CBL baseball champ Cajon, Citrus Valley host CIF playoff openers; Yucaipa on road

Surprise! Cajon High School, the Citrus Belt League baseball champion, will actually host its CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoff opener Thursday at 3:15 p.m.

Cajon (19-9 overall, 12-3 CBL) will face San Dimas of the Hacienda League, which enters at 13-13 overall and 6-6 in league play.

The CIF now relies on a power ranking formula rather than automatically rewarding league champions with home playoff openers, as was customary in past years. Cajon apparently finished above San Dimas in the rankings.

Citrus Valley (13-14 overall, 10-5 CBL), the third-place team from the Citrus Belt League, will host Paloma Valley of Menifee (14-13 overall, 8-7 Ivy League) at 3:15 p.m. Friday in a Division 5 opener.

Yucaipa High (18-10 overall, 11-4 CBL), the second-place finisher in the CBL, opens Division 2 play Thursday at 3:15 p.m. at Paraclete of Lancaster.

Paraclete won the Camino Real League with an 11-1 record and enters the playoffs 23-5 overall.

Other area playoff teams

Four other area teams also qualified for the CIF playoffs.

Arrowhead Christian Academy (11-17 overall, 7-5 Ambassador League), the league’s third-place team, will host Temescal Canyon (16-12 overall, 6-6 Mountain Pass League) at 3:15 p.m. Friday.

Three teams from the Tri-County Premier League qualified for the Division 9 playoffs.

Redlands Adventist Academy (6-6) travels to the Dunn School in Los Olivos, near Solvang in Santa Barbara County, to face a team that finished second in the Frontier League at 7-2 and enters with an 11-7 overall record.

Mesa Grande Academy of Calimesa (6-3) travels to San Bernardino High School for a 3:15 p.m. Friday game. San Bernardino enters 7-11 overall and 6-6 in Mountain Valley League play.

Loma Linda Academy (10-7 overall) travels to Claremont to face the Webb School at 3 p.m. Friday. Webb enters 5-13 overall and 0-9 in the San Joaquin League.