Norco High received the No. 1 seed for the Southern Section Division 1 baseball playoffs on Friday that will begin with pool play on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the first time you can lose an opening game and not go home. There are four four-team pools, with the first- and second-place teams advancing to the single-elimination quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
Norco opens in pool A with a home game against Maranatha. Sherman Oaks Notre Dame hosts Ayala and standout pitcher Caleb Trugman in the other pool A game. Round 2 is May 15 and if another round is needed, Tuesday, May 19. The quarterfinals are May 22.<\/p>\n
Other top seeds in the Division 1 pools are No. 2 Harvard-Westlake (pool B), No. 3 Sierra Canyon (pool C) and No. 4 Orange Lutheran (pool D). Since the Southern Section uses computer rankings, you have the strange situation of Trinity League runner-up Orange Lutheran getting seeded ahead of Trinity League champion St. John Bosco.<\/p>\n
The best opening game could be Cypress at St. John Bosco in pool C. Both are league champions with outstanding pitchers.<\/p>\n
Coaches have been lobbying for years to have best two-out-of-three series, and this comes close but other divisions remain single elimination and 32-team brackets. Villa Park is seeded No. 1 in Division 2.<\/p>\n