LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A team of Middletown High School students will compete Thursday evening in a West Coast playoff game in an esport competition.

Esports are multiplayer, organized video game competitions that can be viewed by spectators.

Jennifer Pyzer, Middletown High’s business and computer instructor, said the team competes in the High School Esport League and will play the game “APEX Legends.”

The competition includes East, Central and West regions. Middletown High will compete in the West Region, which consists of the Mountain, Pacific, Alaska and Hawaii time zone schools.

Middletown is small but proving mighty in the competition.

Pyzer said there were 36 schools competing in the APEX competition for the Fall Tournament.

“Middletown made it to the playoffs, and we are now in the semi-finals,” Pyzer said.

Pyzer said the top four teams are left.

Middletown’s record is 6-1; that’s the same record for Benjamin Franklin High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District, Pyzer said.

“We are ranked No. 2 and LAUSD Franklin is ranked No. 3,” Pyzer said.

Pyzer said the team will play in the semifinals at 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5.

“There is a chance if they make it to the top rounds that they will be able to compete against the other regions — Central and East at a larger tournament in Texas,” Pyzer said.

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