Baseball: State Ranks By Divisions

Here’s our first look at teams across the state placed into state rankings by divisions, which is what we have done since we began doing state baseball rankings in the early 1980s. The problem now, of course, is due to competitive equity playoff placements we have no idea which divisions to place teams in. We rush out this first, free breakdown of ranked teams by divisions so folks can see what they are before the regional semifinals on Thursday. Final rankings will be done later next week and we’ll have more time to study everything more closely, but here’s a look at where we have everyone ranked. We still have St. John Bosco at No. 1 for D1 despite upset loss on Tuesday, but that could change after Saturday. Others are Ganesha of Pomona (D2), Roseville (D3), Half Moon Bay (D4) and Coastal Academy of Oceanside (D5).

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(Records through Tuesday, June 2 regional games)
*Season complete.
**Forfeits not included.

Note: All teams are ranked even if they opted out of the CIF regional playoffs. We also look for teams that aren’t in the CIF regional playoffs because they lost in section playoffs or played in a section championship and their section doesn’t allow its runner-up in some divisions to move on.

DIVISION I
1. St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 27-6*
2. Norco 28-5*
3. De La Salle (Concord) 23-1
4. Harvard-Westlake (Studio City) 24-6*
5. Lutheran (Orange) 25-6*
6. Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 27-6
7. Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 23-9
8. Corona 23-8
9. Elk Grove 28-6
10. Cypress 23-9*
11. La Mirada 25-8
12. Huntington Beach 23-9-1
13. Ayala (Chino Hills) 24-5*
14. Valley Christian (San Jose) 19-9
15. Granada (Livermore) 20-9
16. St. Mary’s (Stockton) 26-7*
17. Patrick Henry (San Diego) 24-10*
18. Eastlake (Chula Vista) 24-7
19. Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 24-7*
20. Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) 22-8*
Notes: The opening round of the CIF regional playoffs in the south were impactful as Cathedral Catholic of San Diego posted a 4-2 win over CIF Southern Section D1 champion St. John Bosco of Bellflower. Although the Braves didn’t use Julian Garcia pitching (he had the big outing in the CIFSS D1 final), they didn’t exactly use back-ups, either. Cathedral Catholic has been up as high as No. 5 in the state this season and was No. 1 in San Diego all season until suffering two losses two weeks ago in the Open Division semifinals to Patrick Henry, which later won the title but on Tuesday lost to Huntington Beach. For winning back-to-back CIFSS D1 titles, a rare feat, we did not yet drop Bosco from a No. 1 ranking. The team that obviously has a shot to move up is No. 3 De La Salle. The Spartans won on Tuesday, 3-2, over St. Francis of Mountain View. We don’t have the Lancers ranked above because they’re done playing and others are not, but they also have been in the top 10 of the state for most of the season. De La Salle is looking to win a second straight NorCal D1 title and plays Valley Christian next on Thursday. It would play either Granada of Livermore or Elk Grove in Saturday’s regional final. One of the SoCal D1 games, Corona vs Eastlake, was not played on Tuesday due to Corona having its graduation. The winner plays Huntington Beach on Thursday. Cathedral Catholic is going to have to head back up to L.A. County on Thursday to play at La Mirada, which won in its regional opener over Liberty of Bakersfield. Norco, Harvard-Westlake, Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks and others from the CIFSS all opted out of the regional playoffs. For more bubble teams, see our overall State TOP 35 rankings that were done before Tuesday’s regional contests.

