Four Long Beach high school softball teams learned their playoff fate on Monday morning with the release of the CIF Southern Section playoff brackets. Three of them are in the same division.
Division 2
Millikan (19-8) is the five-time Moore League champion but must hit the road for the first round at Moorpark on Thursday.
Moorpark (16-5) won the Coastal Canyon League and has averaged over five runs per game while winning 8 of its last 10 games. The Musketeers don’t come down to play many Los Angeles of Orange County teams, so Millikan doesn’t kmow much about them.
“One thing I know for sure is our girls are ready to compete and want to go the distance in CIF this year,” Millikan coach Michelle Lehr said.
Division 4
Long Beach Poly, Lakewood and Wilson will also be in action on Thursday for the first round of the playoffs.
Poly (16-5) is hosting Edision (11-14) at Joe Rodgers Stadium and first pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
Edison tripped at the finish line with a pair of losses to Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach to fall into fourth place out of the Sunset League. The Chargers have only outscored their opponents 154-153 this season.
Wilson (14-13) has a decent drive ahead of the first round matchup at Hemet. The Bulldogs (14-12) is the Ivy League At-Large bid after losing their last eight league games to quality teams like Orange Vista and Valley View.
“We have played good defense all season hopefully we pitch well and hit,” Wilson coach George Molina siad. “If we can do that, we should be ok.”
Lakewood (12-13) has a tall task with an opener at a top-seeded Warren. The Bears (16-12) are the Mid-Cities champions after beating Downey late last month and finishing the regular season with three blowout wins over Norwalk, Lynwood and Dominguez.
“(The team feels like) We didn’t reach our full potential,” Lakewood coach Andy Miramonts said. “They want to play their best softball going into the playoffs. Together we can!”
