Five local Long Beach baseball teams are preparing for the CIF Southern Section playoffs to start this week.
The first game will feature the Lakewood Lancers at home on Wednesday when they host Burroughs in the Division 2 wild card round. First pitch is scheduled for 3:15 p.m.
Both Lakewood and Burroughs were third-place finishers out of their respective leagues, and the winner will travel to Vista Murrieta for the first round on Friday.
Lakewood (14-14) has been inconsistent this season but has come up with some marquee wins in the last few weeks.
“This team works on mood,” Lakewood’s Adrian Arellano said last month. “When we’re down, we’re down. When we’re up, we’re up. (A win over Millikan) is a big one for us so it meant a lot to us.”
Moore League champions Long Beach Poly (21-3) are the only team hosting a Division 3 first-round game on Thursday when they take on Beckman. The Jackrabbits are going to use the baseball field at LBCC for their postseason home games. First pitch is scheduled for 3:15 p.m.
Poly completed the first undefeated Moore League season since 1997 and will now try to win its first CIF title since 1963.
“This is the closest-knit team I’ve ever been a part of,” Poly captain Lucas Scott said. “We won the Moore League my sophomore year, and that was a talented team. I know what it feels like to be on talented teams. But truly this is the tightest team I’ve ever experienced in all my years playing baseball, and there’s got to be some correlation there. Everyone fights for each other. Everyone’s willing to sacrifice. Everyone wants to win. Everyone accepts their role because we want to win.”
Wilson (16-12) is also in Division 3 where they got a tough draw and will visit top-seed La Serna (23-2) on Thursday. First pitch is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. La Serna won the Del Rio League and the Bruins were fourth in the Moore League.
Due to their recent postseason success, Millikan (20-8) is up in Division 1 where they must visit undefeated Olympic League champion Maranatha in the first round. It is also scheduled for 3:15 p.m. on Thursday. The Rams finished second in the Moore League.
St. Anthony (18-8) fell just short of a Camino Real League title and now turns its attention to Division 5 where they host Schurr (12-9) on Thursday at 3:15 p.m.
The Saints had an eight-game win streak last month.
