IT’S NOT baseball or softball, but track and field is a spring sport. Above, a Pacifica high jumper clears the bar in the Mariners’ Empire League win over Tustin on Thursday (GGUSD photo).

The rain played havoc with baseball and softball schedules this week in our West Orange County area. Downpours on Wednesday made games impossible and the soaked diamonds made some play unthinkable.

Still, there’s some prep sport news to report.

Eleven teams make CIF-SS polls

The CIF-SS baseball and softball polls show 11 local teams getting recognition this week.

Huntington Beach is fourth in Division 1, with Garden Grove unranked but getting some votes in Division 6. Bolsa Grande is second in Division 8 and Rancho Alamitos is ninth.

On the softball side, Pacifica remains first in Division 1, with Huntington Beach in fourth and Marina in 10th. Los Amigos  is third in Division 7 with Western in 13th.

Division 8 shows Orange in second with Bolsa Grande in 14th.

Some key matchups to watch

Fans of prep softball may enjoy a game on Friday, March 15  when the number one-ranked team in the nation – Pacifica (10-0) – hosts a very good Huntington Beach High team (6-1) under the lights at 6 p.m. at the Mariner field.

An interesting baseball matchup on that same day has Rancho Alamitos (4-4) visiting Bolsa Grande (6-3) at 3 p.m. in  Garden Grove League clash. The Vaqueros are ranked ninth in D-8 and the Matadors are second.

Ray Plutko passes away

The fifth commissioner of the CIF-SS had died at the age of 85. Ray Plutko served as the top executive to one of the nation’s largest high school sports organizations from 1980 to 1986.

He left the CIF-SS in 1986 to take a similar job in Colorado, returning to California in 1991 to pursue a career in school administration. He retired in 2007, but continued his association with the CIF-SS until 2020, specializing in basketball.