Prep baseball, softball rankings: Vista del Lago wins LeDoux; Boras Classic starts Monday
Regional softball fans and enthusiasts got a glimpse of nice weather and some great head-to-head matchups in the annual Stephanie LeDoux tournament in Placer County.
Now that the sun is out after as wet of a March as anyone can remember, there will be a smattering of games this week during Easter break and then more tournament play over the weekend.
Whitney (7-1) hangs onto The Bee’s No. 1 ranking and is the class of the Sierra Foothill League with an impressive show of power in an 11-0 win at Rocklin. The Flindt sisters, Mya and Alyssa, homered in the first inning, and Sara O’Dea left the yard later in the game. Hannah Duncan has put up impressive numbers in the circle for the Wildcats with 65 strikeouts in 47 innings to go with a 1.19 earned-run average.
Vista Del Lago (11-0) of the Capital Athletic League takes over the No. 2 spot in the rankings with its two best wins of the season. The Eagles beat Granite Bay 3-2, Casa Roble 12-4 and Pleasant Grove 2-0 to win the LeDoux Tournament in Roseville. Olivia Manchester, Anabell Hess and Charlize Cai have formed quite a pitching staff. It helps that Cai is hitting .652 with six doubles.
Delta rumblings
If there is to be a changing of the guard in the Delta League, it could happen this week. The 10-0 Franklin Wildcats of the Elk Grove Unified School District and coach Jon Gudel are for real and face defending Sac-Joaquin Section Division I champion Sheldon on Monday. Franklin has wins over ranked teams in Oak Ridge, Pioneer and Christian Brothers. Seven Wildcats are batting over .400 with Kealani Nitta (.559) and Micayla Arlotto (.553) leading the pack.
Pleasant Grove (9-3) will have something to say in the Delta. Madeline Lawson is proving to be one of the top pitchers in the area, posting a 0.57 ERA with 85 strikeouts in 49 innings. She’s just a sophomore. Freshman Shealyn Stinson leads the team in hitting with a .483 average.
Around the bases
▪ In the Northern Section, No. 3 East Nicolaus (7-0-1) may not lose at all this year. The story for the Spartans has been pitching. Meika Lauppe has not allowed an earned run in 32 innings, and Danni Farris has allowed only one in 16 innings. Farris is batting .444 and Jerzie Brown leads the team, hitting .517.
▪ No. 6 Granite Bay (9-3) looms as a potential threat to Whitney in the SFL. Facing quality competition, Avery Seva has struck out 76 in 43 innings. Two Grizzlies have four home runs apiece in freshman Leilani Terrazas and senior Kaitlyn Van Dusen, and the McKown sisters, Sam and Drew, have a combined .450 batting average with 24 runs scored. Folsom, Oak Ridge and Del Oro also have a shot at the championship.
▪ No. 7 Sutter is 13-0 and looking to put together another 50-game win streak. The defending CIF NorCal small-school champions picked up a defining 9-1 win against Heritage of Brentwood, a perennial power in the Bay Valley League. Olivia Bauer, Madison Schamanski, Alex Carino and Madeline Nauman are hitting over .500. Carino has five homers, and Bauer has moved from third base to handle the pitching duties, posting a 0.75 ERA with 91 strikeouts.
▪ No. 9 Sheldon (5-2) has a busy week as the Huskies take on No. 3 Franklin and No. 5 Pleasant Grove in Delta League play, then head to the annual Livermore Stampede with competition from some of the best teams in Northern California.
▪ No. 10 Ponderosa (7-2-1) lost to Pleasant Grove 3-0 in the LeDoux Tournament and is having a good season as the Foothill Valley League favorite. Tatum Silva is batting .588, and the pitching duo of Ana Niles and Chase Mueller has been solid.
▪ No. 11 Pioneer (7-2) beat Del Oro 6-2 in nonleague play and has a big Golden Empire League matchup at Dixon on Tuesday.
▪ No. 12 Wheatland (7-2) is probably the only team that can challenge Sutter in the Pioneer Valley League. Briseis Botonis has stroked five home runs for the Pirates, who are deep in pitching with Brenna Herring (2-1), Hallie Prather (3-0) and Chasidy Sillis (1-0).
Diamondback in the rough
A shout out to an athletic, power-hitting second baseman named Savannah Warman, who helped her Union Mine Diamondbacks pick up their first win of the season, a 3-1 effort over Rosemont. The game was played under the lights at Folsom Lake College, a nice treat for the teams.
Warman, who plays for the heralded LTG travel ball organization, was only 2 for 3 at the plate that night, which dropped her batting average to .750. No worries. She went 5 for 5 in her next game. She now leads the the Sac-Joaquin Section with an .800 average. A junior, Warman plans to compete in college.
