High schools: Playoffs underway for some sports; latest baseball, softball rankings
Clovis West High School hosts the Central Section Division I swimming and diving championships this week.
The meet begins Wednesday with the diving finals, boys at 9 a.m. and girls at approximately 1 p.m. Thursday, the top four divers from the D-I and D-II championships come together at Clovis West for state qualifiers, boys at 10 a.m. and girls at approximately noon.
The D-I boys and girls prelims are Friday beginning at 1 p.m. and Saturday’s finals start at 10:30 a.m.
The Division II section meet is at the Kern Aquatic Center at Independence High in Bakersfield following the same schedule as the D-I meet.
Qualifiers will advance to the state championships May 11-13 at the newly renovated Clovis West Aquatics Center that hosted its first event, the Clovis West Invitational, in mid-April.
Boys volleyball: Playoffs begin
Playoffs begin Tuesday night in Divisions I and II.
Clovis East is the top seed in Division I and will take on No. 8 St. Joseph on Tuesday.
The other matchups in D-I are No. 5 Clovis West at No. 4 Buchanan, No. 6 Clovis North at No. 3 Sanger and No. 7 Bullard at No. 2 Clovis.
In D-II, matchups are No. 16 Sanger West at No. 1 San Luis Obispo, No. 9 Madera South at No. 8 Santa Ynez, No. 12 Garza at No. 5 McLane, No. 13 Washington Union at No. 4 Edison, No. 14 Sunnyside at No. 3 Central, No. 11 Templeton at No. 6 Arroyo Grande, No. 10 Pioneer Valley at No. 7 Madera and No. 15 Atascadero at No. 2 Fresno Christian.
The section championships are May 11.
Badminton: Clovis East is top seed
Ten teams are in the section playoffs that begin Wednesday with two outbracket games.
Clovis East received the top seed and will face the winner between No. 8 Reedley and No. 9 Roosevelt.
No. 2 Buchanan awaits the winner between No. 7 Hoover and No. 10 Sanger.
Quarterfinals Friday include No. 5 Sunnyside at No. 4 Clovis West and No. 6 Clovis at No. 3 Clovis North.
The finals are May 10.
Boys tennis: Playoffs underway
Top-seeded Clovis East defeated No. 8 Liberty-Bakersfield 6-3 to advance to the Division I semifinals.
The Timberwolves will face No. 4 Clovis West on Tuesday, weather permitting.
No. 2 San Luis Obispo and No. 3 Sanger will play in the other semifinal.
D-II: No. 4 Centennial at No. 1 Bakersfield Christian and No. 7 San Joaquin Memorial at No. 3 Bakersfield.
D-III: No. 4 West at No. 1 Mission Prep at No. 3 Orcutt at No. 2 Kerman.
D-IV: No. 12 Yosemite at No. 1 Fresno Christian and No. 7 Independence at No. 3 Reedley
D-V: No. 12 Torres at No. 1 Orosi and No. 7 Riverdale at No. 3 Chowchilla.
The section championship are May 9.
The individual tournament will be held at several sites beginning on May 5. Those qualifiers will move on to the section championships on May 12 at Immanuel.
Golf: Where tournaments will take place
Valley Oaks Golf Course (Valley and Lakes courses) in Visalia will host the Division I tournament May 8 at 10 a.m. and Division II/III May 9 at 10 a.m.
Section is May 15 at San Joaquin Country Club at 10 a.m.
Baseball and softball rankings: Bullard, Clovis North remain No. 1
The final two weeks of the regular season are here for baseball and softball in the Central Section.
The top of The Bee’s baseball and softball rankings are unchanged.
In baseball, No. 1 Bullard swept Madera last week.
In softball, top-ranked Clovis North defeated Buchanan and walked off Clovis West to remain undefeated.
Baseball: Clovis, Buchanan tied in TRAC
Clovis and Buchanan are tied for first place in Tri-River Athletic Conference baseball with only this week’s three-game series left.
Clovis is set to face Clovis West in a three-game series and Buchanan meets Clovis North.
Bullard clinched a tie for the County/Metro Athletic Conference title and can win it outright with a victory in any of its four remaining games.
In the North Yosemite League, Fresno leads by a game over Madera South with four games left. Those teams will play a two-game series this week.
Softball: Clovis North closing in
Clovis North leads TRAC softball by two games over Clovis with a matchup set for Friday at Clovis.
Clovis North will start the week against Clovis East.
In the CMAC, Edison and Bullard are 5-1. Sanger is behind at 3-2.
