Photo by Gwen Pointer:

Editor’s Note: This story revolves around teams within the 210 Prep Sports coverage zone that have a realistic shot at winning a league championship over the next two weeks.

Baseball:

One of the area’s best and most compelling leagues is easily the Baseline League.

With a pair of three-game series that lay ahead, Los Osos leads Damien by one-half a game.

The Spartans won the first two of last week’s three-game set with the Grizzlies.

The second elevated DHS to a one-half game lead over LOHS.

On Friday, and with the game tied at 3-3 in the top of the ninth inning, Los Osos scored three times, and Wyatt Mohler closed out the game by retiring the side in the bottom of the ninth.

LOHS will battle the two-time defending Baseline League champions (Etiwanda) this week, and they close out the 2024 regular season with third-place Chino Hills.

Damien gets Rancho Cucamonga starting today, and then they finish with Etiwanda.

The Spartans are the only Baseline League program to have won each of their first three three-game series in league play.

RCHS has lost seven of their last nine games, and EHS has gone 4-3 over their past seven.

Baseline League Standings:
Los Osos (15-6, 7-2)
Damien (11-9-1, 6-2-1)
Chino Hills (12-6-2, 4-4-1)
Etiwanda (8-13 4-5)
RCHS (11-11, 3-6)
Upland (12-9, 2-7)

Del Rey League:

La Salle has a legitimate shot at a championship.

But there is little to no room for error.

The boys from Pasadena have played two less league games than first-place Bishop Amat.

And they get Amat twice this week before finishing up with last-place Bishop Montgomery next week.

Bishop Amat has won seven consecutive games against La Salle, and they’ve secured eight consecutive league titles.

That doesn’t count the 2020 Covid season, where Amat played just one game.

BAHS had been 10-3 a couple weeks ago, but they’ve dropped four of their last five.

La Salle has won three games in a row, and they’re 6-3 over their last nine games.

Amat defeated La Salle, 4-0, back on March 5th.

Del Rey League:
Bishop Amat (14-7, 8-2)
La Salle (15-7, 5-3)
Paraclete (9-12, 5-5)
Serra (7-10, 2-6)
Bishop Montgomery (7-11-1, 2-6)

Hacienda League:

In spite of Walnut and South Hills having identical 6-0 records in league play, the Huskies are the prohibitive favorite.

In league games, SHHS had scored 76 runs, and its pitching staff has surrendered just four runs in the first six games.

On the flip side, WHS has scored 38 runs and allowed 15.

Walnut has won nine of their last 11 games, while South Hills is 8-3 over that same stretch.

The Huskies (72) are 313 spots higher (in the MaxPreps state ranking) than the Mustangs (385).

After its two-game series with Walnut, South Hills will end the regular season with a two-game set against Diamond Bar.

The Mustangs will battle Los Altos in the final week of 2024.

Hacienda League Standings:
South Hills (16-7, 6-0)
Walnut (12-11, 6-0)
Diamond Bar (8-8, 3-3)
Los Altos (8-9-1, 3-3)
Rowland (4-12, 0-6)
Wilson (2-15, 0-6)

Mission Valley League:

Marshall Fundamental has four league games to play, and they narrowly trail Arroyo and South El Monte in the MVL standings.

The Eagles will likely need to go 3-1 or 4-0 over the next two weeks to claim an MVL title.

But Marshall will play one game each against first-place Arroyo and second-place, South El Monte.

And they have single games with fifth-place Mountain View and an El Monte program that has gone 0-14 in 2024.

Marshall has won three in a row, and they’ve gone 8-4 over their last 12 games.

Mission Valley:
Arroyo (14-5, 8-1)
South El Monte (14-5, 7-1)
Marshall Fundamental (10-7, 6-2)
Rosemead (9-9, 4-5)
Mountain View (7-11, 3-6)
Gabrielino (3-11, 2-7)
El Monte (0-14, 0-8)

Olympic League:

It’s nearly a lock that Maranatha will extend their perennial control of the Olympic League penthouse.

With four league games to play, the Minutemen hold a comfortable three-game lead over Village Christian and Valley Christian.

MHS will battle last-place Heritage Christian this week, and they close out 2024 with a two-game set against second-place Village Christian.

Maranatha is 6-4 over their last 10 games.