Boras Baseball Classic
The Boras Baseball North Classic highlights regional action this week with area-ranked powers and highly regarded teams from across Northern California. Games will be played at the Army Depot Park (8411 Okinawa St, Sacramento).
Sixteen teams are in the tournament that runs Monday through Thursday with morning, afternoon and night games. Local teams include No. 2 Franklin, No. 3 Whitney, No. 6 Oak Ridge and No. 7 Woodcreek.
The top two ranked teams in Northern California, according to NorCalPreps.com, are Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa and Mitty of San Jose, which plays Whitney in a Monday opener. For more on the Boras event with brackets, visit borasclassic.com/locations/california-north-classic/bracket.
Herd is the word
Elk Grove jumped from No. 3 to No. 1 in pushing its record to 12-1 and unbeaten in Sac-Joaquin Section play under sixth-year coach Joe Bellotti. The loss was to NorCal No. 3 Valley Christian of San Jose.
Elk Grove this week is in a national showcase, the Lions Club Tournament in San Diego, representing the only NorCal team in the top division. The team opens against San Diego powers Cathedral Catholic, Point Loma and St. Augustine.
The Thundering Herd plays rival and No. 2 Franklin in a three-game series starting April 11.
Freshman Chase Groves leads Elk Grove with a .464 average and junior Troy Taylor is batting .400. Cy Peterson, Eddie Fines, Ned Frutchey and Tanner McDonald have combined for 44 RBI. Frutchey is 4-1 on the mound, Russell Pettis is 3-0 and Nate Gonzalez 2-0 for a staff that has a 1.79 ERA and 97 strikeouts in 86 innings. Pettis has 33 strikeouts in 27 innings.
Around the bases
▪ Jesuit inched up to No. 15 after a three-game sweep of previous No. 4 Pleasant Grove.
▪ The El Camino Baseball Classic that starts Monday includes Bee-ranked No. 10 Vista del Lago, No. 13 Bella Vista, No. 19 Folsom and on-the-bubble ranked Casa Roble, Lincoln, Valley Christian and Yuba City. The championship and three other finals will be held at Folsom Lake College.
▪ The Christian Brothers Easter Classic co-hosted by Christian Brothers and Del Campo started on Saturday, continues Monday and finishes on Tuesday. The brackets include Bee-ranked No. 8 Del Campo, No. 9 West Park, No. 11 Christian Brothers and No. 12 Rio Americano as well as Laguna Creek, Ponderosa, Roseville and Rocklin.
THE BEE’S TOP 20
Softball
Records entering Monday
1. Whitney (7-1)
2. Vista Del Lago (11-0)
3. Franklin (10-0)
4. East Nicolaus (7-0-1)
5. Pleasant Grove (9-3)
6. Granite Bay (9-3)
7. Sutter (13-0)
8. Folsom (4-2)
9. Sheldon (5-2)
10. Ponderosa (7-2-1)
11. Pioneer (7-2)
12. Wheatland (7-2)
13. Oak Ridge (4-5)
14. Del Oro (3-4)
15. Woodcreek (6-2-1)
16. Christian Bros (6-3)
17. Rocklin (5-5)
18. Inderkum (4-1)
19. Elk Grove (5-6)
20. River Valley (4-1)
Bubble: Antelope (3-4); Dixon (4-3); Marysville (4-5); Oakmont (5-4); Vacaville (5-1).
— PeteBeeSports@gmail.com
THE BEE’S TOP 20
Baseball
Records entering Monday
1. Elk Grove (12-2)
2. Franklin (12-1)
3. Whitney (10-1)
5. Davis (8-4)
6. Oak Ridge (6-4-1)
7. Woodcreek (5-3-1)
8. Del Campo (7-5)
9. West Park (8-4)
10. Vista del Lago (7-4-1)
11. Christian Brothers (7-4-1)
12. Rio Americano (10-3)
13. Bella Vista (9-2)
14. Oakmont (6-6)
15. Jesuit (4-7-1)
16. Pleasant Grove (6-6)
17. Bradshaw Christian (8-0)
18. Granite Bay (3-6)
19. Folsom (3-6-2)
20. Del Oro (5-4)
Bubble: Casa Roble (7-2-1); Colfax (6-2); Dixon (6-2); Laguna Creek (5-3); Leroy Greene Academy (6-1); Lincoln (3-3); McClatchy (6-6); Nevada Union (9-3); Pioneer (4-1); Placer (4-3); Ponderosa (5-4-1); River City (8-4); Rocklin (4-9); Roseville (7-6); Vacavile (5-7); Valley Christian (6-1); Woodland (3-2); Yuba City (9-4).
— Joe Davidson/jdavidson@sacbee.com
