Four Imperial Valley baseball and four softball teams will play today in the CIF-San Diego Section’s Divisional Playoffs double-elimination tournament, with five games here in the Valley all starting at 4:00 pm.
Leading the charge into this afternoon’s action on Friday, May 23rd, will be the Valley’s highest-seeded baseball team for 2025, the Calexico Bulldogs.
Calexico (21-4, 10-2 IVL) is the CIF-SDS’s Division III Baseball Playoffs’ top seed and defeated the visiting D-III eighth-seeded Vista High Panthers by a score of 12-2 at Belcher Field on Wednesday.
Today, in a winner’s bracket battle of undefeated teams, the Bulldogs will welcome the D-III fourth-seeded Mission Bay High Bucs, who defeated Escondido High 8-5 on Wednesday, to Calexico.
Three local baseball teams will be in CIF-SDS Divisional Playoffs consolation bracket action today, needing a win today to advance to another do-or-die game on Saturday.
At home this afternoon in baseball will be the CIF-SDS Division II fourth-seeded Southwest Eagles (22-5, 11-1 IVL), who dropped their opening playoff game 2-0 to the visiting D-II fifth-seeded Mt. Carmel Sundevils on Wednesday.
Southwest will now host the Division II ninth-seeded Mission Hills High Grizzlies of San Marcos in El Centro.
After opening up the CIF-San Diego Section Division IV baseball playoffs at home on Tuesday, downing the visiting San Diego High 10-5, the D-IV six-seeded Central Spartans traveled to Blythe to meet the third-seeded Palo Verde Yellowjackets on Wednesday.
After the two teams split games during the 2025 Imperial Valley League season, Palo Verde (15-12-1, 4-8 IVL) held off the Spartans (11-16, 2-10 IVL), winning at home by the thinnest of margins, 8-7.
Today, Central returns home to host the Division IV tenth-seeded Olympian High Eagles from Chula Vista.
Playing simultaneously with the baseball team, the only Valley softball team at home this afternoon in a doubleheader of sorts on the Central High campus will be the Spartan softball team as they host the Valley Center High Jags at 4:00 pm in an elimination game.
The Division-IV fifth-seeded Spartans opened the playoffs at home on Tuesday, defeating twelfth-seed San Ysidro High by a score of 13-2 before journeying to San Diego on Wednesday and losing to the D-IV fourth-seeded Canyon Crest Academy Ravens by one run, 9-8.
One of the two Valley softball teams not facing elimination today is the CIF-SDS’s Division III fourth-seeded Southwest Eagles, who won the Battle of Eagles at home on Wednesday, defeating the visiting D-III fifth-seeded Tri-City Christian Eagles of Vista by a score of 7-1.
The Eagles (17-8, 10-2 IVL) move into Division III winner’s bracket action this afternoon when they meet the D-III’s top-seeded Canyon Hills Rattlers in San Diego.
The other softball team not on the playoff bubble today is the CIF-SDS’s Division V-AA third-seeded Calipatria Hornets, who travel to San Diego County’s eastern mountains to meet the D V-AA second-seeded Julian High Eagles.
Calipatria (7-10, 3-3 ML) opened the playoffs with a 13-7 victory at home on Wednesday over the Saint Joseph Academy Crusaders of San Marcos.
Meanwhile, in an elimination game in San Diego today, the Imperial Tigers’ girls’ softball team will be fighting to stay alive in CIF-SDS’s prestigious eight-team Open Division playoffs when they meet the fifth-seeded Cathedral Catholic High Dons at 4:00 p.m.
The eighth-seed Tigers will regroup after falling to Imperial and will regroup after losing their 2025 CIF-SDS Open Division playoffs to the top-seeded Mater Dei High by a score of 5-1 on Tuesday in Chula Vista.
Facing elimination on the road this afternoon in the CIF-SDS Division V-AA baseball playoffs will be the seventh-seeded Vincent Memorial Catholic High Scots (4-8, 2-4 ML), who travel to meet D V-AA seventh-seeded Ocean View Christian in San Diego.
The Scots opened CIF play on Tuesday, upsetting the D V-AA second-seeded Julian Eagles by a score of 10-3 before traveling to Vista on Wednesday and losing 5-3 to the third-seeded High Tech High North County Raptors.