MHS has scored a league-high 91 runs (in eight games) and their pitching staff has surrendered a league low of 25 runs.

Olympic League Standings:
Maranatha (14-6, 7-1)
Village Christian (12-5-1, 5-4)
Valley Christian (9-9, 5-4)
Whittier Christian (7-11, 3-5)
Heritage Christian (6-14-1, 1-7)

Pacific League:

With four games to play in the 2024 regular season, Arcadia leads Burroughs and Crescenta Valley by one game.

The Apaches and the Bears begin their two-game set on Tuesday at Burroughs.

AHS will then close out the regular season portion of their schedule with Crescenta Valley.

Arcadia has won Pacific League championships in 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

After the Apaches won their first three league games in 2020, COVID-19 wiped out the rest of the season and no league champion was crowned.

Over their last 10 games, Arcadia, Burroughs and Crescenta Valley have gone 6-4, 9-1 and 9-1, respectively.

Pacific League Standings:
Arcadia (15-6, 10-0)
Burroughs (17-3, 9-1)
Crescenta Valley (17-5, 9-1)
Burbank (7-10, 6-4)
Muir (9-12, 2-8)
Glendale (7-15, 2-8)
Pasadena (5-12, 2-8)
Hoover (3-16-1, 0-10)

Palomares League:

Bonita enters the final two weeks with a two-game lead over second-place Colony.

The Bearcats advantage, however, is, for all intents and purposes, a three-game lead, because BHS won all three games in 2024 against the Titans.

Bonita travels to Claremont today against a CHS program that dropped each of its three games last week against Colony.

The Wolfpack surrendered 30 runs in their three-game set with Colony.

BHS has gone 9-3 over their last 12 games, and they went 2-1 against Ayala last week.

Palomares League Standings:
Bonita (12-7, 8-1)
Colony (15-6-1, 6-3)
Claremont (12-8, 4-5)
Ayala (6-11-1, 4-5)
Alta Loma (11-11, 3-6)
Glendora (8-12, 2-7)

Prep League:

With two league games to go, Flintridge Prep trails Poly by one game in the loss column.

The Wolves have played two more league games than the Panthers.

And they go head-to-head this week on Tuesday and Friday.

Poly claimed a 7-5 victory over Flintridge Prep on March 5th in their first meeting.

Poly and Flintridge Prep have both gone 8-2 in their last 10 games.

The Wolves have a couple nonleague games next week, while the Panthers battle third-place Providence in a two-game Prep League set.

Prep League Standings:
Poly (14-4, 7-1)
Flintridge Prep (11-9, 8-2)
Providence (3-12, 2-4)
Chadwick (3-9, 2-6)
Rio Hondo Prep (7-7-1, 1-7)

Rio Hondo League:

San Marino and South Pasadena have identical 6-2 records in Rio Hondo League games.

The Titans and Tigers have four games remaining in league play.

And it all starts today, when South Pasadena travels to San Marino in a two-game RHL set.

The Titans are 6-4 over their last 10 games, and the Tigers have won eight of 10.

The San Marino pitching staff has surrendered a league-low 14 runs over their eight-game stretch.

Rio Hondo League Standings:
San Marino (17-6, 6-2)
South Pasadena (15-9, 6-2)
Monrovia (13-9, 5-5)
Temple City (8-11-1, 4-6)
La Canada (6-10-1, 1-7)

Valle Vista League:

Mathematically, San Dimas hasn’t clinched a Valle Vista League championship as of today.

But the Saints are as close to a lock as one could be.

They hold a two-game lead over second-place Charter Oak.

And they battle last-place Northview twice this week, and the Saints finish off 2024 with a two-game VVL set with third-place Covina.

SDHS had outscored their VVL competition by a combined margin of 64-7.

The 64 runs are 24 more than the next closest opponent (Covina), and the seven runs allowed is 18 less than the Colts.

San Dimas has won 22 consecutive Valle Vista League games, which dates all the way back to March 25th of 2022.

Valle Vista League Standings:
San Dimas (18-4, 6-0)
Charter Oak (6-12-1, 4-2)
West Covina (10-5-1, 3-3)
Covina (11-10-1, 3-3)
Diamond Ranch (4-9, 1-5)
Northview (4-13, 1-5)