The 2025-26 Central Section high school sports spring postseason is underway.
Coaches, please submit your results/stats after each game or match to sports reporter Vongni Yang at vyang2@gannett.com to have players highlighted in our local roundup.
Note: Team records are as of May 22; this story will be updated.
May 22
Softball
Redwood 5, Kingsburg 1: The No. 3 Rangers (24-7) are headed to the Central Section Division II championship game.
Redwood defeated the Vikings in the semifinals in Kingsburg to win its eighth straight game.
The four-time East Yosemite League champion Rangers will play top seed Garces Memorial (25-5) in the D-II final on May 29 at Fresno State’s Margie Wright Diamond. Game time is 7 p.m.
Redwood has been dominant this postseason.
The Rangers opened the playoffs with a 10-0 rout of 14th-ranked Paso Robles on May 15. They won that game in six innings via the 10-run mercy rule.
Then in the semifinals, Redwood shut out sixth-seed Selma 3-0 on May 20 to continue its postseason success.
Starting junior pitcher Jackie Ramirez was flat-out masterful, again, in Redwood’s third straight playoff win.
Ramirez went the distance, striking out eight Kingsburg batters in a two-hitter. She gave up an earned run and issued just one walk while facing 26 Viking hitters.
In three playoff games, all wins, Ramirez has thrown 35 total strikeouts in three complete games and allowed just one run.
Offensively versus Kingsburg, the Rangers were led by Jaden Lopez (2-for-4, home run, run, three RBIs), Kenzie Cantu (2-for-4, run), Ramirez (1-for-3, RBI), Mackenzie King (1-for-2), Aubrie Jenkins (run), Cassidy Ashford (run), and Ava Gonzalez (run).
Redwood last won a Central Section softball championship in 2018, beating Edison 5-3 for the D-II plaque.
Other Tulare County scores:
Here are the matchups for this season’s Central Section championships at Fresno State’s Margie Wright Diamond:
May 21
Baseball
Central Valley Christian 15, Edison 3: The Cavaliers (18-13) are the only Tulare or Visalia team to advance to the Central Section championships this season.
No. 9 CVC punched its ticket to the Central Section Division III title game in Fresno, jumping out to a 15-0 lead after four frames to win in five innings and enforce the 10-run mercy rule.
CVC will play seventh-ranked Justin Garza (13-15) for the section’s D-III title on Friday, May 29, at 7:30 p.m. at Visalia Rawhide’s Valley Strong Ballpark.
CVC set the tone right away in its semifinal victory, leading Edison 12-0 after three innings.
Designated-hitter Macade Atkins anchored that offensive clinic, going 4-for-4 with two home runs, eight RBIs, and three runs scored.
Atkins, a 6-foot-5 and 210-pound junior, has hit three bombs in the playoffs. He also had a round-tripper in the first-round win over Mt. Whitney on May 15.
“Macade Atkins, I believe, is one of the most underrated players in the valley,” Flores said. “I think he has one of the top bats. He’s a guy who hasn’t gotten many looks from any schools yet, but I think that’s going to change, and it needs to change. That guy is a college baseball player.”
Also for the Cavaliers, third baseman Brayden Turner smacked a three-run double. Five different CVC players hit a double, including Brody Pimental, Josh Hilvers, Joey Pedro, and Nathan Pursell.
Pursell, Pimental, Pedro, and Owen Caudle each had an RBI.
The Cavaliers collected 16 total hits.
Winning pitcher Daniel Bekedam threw a complete game in five innings, throwing two strikeouts while allowing seven hits and three runs.
“My guys are awesome,” Flores said. “The bats heated up today, and my two arms on the bump have been great all year, and they continue to do so. We had a great day of practice yesterday. Taking BP today, the ball was flying, and guys had a great approach at the plate. I knew we were going to have to score fast and score a lot.”
CVC’s playoff run has been remarkable.
The Cavaliers concluded the regular season on a four-game losing streak but got hot at just the right time, beating all three of their postseason opponents on the road.
In its playoff opener at No. 8 Mt. Whitney, CVC trailed 3-2 after six innings but rallied for three runs in the seventh to win 5-3 at Art Shahzade Field. That led to an upset, 4-3, over top-seed Kingsburg on May 19 in the second round. The Vikings swept the Cavaliers in three games in the regular season, but they got the best of their Tri-County Conference rival in the postseason.
Against Mt. Whitney, Bekedam turned in a strong outing as the starting pitcher, going five innings while throwing a pair of strikeouts. He allowed two runs, both unearned, to jumpstart CVC’s postseason run.
Then, in the quarterfinal win, senior pitcher Jentzen Dunn tossed a complete game with five strikeouts to pick up the victory. He gave up just five hits and three earned runs. Pimental led the way offensively with two RBIs, and Pedro and Hilvers each knocked in a run.
“We’ve got so much heart in our dugout,” Flores said. “When those brackets came out, we knew it wouldn’t be easy, but we were excited with the path that we had to take. Going to Mt. Whitney and coming from behind in that game was a ton of fun under the lights. Kingsburg, they got us three times this year, but we competed tough with them all year. We knew going in round two that [Jensen] Hirschkorn was not going to be on the bump, so we had a lot of confidence going into that game.”
Hirschkorn, a 6-foot-7 pitcher, has been projected by some MLB draft experts as a first-round draft pick.
The Cavaliers will be making their first section-title game appearance since 2017.
“We’ve never won a section championship, and we’re looking to change that,” Flores said. “We’re heating up at the right time.”
