There is one day left in the Los Padres League baseball season, and what has been determined thus far is, well, not much.

Not a league champion. Not even all the playoff spots. All that's certain is that Santa Ynez and Lompoc have a showdown at Lompoc Friday for the league championship and that both teams, along with St. Joseph, have clinched playoff spots.

Lompoc and Santa Ynez are tied for first place at 8-3 in league games. Santa Ynez beat Lompoc in the first round. Friday is the last day of the regular season.

St. Joseph (7-4), Cabrillo (7-5) and Templeton (6-5) are right behind the first two, but mathematically out of the title race. All three, however, are very much in the playoff chase.

All the Conquistadores can do is wait. Their regular season is over.

The league has three tiebreakers systems to determine playoff seedings. The first is head-to-head games. The second is a points system - seven for each time a team beats the league champion, six for each time it defeated the runner-up, etc. The third is a pre-season draw in which each team drew numbers, the lower the better.

Here's a look at Friday's games and a glance at the prospects of each team left in the playoff race. The league schedule calls for Santa Ynez to play at Lompoc, St. Joseph to host Santa Maria and Templeton to take on Morro Bay.

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Lompoc: The Braves will try to even the score with Santa Ynez today. If they don't, and St. Joseph wins, the Braves and Knights tie for second place at 8-4. St. Joseph would get the second seed thanks to the second tiebreaker - the Knights split their season series with Santa Ynez.

Santa Ynez: If the Pirates lose today, and St. Joseph prevails, those teams finish in a second-place tie. If that happens, the pre-season lottery draw determines the second seed.

The teams split their season series. If Santa Ynez falls today, both second-place teams will have one league loss to all the same people.

Cabrillo: The Conquistadores' fate rides with Templeton. If the Eagles lose, the Conqs are in. If the Eagles win, the Conqs are out. That's because Cabrillo would finish behind both St. Joseph and Templeton in the points tiebreaker.

St. Joseph: The Knights have a chance for the second seed if they win today. If they lose, they're locked into the third one.

They have split their season series with all of their playoff race competitors.

Templeton: The Eagles played themselves into playoff contention with a 4-1 second round, but they saw a 6-0 lead wiped out in a 13-6 loss to Santa Ynez Tuesday.

May 08, 2008