Prep Baseball: 55 Players to Watch, CIF-SS playoff brackets released

The CIF-Southern Section baseball playoff brackets were released Monday morning and 12 local squads were among the teams scattered throughout the pairings.

The Division 4 bracket is loaded with local teams including Oak Hills, the Mojave River League champion, and Sultana. Both teams are ranked within the top 10 in the latest CIF-SS coaches poll. Oak Hills enters the playoffs ranked No. 5 after going unbeaten in MRL action, while Sultana is No. 10 after pulling off a pair of victories over Apple Valley last week to capture second place in the standings.

Oak Hills begins the playoffs with a home game against Barstow, giving us the only all-local matchup in baseball or softball.

Sultana also begins the first round at home and is looking to make another deep playoff run after reaching the Division 4 semifinals last season. Apple Valley, which is also in Division 4, made a run to the Division 5 title game last season.

Hesperia Christian is also playing in the Division 4 bracket after reaching the Division 7 title game last season.

Prep Softball: Players to Watch list as the CIF-SS playoff brackets are released

In total, six local teams drew home games for the first round. One looks to enter the bracket with a wild card and Riverside Prep is on a bye for the first round in the Division 5 bracket.

Riverside Prep is ranked No. 5 in the division, while Adelanto, the Desert Sky League champion checks in at No. 9. Riverside Prep awaits the winner between South Pasadena and Segerstrom, and Adelanto is home for the first round against Marshall.

The first round begins Thursday for teams in Divisions 4, 6 and 8, while the other divisions will play Friday afternoon.

Here’s a complete list of the CIF-SS baseball playoffs schedule:

• Wild Card Round — Tuesday, April 30 and Wednesday, May 1

• First Round — Thursday, May 2 and Friday, May 3

• Second Round — Tuesday, May 7

• Quarterfinals — Friday, May 10

• Semifinals — Tuesday, May 14

• Championships — Friday, May 17 and Saturday, May 18 at Diamond Stadium of Lake Elsinore

Here’s a list of all our local teams in action, along with players to keep an eye on during the postseason. All the statistics are provided by MaxPrep.com.

Mojave River League

• Div. 4 — Apple Valley (14-10) at Los Osos (15-12)

• Div. 4 — Oak Hills (21-6) vs. Barstow (10-16)

• Div. 4 — Sultana (20-5) vs. Paraclete (12-13)

Desert Sky League

• Div. 4 — Barstow (10-16) at Oak Hills (21-6)

• Div. 5 — Adelanto (13-6) vs. Marshall (12-9)

• Div. 7 — Silverado (13-10) vs. Indio (13-8)

Cross Valley League

• Div. 4 — Hesperia Christian (14-7) at Cerritos (20-6)

• Div. 5 — Riverside Prep (21-6) has a first-round bye

• Div. 6 — Excelsior (11-6-1) vs. Viewpoint (14-7)

Agape League

• Div. 8 — WC round, Academy for Academic Excellence (9-9) at Crossroads Christian (5-4), winners faces Pacifica Christian

• Div. 8 — Academy of Careers & Exploration (13-6) vs. Cate (11-5)

• Div. 8 — Cobalt Institute of Math & Science Academy (9-13) at Coachella Valley (14-10)

Players to Watch

Academy for Academic Excellence

• Christian Garcia, senior — .333 avg., 2 HR, 8 RBIs, 18 runs, 6 SB

• Garrett Morrison, senior — .467 avg., 1 HR, 17 RBIs, 13 runs, 3 SB (3.06 ERA, 53 K)

• Kameron Walker, junior — .302 avg., 5 RBIs, 13 runs. 11 SB (1-0, 3.25 ERA, 28 K)

• Micah Moyer, junior — .511 avg., 4 RBIs, 21 runs, 10 SB

Academy of Careers & Exploration

• Ben Carlson, senior — .321 avg., 15 RBIs, 22 runs, 8 SB

• Robert Mazzarese, senior — .333 avg., 10 RBIs, 15 run, 3 SB

• Thomas Koupeny, junior — .404 avg., 18 RBIs, 24 runs, 6 SB

• Zachary Roberts, freshman — .408 avg., 1 HR, 22 RBIs, 20 runs, 7 SB (4-0, 0.88 ERA, 29 K)

Adelanto High School

• Chris Espinoza, senior — .419 avg., 1 HR, 26 RBIs (9-3, 1.81 ERA, 104 K)

• Zach Viramontes, senior — .367 avg., 16 RBIs (7-3, 2.98 ERA, 58 K)

• Cameron Donaldson, senior — .278 avg., 10 RBIs, 24 runs, 20 SB

• Jesse Najera, senior — .363 avg., 8 RBIs, 13 runs, 7 SB

• Aaron Rodriguez, junior — .358 avg., 14 RBIs

Apple Valley High School

• Beau Lloyd, junior — .361 avg., 5 HR, 21 RBIs, 17 runs, 3 SB — (1.57 ERA, 66 K)

