Norwalk High heads to CIF semifinal

Norwalk High is one win from the CIF Southern Section Division 7 championship game after the bracket set a semifinal matchup with South El Monte for Tuesday, May 26. The pairing came after South El Monte beat Golden Valley 5-2 in a quarterfinal on Friday, while Norwalk advanced from the other side of the Division 7 draw. CIF Southern Section bracket listings and published quarterfinal results show the semifinal is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday. ### When and where is Norwalk’s semifinal? Tuesday, May 26, is the listed date for Norwalk’s Division 7 semifinal against South El Monte, according to the CIF-SS bracket and game listings. MaxPreps lists the game at 3:15 p.m. and identifies it as a CIF Southern Section Division 7 tournament semifinal. (maxpreps.com) South El Monte is the listed host side on the Division 7 bracket, which places the Eagles and Norwalk in semifinal Game 30. The Division 7 final is listed for Friday, May 29, also at 3:15 p.m. ### How did this matchup come together on Friday? (maxpreps.com) South El Monte reached the semifinal by beating Golden Valley 5-2 in the quarterfinal round on May 22. Published reports from the San Gabriel Valley Tribune and the Los Angeles Daily News identified Jesse Zavala as the pitcher who helped secure the win for South El Monte. (maxpreps.com) Golden Valley’s season ended with that loss after what local coverage described as a historic playoff run for the program. The quarterfinal result cleared the lower half of the Division 7 bracket for a South El Monte-Norwalk semifinal. ### What has Norwalk done to get this far? (dailynews.com) Norwalk reached the semifinal after a 4-1 quarterfinal win over Garden Grove, according to the Division 7 bracket. The same bracket shows Norwalk opened the playoffs with an 8-1 win over San Jacinto and then beat Garden Grove in the second round. Los Cerritos Community News reported on May 21 that Norwalk advanced behind senior pitcher Daniel Albidrez, who threw his third straight complete game in the playoffs. That report said Norwalk beat Garden Grove on the road to move into the quarterfinals, underscoring the pitching form it carried into the final week of the section tournament. (maxpreps.com) ### What does the bracket show about the two teams? South El Monte entered the semifinal after three one-run or close-margin playoff results before the quarterfinal: a 3-2 win over Buena Park, a 3-2 win over Hemet and then the 5-2 win over Golden Valley. Norwalk’s bracket path shows wins over San Jacinto, Garden Grove and Arroyo, with the quarterfinal result recorded as a 7-1 victory over Arroyo on the official bracket aggregation pages. (loscerritosnews.net) MaxPreps lists South El Monte at 17-12 and Norwalk at 15-8 entering Tuesday’s game. Those records are third-party listings rather than CIF-SS standings, but they provide the most current publicly indexed snapshot attached to the semifinal matchup page. (maxpreps.com) ### What is at stake on Tuesday? The May 26 winner advances to the CIF Southern Section Division 7 championship game on May 29. The bracket shows the South El Monte-Norwalk winner will face either North Torrance or Santa Paula for the title. (maxpreps.com) Friday, May 29, is the next date already attached to this bracket. CIF-SS lists the Division 7 championship game for 3:15 p.m., with the semifinal winners filling the final two spots. (maxpreps.com)