Because there are no official Southern Section...

Because there are no official Southern Section playoffs this season, this weekend’s Irvine Southern California Championships, hosted by Irvine High, provides the closest substitute.

The 32-team tournament begins at 3 p.m. today at Heritage Park’s two pools and at Corona del Mar and El Toro high schools. Play continues Friday and the championship game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Heritage Park.

Los Alamitos, Long Beach Wilson, Villa Park and Irvine are the top-seeded teams in their eight-team brackets.

Kristin Guerin and Shelli Linza have helped Los Alamitos, top-ranked in Orange County and the Southern Section, to a 20-0 record. Long Beach Wilson is ranked second in the section and narrowly lost to Los Alamitos, 7-5, in the Esperanza tournament championship game Dec. 7.

Although all of teams in this week’s county top 10 are playing in the tournament, there are some noticeable omissions, including league champions El Dorado (Empire) and Valencia (Orange).

“I wish the tournament could be bigger,” Hinman said. “By mid-December the tournament was filled, but there were still more teams trying to get in. I just hope the message this sends to CIF is that there is enough interest to have Southern Section playoffs.”