The end to the 2025-26 interscholastic season is now within sight with the San Diego Section baseball and softball playoffs scheduled to take play May 28-30 and the state boys volleyball and track and field championship meets also to follow this weekend.
Both the baseball and softball brackets will boast seven skill divisions.
Finals venues include San Diego State University, University of San Diego and UC San Diego.
The baseball finals were scheduled to start Thursday at SDSU wth Division V-AA and Division IV contests.
The baseball championships continue Friday with a double-header at USD: Division V at 3:30 p.m. and Division III at 7 p.m. A triple-header at USD closes out section play at 11 .am. (Division II), 2:30 p.m. (Division I) and 6 p.m. (Open Division).
Softball finals are similarly scheduled, starting with Thursday’s double-header at SDSU: Division V-AA and Division III. The action moves to USD on Friday for a double-header at 4 p.m. (Division IV) and 7 p.m. (Division II).
UC San Diego is slated to host a triple-header on Saturday: Division V at 1 p.m., Division I at 4 p.m. and Open Division at 7 p.m.
The elite Open Division is a straight double-elimination tournament for the eight qualifying teams while Division I through Division V-AA in both will feature a single-elimination play-in bracket followed by double-elimination play.
The 2026 playoffs faced off May 18 with any necessary play-in games, followed immediately by the play-in round. Survivors moved on to double-elimination play.
Semifinals were scheduled Tuesday and Wednesday.
Baseball
Nine East County teams qualified for this year’s playoff field, including Grossmont Hills League co-champion Granite Hills as the No. 7 seed in the Open Division, Christian as the No. 1 seed in Division II, along with No. 3 seed Helix (GHL co-chmpaion) and No. 12 seed Grossmont, Santana as the No; 10 seed in Division III, Summit League champion Mountain Empire as the No. 2 seed in Division IV along with No. 7 seed Foothills Christian and Liberty Charter as the No. 3 seed in Division V-AA.
Grossmont Valley League champion Steele Canyon qualified for a play-in game in Division III.
Defending Open Division champion Granite Hills (21-7) and Mountain Empire (15-7) both went out with 0-2 records.
Grossmont (13-19) and Santana (14-17) went out at 2-2.
Summit League runner-up Liberty Charter (12-11) went out at 1-2.
Still hanging around for Tuesday’s semifinals were Christian, Helix and Foothills Christian.
Christian (21-9-1) defeated SFC (17-14), 13-5, to advance to the Division II final gainst Helix (20-11), which topped Bonita Vista (22-10) by a 5-3 score.
Foothills Christian (21-12) defeated Central Union (11-18-1) by a score of 4-2 to make the Division IV final.
Steele Canyon (8-2 in league, 13-16 overall) lost, 5-4, to Hilltop in a matchup for the Division III No. 11 seed.
Softball
A bounty of 10 East County teams joined the section’s postseason party: Steele Canyon as the No. 3 seed in Division I and Christian as the No. 10 seed, Santana and El Capitan as the fifth and sixth seeds, respectively in Division II, Helix at the No. 2 seed in Division III, Grossmont as the No. 2 seed in Division IV along with No. 4 Liberty Charter, No. 3 Monte Vista in Division V along with No. 7 Mt. Miguel and No. 3 Mountain Empire in Division V-AA.
Semifinal winners included Steele Canyon (20-11) 8-6 over No. 10 Christian (14-15-1) in Division I, Helix (24-4) 7-1 over No. 4 Mission Vista (18-11-1) in Division III and Grossmont (18-10-1) 8-6 over No. 3 Francis Parker (19-6) in Division IV.
El Capitan (15-14) lost, 1-0, to No. 10 Scripps (16-11-1) to force a double-elimination game on Wednesday in Division II.
Monte Vista (17-3) clobbered No. 2 Southwest San Diego, 21-12, in Tuesday’s semis to force a double-elimination replay on Wednesday in Division V.
