Fullerton, Cypress to Open Playoffs at Home

Fullerton and Cypress, which shared the Orange Empire Conference softball title this season, will each be at home for the Southern California playoffs, which start Friday.

Rancho Santiago and Saddleback also made the 16-team field.

Long Beach (37-5) is top-seeded, Fullerton (34-11) is No. 2, Cypress (59-4) is No. 3 and Palomar (38-12) is No. 4. All four teams will host four-team, double-elimination formats.

Friday at Fullerton, the Hornets play at noon against No. 15 Riverside (24-15) and No. 7 Hancock meets No. 10 San Diego Mesa (21-16) at 2 p.m.

The winners play at 4 p.m. and the losers come back for a noon game on Saturday.

Friday at Cypress, the Chargers (59-4) play No. 14 Saddleback (16-19) at noon and No. 6 Antelope Valley (29-17) plays No. 11 Cuesta (30-16) at 2 p.m. The winners play at 4 p.m. and the losers meet at noon on Saturday.

Rancho Santiago (28-19), seeded fifth, and No. 12 Pasadena (16-21) play at 2 p.m. at Palomar. Host Palomar takes on No. 13 Ventura (28-22-1) at noon.

Friday at Long Beach, the host Vikings (37-5) take on No. 16 San Bernardino ( 20-10) at noon and at 2 p.m. No. 8 Bakersfield (29-12) plays No. 9 Moorpark (23-18).

The winner at each site moves on to the state tournament, May 16-18 at Golden West College.