Local baseball and softball teams will play for three CIF-Southern Section championships on Saturday, May 30, in Orange County.
Grace School (16-10) will face Irvine-Northwood (14-7-1) in the Division 7 softball final at 10 a.m.
Agoura High (19-13) will play Manhattan Beach-Mira Costa (20-12) in the Division 3 baseball final at 1 p.m.
Oxnard High (17-10-1) will face Mission Viejo (16-15-1) in the Division 4 softball final at 4 p.m.
The baseball game is at Cal State Fullerton’s Goodwin Field. The softball games will be played at Deanna Manning Stadium, which is located at Barber Memorial Park in Irvine.
It is the first final for both Oxnard and Grace softball.
Tickets in Irvine are $15.70 for adults and $8.35 for students. Tickets in Fullerton are $17.80 for adults and $9.40 for students and children. Parking is free at both venues.
After finishing in third place in the Channel League, the Yellowjackets have beaten Pasadena Poly (14-0), Apple Valley (4-0), St. Bonaventure (5-4 in 11 innings), and Monrovia (1-0) to reach their first sectional final.
They have been led by pitcher Destinee Herrera and slugger Rachel Godoy.
In the 1-0 semifinal win at Monclair, Herrera tossed her third shutout in four playoff games, striking out eight without a walk. The sophomore has yet to allow an earned run in 30 postseason innings. Opponents are hitting just .178 and have struck out 26 times.
Godoy had two of Oxnard’s three hits in the semifinal, including the decisive solo home run. The junior is hitting .642 in the postseason with a .686 on-base percentage and a 1.285 slugging average.
After finishing fifth in the Marmonte League, Agoura has yet to trail in the postseason, beating Oakwood (4-0), Garden Grove-Pacifica (3-0), Fullerton (4-1), and Long Beach-Millikan (3-1).
Senior Donovan Anthony — Saturday’s probable starter — and freshman Zach Partee have combined to allow just 11 hits and one run in 27 playoff innings.
The lineup is led by UC Irvine-bound shortstop Braden Oliver (.312, seven home runs) and centerfielder Tyler Starling (.337, seven home runs).
After finishing in second place in the Tri-Valley League, Grace has beaten Buena Park (11-0 in five innings), Crean Lutheran (11-1 in five innings), Sun Valley-Shadow Hills (6-5) and Jurupa Hills-Patriot (16-10) to reach its first sectional final.
The Lancers have been powered by senior slugger Grace Maguire, one of the top hitters in Ventura County. The Nevada-Reno commit is hitting .584 with 12 doubles, four triples and 11 home runs. The Lancers have hit 26 home runs.
Senior Rosy Salazar and freshman Eden Tuso have both pitched in the postseason.
By virtue of being sectional finalists, Agoura, Oxnard and Grace have already earned CIF-State berths.
Although Agoura has opted out of participating in state competition.
“We opted out for state,” said Agoura coach Adam Goldstein after Tuesday’s win over Millikan. “Most of my seniors are gone. … We didn’t want to opt out, but we were missing too many.”
Regional state competition begins with quarterfinals on Tuesday, June 2.
Joe Curley covers baseball and softball for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcspreps on Twitter/X, Instagram/Threads, Facebook, Bluesky and TikTok.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: When will local teams play for CIF-SS baseball, softball titles?
Reporting by Joe Curley, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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