Hemet takes on Temple City tonight in the Bulldogs’ first championship game appearance since 1999, and they will seek their first title since 1974.

Hemet (22-8) finished second in the Mountain Pass League and concluded the regular season ranked No. 7 in the CIF-SS Division 5 poll. Temple City (18-9) finished third in the Rio Hondo League and has staged a Cinderella run to the final, advancing out of the wild-card round and knocking off defending champion Santa Ynez in the quarterfinals and No. 2 seed Monrovia in the semis.

Here is how the Bulldogs and Rams match up and what to watch for in tonight’s final.

OFFENSE: Hemet boasts a deep lineup that posted a batting average of .338 during the regular season. Yeager Taylor (.500, 5 HR in regular season), Cameron Leonard (.373) and Sean Rodriguez (.367) lead the offense, while late-season additions Garrett McKee (10-for-16) and Steven Wright (.356) have only added more depth and made sure the Bulldogs don’t have an easy out 1 through 9. Temple City is hitting only .247 as a team but does have a few dangerous hitters in seniors Chris Rabine (.338), Gabe Juarez (.322, 12 doubles) and Jake LeGrand (.307, 11 extra-base hits). EDGE: Hemet

PITCHING: Hemet posted a 2.08 ERA during the regular season and has limited opponents to just one run in the last 22 innings. Left-hander Devon Kaliher (4-1, 2.67 ERA) or right-hander Jerald Gaskin (3-4, 1.78 ERA) figures to get the start for the Bulldogs. Temple City has a 2.02 ERA and four pitchers with ERAs under 2.00, including tonight’s projected starter Kevin Chavez (5-1, 1.12 ERA). Neither team has a pitcher that averages a strikeout an inning. EDGE: Even

FIELDING: Neither team is particularly sure-handed. Hemet posted a .939 fielding percentage, with the left side of the infield putting up sub-.900 percentages. Temple City has a marginally better .946 fielding percentage, with left side of the infield also the main source of concern. EDGE: Even

INTANGIBLES: Temple City has a slight championship game experience edge. The Rams reached the Division 4 title game in 2012 and have three players from that team, including Chavez and LeGrand. They’re riding high after back-to-back huge upsets. Hemet is playing noticeably loose, comfortable baseball and has shown it can compete and shut down the division’s elite. The pitching staff in particular has stepped up this postseason, and it’s hard to compete against pitchers in their zone. EDGE: Even

THE PICK: Hemet 4, Temple City 1

HEMET (22-8)

COACH: Mike Arnold

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

No. Name Pos. Yr. 4 Logan Necochea LF Sr. 2 Sean Rodriguez 2B Sr. 11 Yeager Taylor 1B Sr. 3 Garrett McKee SS Sr. 6 Mike Alonzo C Sr. 5 Cameron Leonard DH So. 24 Tyler Coronado RF Jr. 9 Brian Wolford 3B Sr. 8 Danny Gomez CF So. 15 or 44 Devon Kaliher or Jerald Gaskin-x P Jr.

x-will not bat

TEMPLE CITY (18-9)

COACH: Rob Nelson

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP