Venice receives No. 1 seed for City Section Open Division baseball playoffs

Venice, having one of its best baseball seasons in school history with a 26-2 record, has been seeded No. 1 for the City Section Open Division baseball playoffs that end on May 24 with the championship game at Dodger Stadium.

Despite playing in a stronger West Valley League, El Camino Real drew the No. 2 seed by virtue of a common opponent. Venice beat Sun Valley Poly, and El Camino Real lost to Poly.

The eight-team bracket, down from 12 teams, begins play on Wednesday and includes five West Valley League teams. The matchups: No. 8 Chatsworth at No. 1 Venice; No. 5 Cleveland at No. 4 Sylmar; No. 6 Poly at No. 3 Birmingham; No. 7 Granada Hills at No. 2 El Camino Real.

So there’s a good chance the top two teams from the West Valley League, El Camino Real and Birmingham, could meet again in semifinals at Cal State Northridge on May 20. El Camino Real just swept the Patriots this week behind shutouts from Luke Howe and Devin Gonor.

Banning is seeded No. 1 for a strengthened Division I 16-team bracket. Action begins Thursday. Defending Open Division champion Bell is seeded No. 6 in Division I. There are five play-in games on Tuesday.