Mater Dei and Oxford Academy softball teams to open CIF Southern California Regional on the road

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Orange County’s softball pairings for the CIF Southern California Regional were not only light Sunday as expected.

They were challenging, too.

Mater Dei and Oxford Academy, the county’s lone automatic qualifiers to opt into the tournament — both received challenging road games for the first round on Tuesday, May 28.

Mater Dei (14-12) drew the No. 8 seed in the eight-team Division I bracket and a 61-mile road trip to top-seeded Murrieta Mesa (25-4).

In Division IV, Oxford Academy (25-6) received the No. 7 seed and a 64-mile trek to No. 2 Oceanside (22-6-1).

Mater Dei, the fourth-place team from the Trinity League, accepted its automatic berth after reaching the CIF-SS Division 2 semifinals.

Oxford Academy, the fourth-place from the 605 League, claimed its bid after finishing as the CIF-SS Division 7 runner-up to Eastside of Lancaster.

Eastside received the No. 6 seed in Division IV and would host Oxford Academy in the semifinals Thursday if both teams advance.

The dominate storyline leading up to the release of the brackets Sunday was the number of O.C. teams that declined either automatic bids or invitations to the fourth-year event. The reasons included the schedule, conflict with travel softball and lack of a state championship format.

Murrieta Mesa secured the No. 1 seed by reaching the CIF-SS Division 1 semifinals, where it fell to top-seeded Orange Lutheran.

Oceanside won the Division 3 crown in the San Diego Section as the No. 5 seed by overcoming an early loss in the double-elimination tournament.

The schools with the best seed serve as the host in each round of the week-long regional tournament.

Last season, Fullerton became the first O.C. school to win a regional title by capturing Division III. The No. 2 seeded Indians defeated No. 1 Otay Ranch 7-0 in Chula Vista.