The Bonita and Damien baseball teams were in Division 1 of the the CIF Southern Section playoffs last season, and so were the teams from South Hills, San Dimas, Bishop Amat and La Mirada.

Arcadia reached the semifinals in Division 2, which included Maranatha, Charter Oak and La Serna.

In previous seasons, a team would move up or down divisions based on how it performed the two previous seasons. This season, teams will be placed in divisions at the end of the regular season based on computer rankings.

The CIF-SS released its first computer rankings this week and will continue issuing weekly ranking updates through the rest of the regular season.

Not surprisingly, La Mirada (12-2) was fourth overall in the CIF-SS rankings. Also high in the rankings were Arcadia (15-2) at No. 8, and Bishop Amat (13-4) at No. 12. Those three would undoubtedly be in the Division 1 playoffs if they continue at their current trajectory.

But for teams such as Bonita, Damien, South Hills and San Dimas, which year after year seem to compete in the top one or two divisions, their playoff destination could be different this season.

Bonita is 5-1 in the Palomares League and 8-6 overall. The Bearcats reached the championship of the San Gabriel Valley Pizza Chalet tournament to start the season, but their 6-1 loss to Arcadia began a four-game losing streak.

Bonita is No. 104 in the first computer rankings, which could possibly slot it in Division 4. That would be a dramatic drop from Division 1.

Damien, which has struggled to a 5-7 record, is ranked No. 105 and also could land in Division 4 if the Spartans quality for the playoffs.

This is what the new system is designed to do: if teams struggle they drop divisions and if they excel they move up.

Bonita was 19-7 last year and reached the second round of the Division 1 playoffs. This season, the Bearcats struggled over a tough stretch of games and are barely over .500 for the season.

“I think it’s fair,” Bearcats coach Ryan Marcos said of the new way of placing teams in playoff divisions. “It offers teams a chance to compete in the division that is most competitive for where they’re at in each individual season. Right now our record isn’t great, but we’re playing some pretty good teams.

“The past calculations of using the two previous years was fine, but you graduate some good players and have a down year. And in Division 1, you would have a hard time getting out of the first round.”

San Dimas is an example of the benefits of the new playoff system. The Saints were a talented team last season that finished 25-4 and reached the quarterfinals of the Division 1 playoffs.

The Saints graduated several of their top players and are 10-4 this season. They reached the championship of the Ryan Lemmon Invitational this week, losing to Woodbridge 8-4 in the title game.

Under the old playoff formula, the Saints would undoubtedly tone into the Division 1 playoffs.

The Saints have been the area’s most consistent program, along with La Mirada, over the past several seasons. But in this week’s computer rankings, they were No. 55, which is likely Division 2 and near the borderline of Division 3.

“I really haven’t looked at it (rankings),” San Dimas co-head coach Mike Regan said. “I guess it’s good for really good programs that lose a bunch of players and are not the team they were a year before.

“There are years when I thought we deserved to be in Division 1 and other years probably not. I don’t know what it will look like (rankings) at the end of the season, but if it says we go to Division 2 or Division 3, however it ends up, it is what it is.”

Regan was adamant about one thing.

“The rankings won’t change how we schedule games,” he said. “We’re always going to look for the best tournaments and the best games we can play. We’re not going to schedule a bunch of teams we know we can beat (for rankings). That’s just not what I’m about.”

Another team that could benefit is South Hills (9-5). The Huskies, who competed in Division 1 last year, are ranked No. 70, which is on the Division 2 and 3 bubble.

Charter Oak (5-8), which was in Division 2 last season, is ranked No. 208, which would be a drop of several divisions. The Chargers have to qualify for the playoffs through Valle Vista League play.