Fountain Valley and Newport Harbor, the Wave League qualifiers for the CIF Southern Section softball playoffs, have earned high seeds in the postseason.

The Barons appeared at No. 1 in Division 5 in the first poll of the season on March 7, and have never faltered. As the postseason arrives, Fountain Valley (20-4-1) has won 12 games in a row.

In Wave League play, Fountain Valley outscored opponents 159-10, averaging more than 17 runs per game in an undefeated league title run. That sort of dominance did nothing to dissuade the voters from selecting the Barons as the top seed.

Nine players had at least 10 runs batted in for Fountain Valley this season. Veronica Moore (four home runs and 26 RBIs) and Makenzie Butt (two home runs and 22 RBIs) led the team.

“I feel great about where the girls are right now,” Fountain Valley coach Rick Aldrich said. “They’re confident. They’re having fun, and one of the biggest things this year that is different from the previous years is this year, they’re not only playing together, but they’re playing for each other.

“The individual stats and that stuff isn’t as important to them this year as it has been in previous seasons. They’re more concerned with the team outcome and winning the game.”

Fountain Valley will host a first-round game on Thursday, as the Barons are slated to play the winner of Ontario Christian (10-13, Ambassador No. 4) at Barstow (16-5, Desert Sky No. 3) in a wildcard matchup.

Newport Harbor (15-5), which had won the first two Wave League titles since its formation prior to the 2019 season, could not solve the juggernaut Barons in four tries, but the Sailors took care of their business elsewhere.

The No. 4-seeded Sailors open the Division 4 playoffs at home against Twentynine Palms (13-10, Desert Valley No. 3).

Among other local teams, Huntington Beach (21-7), Costa Mesa (13-7) and Estancia (8-13) also qualified for the CIF playoffs.

Huntington Beach, which averaged 5.1 runs per contest, won a bunch of low-scoring games, thanks to the services of sophomore left-handed ace Zoe Prystajko, who held opponents to a 0.44 earned-run average over 79 2/3 innings in 21 appearances in the circle. She has 143 strikeouts.

The undefeated Surf League-champion Oilers draw Whittier La Serna (19-10, Del Rio No. 2) in the first round of the Division 1 playoffs at home.

Costa Mesa and Estancia finished second and third in the Orange Coast League, respectively, to clinch automatic playoff berths.

The Mustangs will travel to San Jacinto Valley Academy (18-4, South Valley No. 2) in the first round of the Division 6 playoffs, while the Estancia Eagles play at Victory League co-champion La Verne Lutheran (7-5) to begin the Division 7 playoffs.

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Andrew Turner is a sports reporter for the Daily Pilot. Before joining the Pilot in October 2016, he covered prep sports as a freelancer for the Orange County Register for four years. His work also has been used by the Associated Press and California Rubber Hockey Magazine. While attending Long Beach State, he wrote for the college newspaper, The Daily 49er. He graduated with bachelor’s degrees in journalism and history. (714) 966-4611