Joe DeMers (left) and team at College Park beat Northgate twice last week and made major move among region’s best in baseball. Rebecca Faulkner from Carlmont of Belmont (right) is that team’s top pitcher. Photos: Ronnie Flores & Harold Abend.
With most teams losing at least once, there was much to ponder this week in baseball. In softball, the top three is the same but just like in baseball many changes. We produce these rankings in support of the Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area TV show, which airs live on KUSI Channel 20 in San Francisco on Sunday nights.
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Baseball: Losses strike most top teams
Is a 2-1 week in baseball when you’re playing in a league like the WCAL or EBAL a bad thing? If you’re doing rankings, it can be strange not to drop teams that have 2-1 weeks but it’s much more normal in baseball. In fact, a 2-1 week in the WCAL or EBAL is a more of an achievement than one might think.
Watch highlights of the Bay Area’s best teams every Sunday at 6 p.m. on KOFY, Channel 20, San Francisco with replays during the week on Comcast SportsNet. To order DVDs of a show, CLICK HERE.
Only six teams from last week’s Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area Top 20 got through Saturday without taking at least one loss.
No. 1 St. Francis wasn’t one of them and neither was previous No. 3 Clayton Valley. The Eagles improving their overall record to 15-0 also allows them to move up to No. 2 this week.
Bellarmine moved up from No. 11 to No. 4 with a 2-1 week. While the Bells dropped a game to Valley Christian, they beat previous No. 2 Mitty and previous No. 16 St. Ignatius and are now 13-4 overall.
Here is this week’s Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area Top 20 (compiled by Mark Tennis; after games of Saturday, April 13; previous ranking in parentheses):
1. (1) St. Francis (Mountain View) 13-2
2. (3) Clayton Valley (Concord) 15-0
3. (2) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 13-4
4. (11) Bellarmine Prep (San Jose) 13-4
5. (13) Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 10-3
6. (5) California (San Ramon) 12-2
7. (4) Valley Christian (San Jose) 11-5
8. (6) De La Salle (Concord) 10-3*
9. (14) Campolindo (Moraga) 10-3
10. (7) San Benito (Hollister) 14-3
11. (12) Maria Carrillo (Santa Rosa) 12-2
12. (NR) College Park (Pleasant Hill) 10-2
13. (17) Los Gatos 17-3
14. (19) Casa Grande (Petaluma) 11-3
15. (15) Serra (San Mateo) 10-9
16. (10) St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 10-8
17. (16) San Ramon Valley (Danville) 8-4
18. (9) Northgate (Walnut Creek) 11-3
19. (NR) Leigh (San Jose) 11-4-1
20. (NR) Monte Vista (Danville) 7-5
Dropped Out:
Previous No. 8 Foothill (Pleasanton); No. 18 Granada (Livermore); No. 20 Saratoga.
Teams On The Bubble:
Foothill (Pleasanton) 8-4, Granada (Livermore) 8-5, Heritage (Brentwood) 9-5, Justin-Siena (Napa) 13-2, Soquel 14-4, Tamalpais (Mill Valley) 11-2, Wilcox (Santa Clara) 14-5, Willow Glen (San Jose) 13-4.
Softball: San Ramon Valley & Valley Christian rise up
(Writeup by Harold Abend)
The Cal-Hi Sports Caravan had been chided by top-ranked Amador Valley head coach Teresa Borchard for not getting to a game so far this season.
Watch highlights of the Bay Area’s best teams every Sunday at 6 p.m. on KOFY, Channel 20, San Francisco with replays during the week on Comcast SportsNet. To order DVDs of a show, CLICK HERE.
As a result, a trek to Pleasanton was made last Tuesday to see the host Dons take on Monte Vista of Danville in East Bay Athletic League action. The girls were a little tired and sluggish after the emotional and physical drain of winning the Michelle Carew Classic, but it didn’t seem to bother their star pitcher.
Swedish National Team member and hot early Ms. Softball candidate Johanna Grauer was perfect through four innings of a 1-0 victory. She finished with a two-hit shutout and 14 strikeouts on 62 strikes in 78 pitches. Grauer also drove in the game’s only run.
On Thursday, in a 10-0 win over a California team that is without star pitcher Lindsey Chalmers (sore shoulder), Grauer had another two-hitter with nine strikeouts.
After winning the Livermore Stampede No. 2 Archbishop Mitty of San Jose only got three hits in a West Catholic Athletic League 4-0 win over Mountain View St. Francis but junior star pitcher Desiree Severance didn’t allow a hit and was a walk away from a perfect game.
After a third place finish in the Carew Classic, No. 3 Alhambra of Martinez didn’t have a game, but after that the who-beat-who syndrome permeated throughout the rankings thereafter. The result is that three newcomers arrive on the scene and a couple of other teams are knocking on the door.
San Ramon Valley, which is now No. 10 in the Bay Area, didn’t play in early season tournaments, instead opting to play some large school East Bay non-EBAL teams. The Wolves took a loss to Antioch Deer Valley and are 3-2 in EBAL play with losses to Livermore Granada and Amador Valley, but last week they had two road wins, at Carondelet (which also beat No. 5 Granada last week), and at Livermore. They finished the week with a home win over previous No. 18 California of San Ramon.
Here is this week’s Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area Top 20 for softball (compiled by Harold Abend & Mark Tennis; previous ranking in parentheses; after games of Saturday, April 13):
1. (1) Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 14-0
2. (2) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 16-0
3. (3) Alhambra (Martinez) 12-2
4. (5) James Logan (Union City) 12-2
5. (4) Granada (Livermore) 12-2
6. (12) Leland (San Jose) 12-3
7. (6) Pioneer (San Jose) 15-3
8. (7) Carlmont (Belmont) 16-3
9. (8) Notre Dame (Salinas) 16-2
10. (NR) San Ramon Valley (Danville) 12-3
11. (NR) Valley Christian (San Jose) 11-4
12. (14) St. Patrick/St. Vincent (Vallejo) 16-0
13. (17) Livermore 8-7
14. (10) Foothill (Pleasanton) 9-5
15. (11) Newark Memorial (Newark) 13-2
16. (13) San Benito (Hollister) 7-2
17. (19) Presentation (San Jose) 14-4
18. (9) Soquel 12-4
19. (20) Heritage (Brentwood) 8-4
20. (NR) Carondelet (Concord) 7-6
Dropped Out:
Previous No. 15 Hillsdale (San Mateo); No. 16 Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park); No. 18 California (San Ramon).
Teams On The Bubble:
Christopher (Gilroy) 12-5, Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 10-1, Monte Vista (Danville) 5-9, Mt. Pleasant (San Jose) 7-3, Notre Dame (Belmont) 13-5, Petaluma 9-6, Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) 10-2-1, Salesian (Richmond) 9-1.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @CalHiSports
Harold Abend is the associate editor of CalHiSports.com and the vice president of the California Prep Sportswriters Association. He can be reached at marketingharoldabend@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @HaroldAbend
