The CIF Southern Section revealed the 2026 high school softball playoff pairings Saturday morning, highlighted by the almighty Division 1 bracket which many consider to be the most talented and challenging prep softball tournament in the country. Murrieta Mesa and Norco are the No. 1 and 2 seeds in Division 1, respectively. The 32-team bracket has no byes, making it jam-packed with talent and top-end programs. The softball playoffs will be an eight-divisional format, with 256 total teams entered. The single-elimination tournaments will open on Thursday, May 14th with first-round games in divisions 2, 4, 6, 8 and Friday, May 15th in divisions 1, 3, 5, 7. The championships will be held in Deanna Manning Stadium at Colonel Bill Barber Park in Irvine on Thursday, May 28 through Saturday, May 30. All games, apart from championship games, are scheduled to begin at 3:15 p.m. unless otherwise noted. All championship games will be livestreamed by the NFHS Network.…