Prep baseball, softball rankings: SFL stands tall again; Elk Grove-Franklin to play three
Even the powerhouses encounter speed bumps in their effort to repeat.
Softball coaches and enthusiasts anticipated a different look among the power tier of Sacramento-area softball this spring, and it does seem odd to see neither Del Oro, Elk Grove or Rocklin occupying any of the top 10 spots in The Bee’s weekly rankings. These are storied, championship programs, with great coaching — and with plenty of season left to play.
Del Oro is No. 13, Sierra Foothill League rival Rocklin is ranked No. 18 and Delta League member Elk Grove is No. 20. Each of those programs has felt the blow of players lost to graduation, and no one weeps for the mighty.
Four regional teams remain undefeated entering this week: Franklin, Vista del Lago, East Nicolaus and Sutter. Whitney remains top-ranked by The Bee based on strength of schedule and a big win at the prestigious Livermore Stampede over the weekend.
Hanna Duncan has turned into a top pitcher for the Wildcats of Placer County and the Flindt sisters, Mya and Alyssa, offer a lot of pop in a potent lineup for longtime coach Mike Mello, whose 9-3 team has split with Del Oro in SFL play and has no other losses within the Sac-Joaquin Section.
Del Oro, behind the pitching of Daniella Morillas, beat Whitney 3-2 on March 30 in an important SFL matchup, and based on that effort, the Eagles cannot be discounted. Del Oro is the defending section Division II champion. The SFL is the strongest area league and the champion may have three league losses. That won’t affect their Bee rankings. And more challenges: All the games that were postponed by rain will have to be squeezed into a compressed calendar.
“Playing four games in a week is tough on any team,” Granite Bay coach Brian Seva said. “But playing four SFL opponents in one week is going to be rough on any pitching staff.”
Franklin takes over the No. 2 ranking, its highest ranking in school history, after a big week, punctuated by statement wins over perennial powers Sheldon and Elk Grove in the Delta.
No. 3 Vista del Lago topped No. 6 Granite Bay and No. 4 Pleasant Grove in tournament play the previous weekend. The Eagles have some depth at pitching and play at a high level and are the heavy favorites in the Capital Athletic League.
Sheldon had a tough week, losing at Franklin 8-5 and at home to Pleasant Grove 17-2. Pleasant Grove’s Maddie Lawson had a day against the Huskies, pitching a one-hitter with 11 strikeouts while collecting three hits at the plate. Lyndsay Peredes and Shealynn Stinson also had three hits as the Eagles scored eight runs in the top of the first and eight more in the top of the seventh to overwhelm the defending section Division I champions.
Other teams to watch include St. Francis of the Delta, Inderkum of the Capital Valley Conference and Capital Christian of the Capital Athletic League, now that all three schools have their key transfers eligible to play.
No. 12 Oak Ridge will be without the services of two key players for 10 days as freshmen Brooklyn Paratore and Sam Alekman were selected by USA Softball to compete in international competition in Peru. Paratore is leading the team with a .500 batting average.
No. 1 Elk Grove vs. No. 2 Franklin
The Bee’s top two ranked baseball teams happen to be Delta League rivals who happen to play three times this week.
Top-ranked Elk Grove is unbeaten in section play and battled in the national-level Lions Baseball Tournament in San Diego as the lone Northern California representative in the Open Division.
The Thundering Herd lost three tight games to San Diego powers: 3-2 in nine innings to Cathedral Catholic, 3-2 to Point Loma and 4-3 to St. Augustine before beating El Camino Real of Woodland Hills 6-5.
Because of the nature of that tournament and not having any local losses, Elk Grove held onto the top ranking. Elk Grove is 9-0 in the Delta League under coach Joe Bellotti. A Delta League title would ensure that the Thundering Herd would be in the D-I playoffs as the Delta is a D-I league. Should Elk Grove not win the Delta, it would slide into the D-II playoffs.
Franklin is 14-4 overall and 8-1 in the Delta, suffering a 3-2 setback to No. 5 Davis. The Wildcats will be in the D-I playoffs regardless of how they finish in the Delta because their enrollment is clearly D-I at nearly 2,800 students.
