Prep baseball: Franklin-Whitney, Rio Americano-Granite Bay clash in section championships
It’s finals week in more ways than one for Sacramento-area high school baseball teams as summer closes in fast.
The CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championships dot the schedule this week, and so do graduation ceremonies, marking the finale of the K-12 education experience.
Softball seniors are also squeezing in graduation ceremonies amid the final week of section play with upper-division semifinals set for Tuesday. Softball section title games are scheduled for Saturday at Sacramento State for Divisions I and II and at Cosumnes River College for Divisions III and IV.
A closer look at the baseball championships:
Division I
No. 1 Franklin (28-4) vs. No. 2 Whitney (26-7)
When: Friday
Where: Sacramento City College
Time: 6 p.m.
Outlok: The much-anticipated showdown of the top two teams in the region all season figures to be a classic. Whitney is the defending champion with a host of returners, including the 1-2 punch of Tyler Allen and Jax Gimenez, who have fueled the offense with Allen batting .411 with 26 RBI and Gimenez hitting .407 with 41 runs. The Wildcats have pitching, too, with Gavin McLendon (10-2, 1.72 ERA), Jace Gillmore (7-1, 2.20) and Luke Oyler (5-2, 2.90).
Franklin has its best team perhaps in school history, or at least since its 2012 team that reached the section finals. Franklin has an 8-1 win over Whitney from a March 8 nonleague meeting in which Jordy Lopez, Jason Harris and Noah Meaux each drove in two runs and Nic Abraham struck out five and walked one on the mound. Abraham never slowed down. The junior national recruit is 9-0 with an 0.48 ERA. Four-year starter Nolan Stevens is 5-0 with an 0.62 ERA, and he’s batting .347 with three homers and 20 RBI. Derek Pham is batting .400. The staff ERA is 1.48 and the team winning streak is 14.
Division II
No. 4 Rio Americano (27-5) vs. No. 7 Granite Bay (14-18)
When: Thursday
Where: Sac City
Time: 6 p.m.
Outlook: This is a rematch of last year’s finale in which Granite Bay won 4-2 for the program’s first title since 2001. Both clubs are battle tested from good leagues, Rio from the Capital Athletic League, where the Raiders placed second to Christian Brothers, and GB from the Sierra Foothill League, where the Grizzlies finished fifth before reaching a new gear in the postseason.
Jace Bystrowski leads Granite Bay with a .377 average and Ben Straw is hitting .371 with 20 RBI for longtime coach Pat Esposito. For Rio, Sam Marr leads with a .495 average, 45 hits and 45 runs, and Chase Christenson leads with an 0.56 ERA and 30 RBI.
Division III
No. 3 Central Catholic (20-8-1) vs. No. 4 Pioneer (23-4)
When: Thursday
Where: Islander’s Park, Lathrop
Time: 6 p.m.
Outlook: Pioneer of Woodland has won 18 of 19 games thanks in part to Landon Dahler, batting .477 this season, and ace Carson Timothy, who has an 0.48 ERA and leads the team with 26 hits and 27 runs. Timothy is 6-1 on the mound with 79 strikeouts in 44 innings with just five walks and three extra-base hits allowed.
Central Catholic of Modesto is paced by slugger Braxton Thomas, who has 12 home runs and is batting .476 with 30 RBI.
Division IV
No. 1 Woodland (20-4) vs. No. 2 Oakmont (18-13)
When: Wednesday
Where: Sac City
Time: 6 p.m.
Outlook: Oakmont seeks its second section crown since 2019 under coach Paul Martinez and Woodland its first since 2006. Oakmont is led at the plate by MJ Stark (.526), Jayden Perkins (.410) and Tony Lira (.407) and on the mound by Adam Reyes (.094 ERA) and Kurton Marton (1.55 ERA). Woodland has won 15 of 16 games, paced all season by Austin Stapleton (.465), Derrick Fisher (.446) and Anthony Santos (.420).
Stapleton is 5-2 on the mound with a 1.05 ERA, and he has 65 strikeouts in 46.2 innings.
Division V
No. 1 Sutter (22-5-1) vs. No. 3 Bradshaw Christian (22-5)
When: Tuesday
Where: Sac City
Time: 6 p.m.
Outlook: Bradshaw is the defending champion while Sutter is new to this section after decades of good living in the Northern Section and has just one loss in its last 14 games. Landon Sable is hitting .494, Brady Wickum .425 and Matt McCall .406. Sable has 28 stolen bases, Andrew Hanson has 33 RBI, and Jagger Beck has a 0.52 ERA and a 9-1 pitching record.
BC has won 11 of 12 games and impressed against schools much larger, including a 4-0 loss to Rio Americano, which is in the D-II title game. Michah Nicholson is batting .512 with seven home runs, 47 RBI and 43 runs, and Ethan Rickert leads the team with 39 runs and 21 stolen bases. David Wiser leads the team with a 1.83 ERA and is 9-1 on the mound.
Division VI
No. 1 Leroy Greene (19-1) vs. No. 2 Argonaut (17-5)
When: Wednesday
Where: Islander’s Park
Time: 6 p.m.
Outlook: Leroy Greene of Natomas has burst onto the scene, having won 16 consecutive games behind the remarkable season of Drew Perry, a slugging junior who has a .714 average, eight home runs, 54 RBI and a 1.464 slugging percentage. Korey Ramson has 12 doubles, seven triples and 32 RBI, and Isaiah McKee is 6-1 on the mound for the Lions.
Argonaut of Jackson is paced offensively by Jacob Hartman (.400), Hunter Lynch (.469) and Ace Begovich (.463).
▪ The D-VII game is Tuesday at Islander’s Park at 6 p.m. between No. 1 Turlock Christian (21-3) and No. 3 Ripon Christian (21-7).
