The top-seeded Banning baseball team scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat No. 8 seed Lemoore 3-2 on Tuesday in the first round of the CIF Southern California Regional Division IV playoffs.

Banning (23-9) will host No. 5 Rancho Mirage in the semifinals today at 4 p.m.

Angelo Duarte drew a bases-loaded walk to score Pedro Ibanez-Eddy for the winning run. AJ Herrera had two hits, two walks and drove in two runs.

Oscar Chavez picked up the win in relief for the Pilots.

In the Division IV regional playoffs, Mary Star’s game at Estancia was postponed until Wednesday.

Port of Los Angeles played its Division V first-round road game against No. 4 Nuview Bridge on Wednesday.

Softball

The Port of Los Angeles and Westchester softball teams lost their opening-round games in the regional playoffs Tuesday.

In Division III, POLA, the eighth seed, lost 9-2 against No. 1 seed Point Loma. Jimena Vargas and Makayla Samora each had an RBI for POLA (19-5).

In Division IV, No. 4 Culver City defeated No. 5 Westchester 20-7. The Comets, who won the L.A. City Section Division IV championships, finished the season 10-10.

Viado wins scholar award

Brandon Viado, a member of the Carson baseball team, was selected by the L.A. City Section as its boys spring scholar-athlete of the year.

Viado, who has a 4.28 GPA, is ranked first in his class and will be the valedictorian for the Class of 2025. He will be attending Cal and is interested in becoming an automotive engineer.