Other Tulare County scores:
Here are the matchups for this season’s Central Section championships at Visalia Rawhide’s Valley Strong Ballpark:
May 20
Softball
Redwood 3, Selma 0: The No. 3 Rangers (23-7) are a win away from playing for a Central Section Division II championship.
Redwood posted its fourth straight shutout and is now on a seven-game winning streak.
In the first-round playoffs on May 15, the Rangers defeated No. 14 Paso Robles 10-0.
Behind starting pitcher Jackie Ramirez’s one-hit, 15-strikeout performance, Redwood blanked Selma (21-8) to advance to the Central Section Division II semifinals. The Rangers will now play at No. 2 Kingsburg (20-10) on May 22.
In the Selma victory, Ramirez fired a complete game and faced just 24 batters. A junior, she has now thrown 244 strikeouts this season.
In two playoff wins, Ramirez has combined for 27 strikeouts. The Rangers have not allowed a single run in four straight games.
During that stretch, Redwood has outscored its foes a combined 47-0.
The Rangers collected eight hits in their latest victory. Emily Webster went 2-for 3 with a double. Ava Gonzalez also doubled and finished with an RBI and a run scored. Kenzie Cantu, Ramirez, Mackenzie King, Rayah Rodriguez, and Jaden Lopez each had a hit. Rodriguez added an RBI. Cantu and King both scored a run.
Other Tulare County scores:
May 19
Baseball
Redwood 12, Centennial 0: The No. 11 Rangers (20-10) defeated the defending Central Section Division I champion and 14th-ranked Golden Hawks (15-15-1) in the quarterfinal playoffs via the five-inning, 10-run mercy rule.
Redwood started fast against Centennial, a perennial power that has won two of the past three Central Section Division I titles, striking right away in the first inning at Aaron Hill Field in Visalia. In that frame, Wyatt McElree reached first base on a walk before making his way to third when Kobe Castro got on base on a Centennial error.
With runners at the corners, Logan Pierro unleashed a two-run single, and the Rangers went ahead 2-0.
Redwood’s big inning came in the third, which featured seven runs and five hits (three singles, two doubles). Castro started the scoring barrage with an RBI single. Two batters later, with the bases loaded, Chris Serrano drew a walk to push across another run and a 4-0 lead.
Mikey Ceballos then launched a two-run single, and Serrano scored on a passed ball for the 7-0 advantage. Ben Flora got in on the action, too, when he blasted a two-run single as the Rangers stretched their lead to 9-0. That triggered a “Call the buses” chant by Redwood fans.
In the fourth, Redwood added three more runs, two of which came via Ceballos’ ground-rule double.
In all, Redwood registered eight hits, three of them doubles, in just four innings, and did not strike out once in 28 at-bats.
Redwood has scored 19 runs in two playoff wins.
The Rangers upset No. 6 Clovis 7-1 on May 15 in their road playoff opener. That win was sparked by a two-run bomb from Serrano and Castro’s two-double performance.
Were the Rangers expecting to beat the reigning section champions by a dozen runs?
“No,” Redwood head coach Dan Hydash said. “Centennial’s obviously a top D-I program. They’ve won two of the last three D-I section championships. They’re well coached. They have a lot of really good players, but we’ve worked on an approach offensively in practice. It started Thursday, the day before we played Clovis last week, and the players have all bought into it. It was evident last Friday, the way we hit the ball around against a very good pitcher. We did the same thing yesterday in practice, and we kept the same approach today. We put a lot of pressure on them, a lot of hard baseballs in play. Shoot, we even hit some hard balls that were outs, but we knew that we would put some runs on the board.
“We were pretty confident because our swings have been really good lately, and our approach has improved. You never really expect to put up 12 against a quality team like Centennial, though, but we’ll take it.”
Redwood starting pitcher Carson Garcia fired the shutout in five innings, allowing just three hits while firing three strikeouts.
The Rangers will now travel to play No. 2 Bullard (18-7) on Thursday, May 21 in Fresno for a semifinal showdown. The Knights defeated seventh-ranked Clovis North 9-1 in their quarterfinal victory.
Redwood will likely throw University of Miami-commit Wyatt McElree against Bullard. In the win over Clovis, McElree set the tone right away, tossing six strikeouts in five innings, four of them scoreless.
McElree missed most of the season because of an injury.
“I’m proud of them,” Hydash said. “I couldn’t be any prouder of these guys with all the adversity we went through this year, with all the injuries that we had. All the setbacks and challenges, but for them to come together and play like we’ve been playing, it’s been amazing.”
Tulare Western 10, Hanford 2: The No. 10 Mustangs (20-9-1) have now won back-to-back playoff games, this time defeating their West Yosemite League rival Bullpups (13-16) in the Central Section Division II quarterfinals.
Tulare Western will now play at No. 3 Arroyo Grande (23-8) on Thursday, May 21 in San Luis Obispo County.
In the second-round postseason victory, sophomore Elias Ramos delivered a two-hit, three-RBI performance. Will Masterson, a senior, launched a two-run bomb, and Blake Tinker and Gage Junio also each had an RBI. Grant Crawford scored two runs.
Winning pitcher M.J. Chavez hurled a complete game, throwing five strikeouts in seven innings. He gave up just six hits and two earned runs.
Other Tulare County scores:
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Redwood softball, CVC baseball advance to Central Section title games
Reporting by Vongni Yang, Visalia Times-Delta / Visalia Times-Delta
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