Edison will host Bullard at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
In the NYL, Sanger West and McLane are 9-1 with a meeting at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Baseball rankings
Records through Monday
1. Bullard (19-3). Last week: swept Madera. Pvs: 1
2. Redwood (19-5). Last week: defeated El Diamante, Porterville, Monache. Pvs: 2
3. Clovis (15-9-1). Last week: won 2 of 3 from Clovis East. Pvs: 3
4. Buchanan (16-8). Last week: won 2 of 3 from Clovis West. Pvs: 4
5. Kingsburg (20-5). Last week: won 2 of 3 from Washington Union. Pvs: 5
6. Cabrillo (20-4) Last week: defeated Nipomo twice. Pvs: 6
7. El Diamante (18-7). Last week: lost to Redwood, defeated Monache twice. Pvs: 7
8. Stockdale (15-7). Last week: defeated Frontier twice. Pvs: 9
9. Bakersfield Christian (18-6). Last week: split with Garces. Pvs: 8
10. Lemoore (17-4). Last week: defeated Dinuba twice. Pvs: 11
11. Fresno (17-6). Last week: defeated Sanger West twice. Pvs: 12
12. Madera (14-10). Last week: swept by Bullard. Pvs: 10
13. Kerman (15-8). Last week: defeated Central Valley Christian twice. Pvs: 14
14. Fowler (18-4). Last week: defeated Riverdale and Firebaugh. Pvs: 16
15. Righetti (19-6). Last week: defeated Paso Robles twice. Pvs: 17
16. Tulare Western (16-7). Last week: split with Hanford. Pvs: 15
17. Dos Palos (18-2). Last week: defeated Mendota and Coalinga. Pvs: 18
18. Liberty-Madera Ranchos (18-6). Last week: defeated Yosemite twice. Pvs: 20
19. Frontier (14-9). Last week: lost to Stockdale twice. Pvs: 13
20. Sanger (13-9-1). Last week: won 2 of 3 from San Joaquin Memorial. Pvs: 22
21. Washington Union (16-8-1). Last week: lost to Kingsburg 2 of 3. Pvs: 21
22. St. Joseph (15-9-1). Last week: defeated Arroyo Grande twice. Pvs: NR
23. Atascadero (20-5): Last week: split with Pioneer Valley. Pvs: NR
24. Clovis West (12-13) Last week: lost 2 of 3 to Buchanan. Pvs: 24
25. Pioneer Valley (13-5-1). Last week: split with Atascadero. Pvs: 25
Softball rankings
Records through Monday
1. Clovis North (21-0-1). Last week: defeated Buchanan and Clovis West. Pvs: 1
2. Clovis (17-6). Last week: defeated Clovis West, lost to Central. Pvs: 2
3. Central (19-5). Last week: lost to Clovis East, defeated Clovis. Pvs: 3
4. St. Joseph (15-4). Last week: defeated Atascadero and Righetti. Pvs: 4
5. Tulare Union (20-4). Last week: defeated Tulare Western and Lemoore. Pvs: 5
6. Stockdale (16-5-2). Last week: defeated Centennial and defeated Frontier twice. Pvs: 6
7. Independence (17-6). Last week: defeated Ridgeview twice. Pvs: 7
8. Bullard (19-4). Last week: defeated Garza and Madera. Pvs: 8
9. Kingsburg (14-5-1). Last week: defeated Selma and Washington Union. Pvs: 10
10. Centennial (19-5-1). Last week: lost to Stockdale, defeated Liberty-Bakersfield. Pvs: 9
11. Fowler (17-3). Last week: defeated Riverdale twice. Pvs: 11
12. Sanger (13-6-1). Last week: defeated Madera. Pvs: 13
13. Edison (14-8). Last week: defeated San Joaquin Memorial and Garza. Pvs: 17
14. Buchanan (12-9-1). Last week: split with Clovis East. Pvs: 15
15. Clovis East (13-11). Last week: defeated Central, lost to Buchanan. Pvs: 18
16. Lompoc (12-7-1). Last week: lost to Righetti and Arroyo Grande. Pvs: 12
17. Liberty-Bakersfield (15-7). Last week: lost to Centennial twice. Pvs: 14
18. Clovis West (9-9-2). Last week: lost to Clovis and Clovis North. Pvs: 16
19. Orange Cove (14-7-1). Last week: defeated Lindsay and Corcoran. Pvs: 20
20. Cabrillo (9-5). Last week: lost to Nipomo and Righetti. Pvs: 21
21. Immanuel (12-3). Last week: defeated Washington Union, lost to Kerman, defeated Exeter. Pvs: 22
22. Caruthers (12-7). Last week: defeated Parlier twice and Yosemite. Pvs: 24
23. Madera (10-7-1). Last week: lost to Sanger and Bullard. Pvs: 19
24. Sanger West (17-8). Last week: defeated Madera South, split with Roosevelt. Pvs: 23
25. Monache (14-6). Last week: defeated Porterville and Golden West. Pvs: 25
