Key league games, playoff action highlight weekend

Today not only marks the conclusion of the regular season play for local prep softball and baseball teams, it also signals the start of a busy weekend of CIF Southern Section playoff action.

In softball, Edison hosts Fountain Valley and Marina entertains Newport Harbor at 3:15 p.m. Sunset League action and Huntington Beach hosts Foothill at 3:30 p.m. in Sea View League play.

In 3:15 p.m. baseball action, Edison is home to Fountain Valley and Marina to Newport Harbor in the Sunset League, Huntington has a Sea View encounter at Woodbridge and Ocean View will attempt to put the finishing touches on its sixth-straight Golden West League championship when it hosts Orange.

Playoff berths hang in the balance for several local teams.

“It’s a big week for everybody,” Edison softball coach Kendra Tarrant said. “We’re in line to finish in third place in league if we finish strong.”

The CIF Southern Section playoffs get underway this week with prelims, finals and first-round action in a variety of sports.

In boys’ tennis, Sunset League champion Marina hosts San Clemente at 2:30 p.m. today at SeaCliff Country Club in a first-round Division I match.

Both Huntington Beach and Edison begin the Division I boys’ volleyball playoffs at 7 p.m. Friday.

The 10th-ranked Oilers, the No. 3 team from the Sea View League, play at Mater Dei in the division’s premiere first-round match.

“It’s going to be a tough match,” Oilers Coach Rocky Ciarelli said of Mater Dei. “They’re a good team and have some big kids.”

Edison, which finished third in the Sunset League, begins the Division I playoffs at Thousand Oaks.

At 8 a.m. today, the boys’ golf team finals begin at Candlewood Country Club in Whittier.

Boys’ and girls’ swimming finals will be held starting today at Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach. The Division IV finals are at 6 tonight. The Division I finals begin at 6 p.m. Friday and the Division III and Division II finals are at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., respectively, on Saturday.

Edison had four athletes seeded No. 1 in their respective events heading into this week’s prelims and finals: junior Tom Shields in both the boys’ 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly, senior Yashi Jahanshahi in both the girls’ 100-yard butterfly and 500-yard freestyle, sophomore Cindy Tran in the 100-yard backstroke and freshman Alli Gillespie in the 200-yard freestyle.

In addition, Edison’s girls’ 200-yard medley relay team and 400-yard free relay team also were No. 1 seeds.

The track & field prelims are Saturday: Division I will be held at Trabuco Hills High, Division II at Moorpark, Division III at Warren and Division IV at Carpinteria.

— Mike Sciacca