. Maia Monchek capped her career for Notre Dame by going 7-for-10 at the plate in the playoffs with one homer and two triples. She also had 45 RBI for the season.
El Segundo could still have a stronger argument for the final No. 1 ranking. The Eagles won in Tuesday's CIFSS Division IV semifinals, 1-0, over Paloma Valley and are playing league rival North of Torrance in the championship. Of the three teams they lost to, the Eagles beat two of them later on in the season. The Saxons eliminated La Quinta in the other semi with a 1-0 win in 12 innings. La Quinta was the team that stunned previous No. 2 Ocean View in last week's quarterfinals.

Division IV
1.  (1) *Sutter 34-0
2.  (2) *Parker (San Diego) 25-4
3.  (4) *Escalon 24-3
4.  (5) *St. Patrick-St. Vincent (Vallejo) 25-2
5.  (6) *Patterson 22-3-1
6.  (nr) *Stevenson (Pebble Beach) 21-6
7.  (7) Village Christian (Sun Valley) 26-5
8.  (9) La Salle (Pasadena) 24-5
9.  (10) San Dimas 24-4
10.  (8)  *Albany 22-4
Bubble: *Calvary Murrieta (Murrieta) 23-3, *Christian (El Cajon) 22-11, *Hilmar 20-5, *Horizon (San Diego) 25-4, Marymount (Los Angeles) 22-4, *San Marin (Novato) 20-5, Whittier Christian (La Habra) 22-6, *Woodcrest Christian (Riverside) 16-10.
Comments: Since Division V and Division VI are not the Southern Section's strongest divisions, the top five spots are solid. Horizon lost two games to Christian in the San Diego Section and took the biggest drop out of the Top 10. There are four teams among the bottom five who will still have a stay in the final rankings.
One of those, though, is not Village Christian as it has lost to San Dimas, 2-0, in the D5 semifinals. San Dimas, which also has its baseball team going for a CIFSS title this weekend, is playing Whittier Christian in the final. In the D6 finals, it will be La Salle meeting Marymount, as expected. Both teams won in semifinal matchups on Tuesday.
We also had to find room for Stevenson of Pebble Beach in this division. The Pirates are D4 for these state rankings, but they are Div. III for the Central Coast Section (which only has three softball playoff divisions) and they made it to the CCS Div. III final due to their upset of state-ranked Notre Dame of Salinas in the semis.

Division V
1.  (1) *St. Bernard's (Eureka) 25-0
2.  (2) Hesperia Christian 23-1
3.  (3) *Castilleja (Palo Alto) 17-2
4.  (4) Victor Valley Christian (Victorville) 25-3
5.  (6) *LeGrand 21-7
6.  (8) Rosamond 20-7
7.  (9) Kern Valley (Lake Isabella) 22-6-1
8.  (10) *Fowler 21-12-1
9.  (5)  *Riverdale 22-8
10. (7) *Firebaugh 21-5-1
Bubble: *Colusa 27-3-2, *Etna 29-7, Fall River (McArthur) 21-10, *Forest Lake Christian (Auburn) 15-2, *Hayfork 25-3, *Liberty (Madera Ranchos) 9-14-1,*Mercy (Burlingame) 16-8.
Comments: Three unbeaten girls softball teams this year. No matter the schedule that's still a major accomplishment. Hesperia Christian could finish 25-1, but that one loss, a 4-3 setback to Tri-City Christian of Escondido in the Hesperia Tournament, is one more than St. Bernard's, and would still be the difference between No. 1 and No. 2.
Hesperia Christian will play Rosamond in the CIFSS Div. VII title this weekend. This is after Hesperia topped Kern Valley, 1-0, while Rosamond crushed Victor Valley Christian, 17-2, in Tuesday's semifinals.
In the NCS Div. V final, St. Bernard's defeated Ferndale, 6-2. For the season, the Crusaders plated 248 runs and allowed just 25.

Comments or corrections? Email mark@studentsports.com and be sure to leave a comment so others can check out what you have to say.