California's Top High School Baseball Team Upset in CIF Semifinals; CIF Finals Set Across All Divisions

The CIF Southern Section high school baseball playoffs can be quite uncertain. Actually, when No. 1 Corona made it all the way to secure the Division 1 championship last year—surprisingly enough, that victory itself came as a shock. The reason being?

Because the prep baseball talent in Southern California is so strong, anybody can win or lose on any given day. That happened Tuesday afternoon ...

In the Division 1 semifinals held in Bellflower, St. John Bosco's pitcher Trevor Heishman put on an impressive display of pitching that rendered the formidable Corona Panthers virtually powerless, leading to the Braves' narrow win with a score of 2-0 against Corona.

St. John Bosco will take on Trinity League foe Santa Margarita — 12-0 winners over No. 2 Crespi — in the Division 1 final at Cal State Fullerton Friday night at 7 p.m.

Heishman, who favors his left hand, surrendered only a single hit over 6 1/3 innings, striking out nine batters including notable players like Seth Hernandez, Anthony Murphy, and Brady Ebel, all projected to be selected in the first round of this year’s MLB Draft.

Atop this mound mastery was the revelation that St. John Bosco handed Seth Hernandez his inaugural defeat at the high school level during his tenure. Following Tuesday’s setback, Hernandez fell to an 18-1 record—completing five frames with two earned runs allowed, along with three hits, three walks, and nine strikeouts. This might well mark his final high school appearance should the Panthers not make it into the regional playoff round.

St. John Bosco took a 1-0 lead in the second inning from a Macade Maxwell RBI single. The Braves doubled the lead in the sixth when James Clark, who got on base byway of a double, ended up scoring from a pair of wild pitchers from Hernandez.

CIF FINALS ARE SET

(The dates and times for the CIF finals have not yet been confirmed)

• DIVISION 1 St. John Bosco versus Santa Margarita
• DIVISION 2 West Ranch versus Mater Dei
• DIVISION 3 San Dimas versus Glendora
• DIVISION 4 Dos Pueblos vs. Ganesha
• DIVISION 5 Long Beach St. Anthony versus Elsinore
• DIVISION 6 : Estancia vs. Marshall
• DIVISION 7 Mary Star versus Notre Dame/Riverside
• DIVISION 8 : Fillmore vs. Pioneer
• DIVISION 9: Mountain View versus NuView Bridge

FINAL TOP 25 RANKINGS

The concluding CIF Southern Section Top 25 standings were unveiled on Sunday. The teams ranked first through fourth are Corona, St. John Bosco, Huntington Beach, and Crespi, in that order.

• FINAL TOP 25 RANKINGS

NO. 1 SEEDS

D1: Corona (26-2)

D2: La Habra (19-9)

D3: Colony (22-6)

D4: Woodridge (19-9)

D5: Northwood (12-15)

D6: Shadow Hills (12-14)

D7: Channel Islands (12-13)

D8: Colton (10-16)

D9: Loma Linda Academy (13-0)

HOW THE CIF UTILIZES COMPETITIVE EQUALITY TO SECURE A SPOT IN THE PLAYOFFS

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The article was initially posted on www.si.com/high-school as California's top-ranked high school baseball team was defeated in the CIF semifinals; CIF championships are scheduled across all divisions. .