Culver City Baseball Hits Road for Playoff Opener

The CIF Southern Section seeding committee released its baseball and softball playoff brackets Monday, and Culver City High has qualified in both sports.

In baseball, the Centaurs will travel to Westminster in the first round Friday at 3:15 p.m., with the winner advancing to the second round against either San Gabriel Valley League champion Paramount or the winner of a wild-card game between Heritage and Cajon.

The Centaurs (13-12-1) enter the playoffs having lost their last two games to rival Santa Monica—games that decided the Ocean League championship. Golden West League champion Westminster (15-11) is riding a four-game winning streak. The teams share a common opponent in North Torrance, which beat Culver City 7-6 and beat the Lions 5-2.

Santa Monica (13-16) hosts Almont League runner-up in the first round Friday with the winner likely to face No. 4-seeded Beckman, the Pacific Coast League champion. Hawthorne (16-10), which finished third in the Ocean League, travels to Sunbelt League champion Temescal Canyon. 

The second round is May 24; quarterfinals are May 27; semifinals are May 31 and the Division 3 championship game is June 2 at 4:30 p.m. at Dodger Stadium.

In softball, Culver City was given a wild-card berth in Division 4 and will host La Puente Nogales of the Valle Vista League Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. with the winner moving on to a first-round game Thursday against top-seeded Aquinas, the Ambassador League champion. 

The Centaurs (14-10-1) finished third in the Ocean League behind Santa Monica and Hawthorne.  The Nobles (7-15) were fourth in their league behind San Dimas, Northview and Covina. 

Santa Monica (15-10) hosts Loara of the Golden West League in the first round while Hawthorne (17-8) travels to Ocean View. 

The second round is May 24; quarterfinals are May 26; semifinals are May 31 and the Division 4 championship game will be June 3 or 4 at Deanna Manning Stadium in Irvine.