Baseball: Division I is wide open in the top bracket

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With the elimination of No. 1-seeded Mater Dei and No. 4-seeded Anaheim Canyon, the upper bracket of the Southern Section Division 1 baseball playoffs is nothing short of wide open. Any of the eight remaining teams could make it to Dodger Stadium.

All have encountered problems at certain points of the season, but those days are long forgotten. It’s about getting hot, and Tuesday’s second-round games present opportunities. The matchups: Riverside Poly at Huntington Beach, Loyola at Lakewood, Trabuco Hills at Agoura, Marina at Thousand Oaks.

In the bottom bracket, No. 2 El Toro and No. 3 Harvard-Westlake remain the favorites, but each faces a challenge. El Toro takes on Moorpark at home and Harvard-Westlake will go on the road to face El Dorado and will likely use its No. 2 pitcher, Conor Cuse. Harvard-Westlake hasn’t won a playoff game in the last six years with its No. 2 pitcher.

Then there’s Santa Margarita, the last Trinity League team, hosting Fountain Valley, and Chaminade playing at Los Alamitos.

The quarterfinals are set for Friday, with the Division 1 semifinals next Tuesday at Blair Field in Long Beach.

The championship game is May 31 at Dodger Stadium.

-- Eric Sondheimer