Fresno-area prep roundup: Five teams advance to softball regional championship games
Five Fresno-area softball teams won CIF regional semifinals to reach Saturday championship games, including two that will pit Central Section champions.
Leading the way is Clovis. The NorCal Division I No. 3 seed went to the foothills east of Sacramento and beat No. 2 Del Oro 6-2. The Cougars next play at No. 1 St. Francis-Mountain View.
Central, the No. 2 seed in NorCal D-III beat small-school power East Nicolaus (Oregon recruit, Arizona State commit) and next travels north of Sacramento to face top-seeded Sutter.
The all-Central Section finals are in SoCal D-IV (Monache vs. Orange Cove) and SoCal D-V (Caruthers vs. Nipomo). Caruthers is averaging 16 runs a game this week.
Original story
Eleven Fresno-area teams will continue their baseball and softball seasons in the CIF regionals slated to begin Tuesday.
Games are set for 4 p.m.
One softball bracket lists three teams from the area that will compete in NorCal Division III. They are Central, Bullard and Hanford.
No. 2 seed Central will host Everett Alvarez-Salinas and No. 4 Bullard also hosts, playing No. 5 Wheatland. No. 6 Hanford will play at No. 3 East Nicolaus.
Central Section Division I softball champion Clovis was awarded the No. 3-seed and will host No. 6 Heritage-Brentwood, coached by former Fresno State football star Ron Rivers.
On the baseball side, Central Section Division II champions Clovis East, the seventh seed, will travel to play No. 2 Archbishop Mitty in NorCal. D-II runner-up Central will play in Division III as the eighth seed against top-seed Monterey.
Volleyball regionals recap
No. 3 Clovis West and No. 4 Buchanan saw their seasons come to an end in the NorCal regional semifinals on May 19.
No. 4 Buchanan was swept by No. 1 Saint Francis 25-21, 25-11, 25-16. The third-seeded Golden Eagles lost in four sets to No. 2 Mountain View, 25-19, 23-25, 24-26, 25-21, 16-14.
Saint Francis defeated Mountain View in four sets in the regional championship.
In Division III, No. 8 Central lost to top-seed Bishop O’Dowd 25-19, 23-25, 27-25, 25-19. Bishop O’Dowd lost to Homestead in the championship.
Baseball
NorCal Regionals
May 31
Division II
Tuesday’s first round
No. 2 Archbishop Mitty 3, No. 7 Clovis East 2
Division III
Tuesday’s first round
No. 8 Central 8, No. 1 Monterey 6
Thursday’s regional semifinals
No. 4 St. Bernard’s 8, No. 8 Central 0
Division IV
Tuesday’s first round
No. 2 Bradshaw Christian 3, No. 7 Madera South 0
Division V
Tuesday’s first round
No. 2 Turlock Christian 6, No. 7 Mendota 0
Softball
NorCal Regionals
Division I
Tuesday’s first round
No. 3 Clovis 3, No. 6 Heritage 0
Thursday’s regional semifinals
No. 3 Clovis 6, No. 2 Del Oro 2
Saturday’s regional final
No. 3 Clovis at No. 1 St. Francis-Mountain View, 4 p.m.
Division III
Tuesday’s first round
No. 2 Central 3, No. 7 Everett Alvarez 1
No. 4 Bullard 7, No. 5 Wheatland 1
No. 3 East Nicolaus 4, No. 6 Hanford 2
Thursday’s regional semifinals
No. 1 Sutter 8, No. 4 Bullard 6
No. 2 Central 4, No. 3 East Nicolaus 3
Saturday’s regional final
No. 2 Central at No. 1 Sutter, 4 p.m.
SoCal
Division IV
Tuesday’s first round
No. 1 Monache, bye
No. 2 Orange Cove 10,. No. 7 Legacy 0
Thursday’s regional semifinals
No. 1 Monache 11, No. 5 Elsinore 3
No. 2 Orange Cove 3, No. 3 Hillcrest 2
Saturday’s regional final
No. 2 Orange Cove at No. 1 Monache, 4 p.m.
Division V
Tuesday’s first round
No. 2 Caruthers 14,. No. 7 Santee 0
Thursday’s regional semifinals
No. 2 Caruthers 18, No. 6 Garfield 6
Saturday’s regional final
No. 4 Nipomo at No. 2 Caruthers, 4 p.m.
This story was originally published May 30, 2022 at 12:45 PM.
