St. John Bosco will lead 19 area baseball teams into the CIF Southern Section playoffs that begin this week.
The brackets were released Monday, showing the path teams must take to possibly play for a section title on May 30 or 31.
First-round games in all nine divisions will be played Thursday or Friday.
St. John Bosco, the area’s No. 1-ranked team, is the fourth seed in Division 1. The Trinity League champions, who finished the regular season with 23-4 record, are one of five teams in Division 1 that received a first-round bye.
The Braves’ pitching rotation is led by senior Trevor Heishman, who signed with Memphis. The left-hander has a 1.42 ERA with 67 strikeouts in 44 1/3 innings.
La Mirada (21-6), the area’s No. 2-ranked team, will host No. 3-ranked Los Alamitos (17-9-2) in the first round of the Division 1 playoffs Thursday. The Matadores won the Gateway League.
Gahr and Millikan are in the Division 2 playoff bracket.
Gahr (16-12) will host La Salle (17-9) on Friday. Gahr’s ace is junior pitcher Jake Ourique, who is committed to Loyola Marymount.
Millikan (21-7) will play Foothill (17-11) on Friday. The Rams are led by junior left-handed pitcher Daunte Bell, who has a 1.36 ERA with 86 strikeouts in 51 1/3 innings and senior pitcher Owen Waytas, who has a 2.61 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings.
“We’ve got two pitchers,” Millikan coach Ron Keester said. “We’ve got a couple of guys that can hit. We will see what we can do.”
Millikan senior center fielder Anthony Pack, who signed with Texas, is ready to make a postseason run.
“If we don’t come out flat, we come out with energy, Millikan baseball can scare people in the playoffs,” Pack said.
Wilson and Warren are in Division 3.
Wilson (19-9) will play at Fullerton (18-9-1) on Thursday. The Moore League’s No. 1 seed is led by senior pitcher Ben Howard, who has a 1.68 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 70 2/3 innings.
Warren (16-12) will play Redondo (16-12) on Thursday. The Gateway League’s No. 3 seed is led by senior pitcher Angel Cervantes, who signed with UCLA.
Cervantes, who struck out 95 batters during the regular season, recently broke Warren’s career strikeout record, with more than 300 strikeouts.
Mayfair (20-8), which won the Mid-Cities League, will play at Long Beach Poly (14-13), which finished third in the Moore League, in the first round of the Division 5 playoffs.
CIF-SS PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
First round, 3:15 p.m.
DIVISION 1
Thursday, May 15
Los Alamitos at La Mirada
DIVISION 2
Friday, May 16
La Salle at Gahr
Millikan at Foothill
DIVISION 3
Thursday, May 15
Wilson at Fullerton
Warren at Redondo
DIVISION 4
Friday, May 16
First round
Valley Christian at Woodbridge
La Canada at Downey
DIVISION 5
Thursday, May 15
Heritage at St. Anthony
Lakewood at Moreno Valley
Mayfair at Long Beach Poly
DIVISION 6
Friday, May 16
St. Monica Prep at Paramount
Banning at Cerritos
DIVISION 7
Thursday, May 15
West Valley at Norwalk
Artesia at Viewpoint
DIVISION 9
Thursday, May 15
Calvary Chapel at Coastal Christian
St. Pius X-St. Matthias at Academy of Careers & Exploration
Originally Published: May 12, 2025 at 3:10 PM PDT