Final CIF Southern Section 2023 baseball playoff brackets: Canyon, Crespi, Aliso Niguel and Peninsula claim Saturday titles
After two long and high drama action, the Southern Section baseball championship games are finally here.
The premier game Friday night featured two nationally ranked teams in Division I, and No. 8 JSerra-San Juan Capistrano pulled out a 1-0 win over No. 17 Santa Margarita in eight innings at Blair Field in Long Beach.
Dmitri Susidko singled home the winning run for the walk off win to give the Lions (24-9) their eighth straight win overall and 13 of 14. The other wins in the playoffs were over Yucaipa (7-0), Etiwanda (6-1), Sierra Canyon (6-3) and Corona (6-0) in the playoffs.
The Lions gave up just four runs in five playoff games.
Santa Margarita (26-7) had won seven straight coming in and 11 of 12. In the playoffs, the Eagles beat Foothill-Santa Ana (6-2), Millikan (8-0), La Mirada (9-4) and Orange Lutheran (5-1) before Friday's win.
Going into Friday's game, Santa Margarita and JSerra had played four times this season, splitting the games with JSerra winning the last contest 4-1 on March 31.
The other big game was at Division 2 on Saturday, where Crespi (21-7-3) fought back from a 5-2 seventh-inning deficit to defeat South Hills 6-5. Crespi shocked No. 9 national Aquinas 5-3 in the semifinals behind two hits apiece for Ethan Kodama, Landon Hodge and Diego Velasquez.
Here are the days and game times for all seven divisions, all played at Blair Field.
FRIDAY
Division 7
Ganesha (17-0) vs. Fillmore (17-13), 1 p.m.
Final: Ganesha 7, Fillmore 0
Division 6
Hesperia Christian (18-2) vs. Castaic (23-7-1) , 4 p.m.
Final: Castaic 7, Hesperia Christian 0
Division 1
JSerra (23-9) vs. Santa Margarita (26-6), 7:30 p.m.
Final: JSerra 1, Santa Margarita 0
SATURDAY
Division 4
Crean Lutheran (24-8) vs. Canyon (19-12), 10 a.m.
Final: Canyon 3, Crean Lutheran 0
Division 2
South Hills (24-6) vs. Crespi (20-7-3), 1 p.m.
Final: Crespi 6, South Hills 5
Division 3
Aliso Niguel (18-13) vs. San Marcos (22-6), 4 p.m.
Final: Aliso Niguel 11, San Marcos 1
Division 5
Apple Valley (21-7) vs. Peninsula (19-10), 7 p.m.
Final: Peninsula 3, Apple Valley 0
Defending champions are JSerra Catholic (D1), Etiwanda (D2), Oaks Christian (D3), Tesoro (D4), Burroughs (D5), Estancia (D6) and Baldwin Park (D7).
Here are the complete CIF-SS baseball playoff brackets with matchups and game times.
CIF-SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION 1 BASEBALL BRACKET
CIF-SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION 2 BASEBALL BRACKET
CIF-SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION 3 BASEBALL BRACKET
CIF-SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION 4 BASEBALL BRACKET
CIF-SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION 5 BASEBALL BRACKET