• Isaiah Reveron, junior .286 avg., 14 RBIs, 16 runs, 8 SB

• Noah Celie, senior — .310 avg., 14 RBIs, 16 runs, 5 SB

• Phoenix Matsumoto, senior — .385 avg., 3 HR, 18 RBIs, 20 runs, 2 SB

• Ryan Martinez, senior — .365 avg., 11 RBIs, 20 runs, 11 SB — (2.62 ERA, 36 K)

Barstow High School

• Dominic Acosta, senior — .300 avg., 2 RBIs, 2 runs

• Evan Hernandez, senior — .283 avg., 6 RBIs, 2 runs, 2 SB

• Michael Robles, senior — .254 avg., 3 RBIs, 5 runs, 3 SB

• Steven Diaz, junior — .255 avg., 2 RBIs, 2 SB

Cobalt Institute of Math & Science Academy

• Andrew Honnold, sophomore — .355 avg., 16 RBIs, 15 runs, 5 SB

• Ivan Cervantes, junior — .342 avg., 2 HR, 13 RBIs, 13 runs, 11 SB

• Kevyn Espinoza, junior — .407 avg., 19 RBIs, 12 runs, 14 SB — (3-5, 5.91 ERA, 47 K)

• Matthew Avila, junior — .302 avg., 9 RBIs, 15 runs, 14 SB — (4-3, 5.39 ERA, 34 K)

Excelsior

• Brandon Gill, senior — .393 avg., 6 HR, 24 RBIs, 24 runs, 8 SB — (4-2, 1.34 ERA, 71 K)

• Ethan Ramirez, senior — .393 avg., 2 HR, 13 RBIs, 24 runs, 15 SB

• Jacob Castillo, sophomore — .414 avg., 2 HR, 19 RBIs, 15 runs, 16 SB

• Tyler Oerman, sophomore — .424 avg., 2 HR, 15 RBIs, 26 runs, 7 SB — (5-1, 2.70 ERA, 46 K)

Hesperia Christian

• Arlan Koester, senior — .418 avg., 2 HR, 28 RBIs, 23 runs, 7 SB — (6-3, 1.63 ERA, 64 K)

• Caleb Audet, senior — .471 avg., 3 HR, 28 RBI, 41 runs, 20 SB

• Luke Beasley, junior — .424 avg., 5 HR, 33 RBIs, 19 runs, 7 SB — (5-3, 2.17 ERA, 41 K)

• Nathaniel Renner, junior — .352 avg., 2 HR, 16 RBIs, 32 runs, 11 SB

Oak Hills High School

• Angelo Rizzo, senior — .241 avg., 7 RBIs, 8 runs, 3 SB, 50 K)

• Austin Allan, senior — .300 avg., 14 RBIs, 15 runs, 7 SB (9-1, 1.67 ERA, 44 K)

• Jacob Webster, sophomore — .380 avg., 1 HR, 11 RBIs, 20 runs, 18 SB

• Keith Williams, junior — .370 avg., 3 HR, 22 RBIs, 17 runs

• Pauly Montoya, senior — .274 avg., 14 RBIs, 23 runs, 6 SB (9-1, 1.67 ERA, 83 K)

• Tyler Martinez, senior — .284 avg., 2 HR, 18 RBIs, 21 runs, 2 SB

Riverside Prep

• Andrew Logsdon, sophomore — .385 avg., 33 RBIs

• Cayden Johnson, senior — .446 avg., 4 HR, 36 RBIs — (4-3, 1.70 ERA, 30 K)

• Cayman Pluma, junior — .407 avg., 25 RBIs, 11 SB

• Drew Herd, senior — (7-2, 1.30 ERA, 36 K)

• Isaiah Gomez, junior — .385 avg., 16 SB

• Jacob Villegas, sophomore — (6-0, 2.0 ERA, 34 K)

Silverado High School

• Brandon Chavez — .342 avg., 10 RBIs, 15 runs, 8 SB

• Colin Murphy — .391 avg., 16 RBIs, 8 runs, 6 SB

• Isaac Ramirez — .339 avg., 1 HR, 11 RBIs, 10 runs, 2 SB

• Uriel Martin — .354 avg., 11 RBI, 24 runs, 9 SB

Sultana High School

• Alex Gamez, junior — .382 avg., 1 HR, 19 RBIs, 42 runs, 10 SB

• Brayden Booth, junior — .402 avg., 3 HR, 39 RBIs, 21 runs,

• Eric Ruiz, junior — .516 avg., 6 HR, 37 RBIs, 28 runs, 7 SB — (3-0, 1.07 ERA, 52 K)

• LJ Borrego, sophomore — .410 avg., 2 HR, 31 RBIs, 42 runs, 10 SB

• Nico Torres, junior — (6-2, 1.98 ERA, 55 K)

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: CIF-SS baseball playoff schedules, 55 players to watch