James Logan head coach Teri Johnson (left) is one of the winningest coaches in state history and has another top team this season. Senior Chris Williams (right) is one of the top players at No. 13 De La Salle of Concord. Photos: Mark Tennis & Harold Abend.
St. Francis tops Clayton Valley in No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup, but the Lancers aren’t only WCAL teams that roll in Easter tourneys. In softball, Archbishop Mitty drops its first game of the season but stays at No. 2. 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.
Attention young athletes: To check out info and to sign up for the first-ever Cal-Hi Sports/Gold Medal Excellence All-Sports Speed Camp and All-State Football Combine, CLICK HERE for June 14 event in Tracy or CLICK HERE for June 22 event in Bakersfield.
Please check out and bookmark our new Cal-Hi Sports Insider Blog: CalHiSports.com/blog For simple updates and insights, check out our twitter page @CalHiSports and for other updates please visit our Facebook page.
Baseball: Clayton Valley loses first game to St. Francis
In any ranking, whether it’s national, state or more local, anytime a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup can be used to determine the order is hoped for and preferred.
That happened for the Bay Area Top 20 in baseball when No. 1 St. Francis of Mountain View and No. 2 Clayton Valley of Concord advanced to the title game of last week’s St. Francis Elite 8 tourney. St. Francis won 3-0 on a three-hitter by Casey Douglas. The Lancers’ top offensive performer was sophomore Jeremy Ydens, who went 2-for-2 with an RBI.
In this week’s rankings, the attraction of a No. 1 vs. No. 2 also was applied because St. Francis is playing Bellarmine Prep on Tuesday when it returns to West Catholic Athletic League play. The Bells also won a tourney last week, winning their own Cunningham Easter Classic, and improved to 19-4.
Sure, we could have left Clayton Valley No. 2 in this week’s rankings since the Eagles only have the one loss. But if the Bells were to win on Tuesday they’d be 20-4 and St. Francis would be 19-4 so instead we moved up Bellarmine from No. 3 to No. 2 and just dropped down Clayton Valley to No. 3.
Valley Christian of the WCAL also won its own Crown Classic tourney last week and in one of the Warriors’ wins senior pitcher Theron Kay threw a no-hitter. That came in a 9-0 win over San Benito of Hollister and also avenged an earlier loss.
Here is this week’s Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area Top 20 (compiled by Mark Tennis; after games of Saturday, April 26; previous ranking in parentheses):
1. (1) St. Francis (Mountain View) 19-3
2. (3) Bellarmine Prep (San Jose) 19-4
3. (2) Clayton Valley (Concord) 19-1
4. (4) California (San Ramon) 15-3
5. (5) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 16-5
6. (6) Campolindo (Moraga) 15-3
7. (7) Valley Christian (San Jose) 17-6
8. (8) Maria Carrillo (Santa Rosa) 17-2
9. (9) College Park (Pleasant Hill) 16-3
10. (11) San Ramon Valley (Danville) 14-4
11. (15) Los Gatos 20-4
12. (12) Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 12-6
13. (13) De La Salle (Concord) 12-5*
14. (18) Livermore 10-7
15. (19) Casa Grande (Petaluma) 14-5
16. (20) Northgate (Walnut Creek) 14-5
17. (NR) Pacific Grove 16-2
18. (NR) Granada (Livermore) 12-6
19. (NR) Serra (San Mateo) 12-10
20. (17) Wilcox (Santa Clara) 17-6
Dropped Out:
Previous No. 10 San Benito (Hollister); No. 14 St. Ignatius (San Francisco); No. 16 Leigh (San Jose).
Teams On The Bubble:
Heritage (Brentwood) 12-6, Justin-Siena (Napa) 16-3, Leigh (San Jose) 14-5-1, Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 12-6, Monterey 17-7, Newark Memorial (Newark) 13-5, Pinole Valley (Pinole) 13-6, Saratoga 15-6, San Benito (Hollister) 14-6, St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 12-10, Willow Glen (San Jose) 16-6.
Softball: Mitty falls, Amador survives
(Writeup by Harold Abend)
Not only has the West Catholic Athletic League wild-and-wackiness reared its ugly head, as it does in almost every sport, but the East Bay Athletic League has become unpredictable with even Amador Valley not exactly breezing past league rivals.
The Bay Area top-ranked Dons only had one game last week and it was no cakewalk in a 3-1 victory over a legitimate Granada of Livermore.
UCLA-bound pitcher Johanna Grauer gave up two doubles and an earned run, but it was Ashley Lotosynski saving the day with three spectacular web gems and the game winning RBI in the top of the sixth inning after the game was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth. All told the UC Davis-bound shortstop had seven putouts. The second of three diving stops saved a potential run from scoring.
No. 2 Archbishop Mitty fell for the first time this season against a red hot Valley Christian team that has now won eight straight. During the run, the Warrior girls avenged losses to Presentation and Belmont Notre Dame, plus the streak also includes a win over San Benito. Mitty, however, is still in first-place in the WCAL.
All that plus second place and a 7-2 record in WCAL means Valley Christian is this week’s big mover along with a San Benito team whose lone losses are to Valley Christian and Leland. The Haybaler girls also have a win over Salinas Notre Dame on their resume as well.
Several teams had games rained out so they had no action at all last week.
In particular, the Mission Valley Athletic League James Logan at Newark Memorial showdown that was re-scheduled for Monday left both teams with no games played.
Neither St. Patrick-St. Vincent nor Salesian had games and they also meet this Wednesday in Vallejo for a face-off between the top two teams in the 12-member Tri-County League.
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 26):
1. (1) Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 17-0
2. (2) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 21-1
3. (3) Alhambra (Martinez) 15-2
4. (4) James Logan (Union City) 15-2
5. (10) Valley Christian (San Jose) 15-4
6. (5) Granada (Livermore) 14-4
7. (6) Leland (San Jose) 15-3
8. (7) Pioneer (San Jose) 16-4
9. (8) Carlmont (Belmont) 18-3
10. (15) San Benito (Hollister) 13-2
11. (9) Notre Dame (Salinas) 18-2
12. (12) St. Patrick-St. Vincent (Vallejo) 18-2
13. (13) Livermore 9-8
14. (14) Foothill (Pleasanton) 10-6
15. (11) San Ramon Valley (Danville) 11-6
16. (16) Presentation (San Jose) 16-5
17. (17) Newark Memorial (Newark) 14-3
18. (18) Heritage (Brentwood) 12-4
19. (19) Carondelet (Concord) 9-7
20. (20) Salesian (Richmond) 10-1
Dropped Out: None.
Teams On the Bubble:
Arroyo (San Lorenzo) 13-3, California (San Ramon) 5-11, Castro Valley 9-5, Maria Carrillo (Santa Rosa) 13-5, Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 12-1, Monte Vista (Danville) 7-10, Notre Dame (Belmont) 14-7, Petaluma 14-6, Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) 12-2-1, Santa Rosa 11-4, Saratoga 12-8, Soquel 13-7.
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
