NINE area high school softball teams will be in the CIF-SS playoffs starting  this week (Flickr).

Some interesting matchups highlight the first round of the CIF-SS softball playoffs, as announced on Monday

In Division 1, Huntington Beach (21-7) will visit an unbeaten Charter Oak (16-0) team on Thursday. That same day, Pacifica (15-11) will visit El Modena (18-8), a clash of two teams that tied for the Crestview League title.

The Mariners and Vanguards met three times this season, with the M’s prevailing 3-2 and then losing the last two contests by scores of 4-3 and 4-0.

Here are the pairings for area teams. All first round games are set for 3:15 p.m. on Thursday. Second round contests will be played on Saturday.
• Division 1: Huntington Beach at Charter Oak, Pacifica at El Modena.
• Division 4: Edison (11-14) at Poly/Long Beach (16-5);
• Division 5: Santiago (16-8) at Kaiser (10-15).
• Division 7: Westminster (13-11) at Moreno Valley (11-8); Capistrano Valley Christian (5-12) at Los Amigos (15-6).
• Division 8: Orange (7-11) at Brentwood (6-9); Bolsa Grande (9-16) at Hawthorne (11-13); Rancho Alamitos (12-6) at Hoover (13-11).