High School

California's No. 1 high school baseball team beat in CIF semifinals; CIF finals set in all divisions

St. John Bosco took down No. 1-seeded Corona High in a stunning shutout victory to advance to the Division 1 finals.

Tarek Fattal

St. John Bosco celebrates its 2-0 win over No. 1 Corona in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinals at home on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
St. John Bosco celebrates its 2-0 win over No. 1 Corona in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinals at home on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. / Heston Quan

The CIF Southern Section high school baseball playoffs are unpredictable. In fact, when No. 1 Corona went all the way last year to win the Division 1 title — even that was a surprise. Why?

Because the prep baseball talent in Southern California is so strong, anybody can win or lose on any given day. That happened Tuesday afternoon ...

St. John Bosco's Trevor Heishman delivered a stellar performance from the mound that made the almighty Corona Panthers look like mere mortals in the Braves' eventual 2-0 victory over Corona in the Division 1 semifinals in Bellflower.

St. John Bosco will take on Trinity League foe Santa Margarita — 12-0 winners over No. 2 Crespi — in the Division 1 final at Cal State Fullerton Friday night at 7 p.m.

The left-handed Heishman gave up just one hit in 6 1/3 innings of work with nine strikeouts against the likes of Seth Hernandez, Anthony Murphy, and Brady Ebel, who are expected to be drafted in the 1st round of this summer's MLB Draft.

On top of the pitching performance came the fact that St. John Bosco served Seth Hernandez his first-ever loss from the bump in his high school career. Hernandez dropped to 18-1 after Tuesday's loss — going five innings with allowing two earned runs, three hits, three walks and striking out nine batters in what could be his last high school game if the Panthers don't participate in the regional playoffs.

St. John Bosco took a 1-0 lead in the second inning from a Macade Maxwell RBI single. The Braves doubled the lead in the sixth when James Clark, who got on base byway of a double, ended up scoring from a pair of wild pitchers from Hernandez.

CIF FINALS ARE SET

(Days and times for CIF finals have not yet been announced)

FINAL TOP 25 RANKINGS

The final CIF Southern Section Top 25 rankings were released Sunday. Corona, St. John Bosco, Huntington Beach and Crespi were ranked No. 1 through 4, respectively.

NO. 1 SEEDS

D1: Corona (26-2)
D2: La Habra (19-9)
D3: Colony (22-6)
D4: Woodridge (19-9)
D5: Northwood (12-15)
D6: Shadow Hills (12-14)
D7: Channel Islands (12-13)
D8: Colton (10-16)
D9: Loma Linda Academy (13-0)

HOW CIF USES COMPETITIVE EQUITY TO MAKE PLAYOFFS

feed

Bookmark High School on SI for all of the latest high school sports news.

To get live updates on your phone — as well as follow your favorite teams and top games — you can download the SBLive Sports app: 

Download iPhone App | Download Android App

Published |Modified
Tarek Fattal, SBLive Sports
TAREK FATTAL

Tarek Fattal has been covering high school sports since 2015 in Southern California and primarily in Los Angeles, covering notable athletes such as Bronny James, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Alyssa Thompson. He was with the LA Daily News for eight years, which included being the beat reporter for the UCLA men's basketball team. Tarek can be seen on TV regularly on CBS/KCAL as a sports analyst with Jim Hill.

Home/California