PREP BASEBALL / CITY PLAYOFFS : El Camino Real Is Seeded No. 1

Woodland Hills El Camino Real and Crenshaw will begin the baseball playoffs next week as the top-seeded teams in the 4-A and 3-A divisions, respectively, the City Section announced Wednesday.

El Camino Real, the West Valley League champion with a 16-1 record, has never won a baseball title. The Conquistadores reached the championship game twice, losing to Granada Hills in 1984 and Chatsworth in 1990.

“We’re happy to be the top-seeded team because it is a reward for how well we played,” El Camino Real Coach Mike Maio said. “(But) a lot of No. 1 teams have been knocked off. It doesn’t guarantee anything.”

San Pedro upset top-seeded Sun Valley Polytechnic in last season’s championship game, preventing the Parrots from becoming the 20th consecutive team from the San Fernando Valley to win the 4-A title.

El Camino Real will open against Van Nuys in the first round Tuesday.

Sylmar is seeded No. 2 in the 4-A Division and will play host to University; Granada Hills Kennedy is No. 3 and will play host to North Hollywood, and Sepulveda Monroe is No. 4 and will play host to San Pedro.

Crenshaw, which also has never won a baseball title, will play Jefferson or Manual Arts Tuesday.

The Cougars, who lost to Fremont in last season’s 3-A championship game, won the Southern League title with a 15-2 record. They lost in the 4-A finals in 1979 when Dodger outfielder Darryl Strawberry was on the team.

The championship game in both divisions will be played at Dodger Stadium on June 3.

Quarterfinals will be May 27 and semifinals June 1.