Franklin under longtime coach Bryan Kilby went 2-2 in the prestigious Boras Classic at Army Depot Park in Sacramento, beating Stockdale of Bakersfield 1-0 on a Nic Abraham three-hitter with five strikeouts, and Tim Johnson drove in the only run. Franklin lost to Bellarmine of San Jose 9-3 and St. Mary’s of Stockton 6-2 at the Boras, which was won by Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa with an 8-0 win over Bellarmine. Cardinal Newman, top-ranked in Northern California by NorCalPreps.com, is 14-0.
The Elk Grove-Franklin games this week are Tuesday at Elk Grove, Wednesday at Franklin and Friday at Elk Grove.
Around the bases
▪ Also in the Lions Tournament, Colfax went 4-0 in a small-school division to move to 10-2 overall and found time to hit the beach. Jack Erickson earned MVP honors in the bracket with five hits, five RBI and striking out 10 in 4 2/3 innings of a 12-2 win over El Cajon Valley.
▪ Del Oro went 3-1 in its bracket at the Lions event, highlighted by Jayke Browner and San Coxen combining to beat St. Paul of Santa Fe Springs, 1-0, and followed with wins of 11-4 over Mountain Crest of Utah and 6-1 over Palos Verde.
▪ The area’s leading RBI guys, according to statistics inputted by coaches at MaxPreps: Drew Perry of Leroy Greene Academy (24), David Wiser of Bradshaw Christian (21), Bruce Sabatke of River City and Jackson Nichols of Valley Christian (19), and Tyler Allen of Whitney, Jackson Norton of Inderkum and Daniel Paul of Bella Vista (18).
▪ Area pitching wins leaders: Luke Oyler of Whitney (5-0), Wyatt Bickel of Woodland Christian (4-0), Jake Fields of Oak Ridge (4-0), Kaden Nicholls of Bear River (4-0), Jaiden Oldwin of Vacaville (4-0), Chase Christenson of Rio Americano (5-0), Gavin McLendon of Whitney (4-1) and Ned Frutchey of Elk Grove (4-2).
THE BEE’S TOP 20
Softball
Records entering Monday
1. Whitney (8-3)
2. Franklin (13-0)
3. Vista del Lago (11-0)
4. Pleasant Grove (11-3)
5. East Nicolaus (10-0-1)
6. Granite Bay (9-3)
7. Sutter (13-0)
8. Folsom (4-2)
9. Ponderosa (7-2-1)
10. Pioneer (9-3)
11. Wheatland (9-3)
12. Oak Ridge (4-5)
13. Del Oro (3-4)
14. Sheldon (8-6)
15. Woodcreek (6-2-1)
16. Christian Bros. (6-3)
17. Vacaville (9-1)
18. Rocklin (5-5)
19. Inderkum (4-1)
20. Elk Grove (6-8)
Bubble: Antelope (3-4); Cordova (5-1); Dixon (4-3); Marysville (6-5); Oakmont (6-4); River Valley (4-2); St. Francis, (3-6).
— PeteBeeSports@Gmail.com
THE BEE’S TOP 20
Baseball
Records entering Monday
1. Elk Grove (13-4)
2. Franklin (14-4)
3. Whitney (13-2)
5. Davis (11-6)
6. Oak Ridge (9-5-1)
7. Woodcreek (6-7-1)
8. Jesuit (7-8-1)
9. Folsom (6-7-2)
10. Vacaville (9-7)
11. Christian Brothers (7-4-1)
12. Rio Americano (10-3)
13. Del Campo (8-7)
14. West Park (9-6)
15. Oakmont (8-8)
16. Vista del Lago (9-6-1)
17. Bradshaw Christian (9-3)
18. Colfax (10-2)
19. Pleasant Grove (8-8)
20. Del Oro (8-5)
Bubble: Bella Vista (11-5); Casa Roble (9-4-1); Dixon (8-3); Granite Bay (4-9); Laguna Creek (5-5); Leroy Greene (7-1); Lincoln (6-4); McClatchy (9-7); Nevada Union (10-6); Pioneer (5-3); Placer (7-4); Ponderosa (7-5-1); River City (8-4); Rocklin (4-9); Roseville (9-6); Sutter (9-3); Woodland (7-3); Yuba City (12-5).
— Joe Davidson/jdavidson@sacbee.com