DIVISION II

1. Ganesha (Pomona) 26-3-1*
2. Franklin (Elk Grove) 22-9-1
3. Los Gatos 26-4
4. Bakersfield Christian 27-6-1
5. Newport Harbor (Newport Beach) 23-10-1
6. Soquel 28-6*
7. Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 19-11
8. Clayton Valley (Concord) 24-4*
9. Redwood (Larkspur) 24-5-1*
10. Aquinas (San Bernardino) 21-10*
11. Birmingham (Lake Balboa) 27-4*
12. Rodriguez (Fairfield) 25-8
13. Point Loma (San Diego) 20-11-1
14. Arroyo Grande 25-9
15. Loyola (Los Angeles) 19-13-1*
Bubble: (all season complete) Agoura (Agoura Hills) 19-14; Alemany (Mission Hills) 19-12; Carmel 22-7; Elsinore (Lake Elsinore) 22-4; Gahr (Cerritos) 18-11-1; Foothill (Tustin) 20-12; Madison (San Diego) 25-8; McClatchy (Sacramento) 26-6; Millikan (Long Beach) 23-9; Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach) 21-12; Northgate (Walnut Creek) 22-7; Palma (Salinas) 22-8; Servite (Anaheim) 16-14; South Hills (Covina) 23-7; St. Joseph (Santa Maria) 23-6-1; West Park (Roseville) 24-6.
Notes: There was much attention paid to Ganesha’s appearance in last Saturday’s CIFSS D2 final. All of the players and coaches, however, in the end played in the game and the Giants went on to beat Loyola of L.A., 6-3. They were the highest ranked team in our overall State TOP 35 as of Monday among teams we consider D2 and we did not change that even though we knew they were opting out of this week’s regionals. Bottom line is that they won the final few games that really counted and they are going to be a No. 1 team in the final rankings of this division. Franklin of Elk Grove has been D1 in these rankings for recent seasons but drops to D2 this year to match its CIF placement. The Wildcats won on Tuesday vs Chico and will now play Los Gatos on Thursday. Those two also were the next two in line in our overall rankings after Ganesha. We also have had Bakersfield Christian higher ranked than either Newport Harbor or Point Loma and have not changed that for the first division rankings. The Eagles will have a rematch of the Central Section D2 final with Arroyo Grande on Thursday. Newport Harbor and Point Loma are playing each other as No. 3 and No. 2 seeds.

DIVISION III

1. Roseville 28-4
2. Menlo School (Atherton) 21-10
3. Alameda 18-13
4. Helix (La Mesa) 22-11
5. Glendora 20-11
6. Central Catholic (Modesto) 24-8*
7. Wheatland 25-8
8. Westview (San Diego) 27-6
9. Culver City 17-15-1
10. Kaiser (Fontana) 20-14
Bubble: (all season complete) Carson 23-6-1; Casa Grande (Petaluma) 20-8; Christian (El Cajon) 21-10; El Capitan (Merced) 25-9, Foothill (Palo Cedro) 22-9; Grand Terrace 20-8; Irvine 17-14; James Logan (Union City) 18-11; Laguna Beach 20-13; Mt. Carmel (San Diego) 19-16-1; Pittsburg 17-11; Placer (Auburn) 23-6; Santa Cruz 18-12; Saugus 16-16; Wilcox (Santa Clara) 19-11.
Notes: We haven’t had Roseville inside the top 35 this season, but the Tigers among the group are the only ones who’ve been on the bubble and they’ve been highly ranked by the Sacramento Bee and others in the Sac-Joaquin Section. They won in their regional opener on Tuesday as top seed in the north over Santa Cruz and will now face Wheatland on Thursday in a matchup of Sac-Joaquin Section title teams about 25 miles apart on Highway 65. Menlo and Alameda are playing in a 2-3 matchup also on Thursday. The SoCal bracket was in flux on Tuesday night because a wild-and-wacky matchup between Glendora and Culver City was still going in the 13th inning when it had to be halted due to darkness. Culver City had scored in the top of the 13th for an 11-10 lead. Glendora had a runner on base with one out in the bottom of the inning when umpires decided it had to stop. It was scheduled to resume on Wednesday. Top seed SoCal team Mt. Carmel also lost in its regional opener to Kaiser of Fontana.

DIVISION IV

1. Half Moon Bay 21-9
2. Central Valley Christian (Visalia) 20-13
3. Immanuel (Reedley) 20-12
4. Kingsburg 23-8*
5. West Valley (Cottonwood) 23-5
6. Amador (Sutter Creek) 25-5-1*
7. Francis Parker (San Diego) 25-11
8. Livermore 11-18
9. South El Monte (El Monte) 19-13
10. San Mateo 21-9*
Bubble: (all season complete except team with asterisk) Bell 24-6; Durham 27-2; Covina 15-15-1; Garfield (Los Angeles) 19-9-1; McKinleyville 24-3; Monache (Porterville) 24-9; North (Torrance) 17-16*; Ripon Christian 28-4; San Dieguito Academy (Encinitas) 20-12; Sonoma Valley (Sonoma) 16-13; Trinity Classical (Santa Clarita) 18-12; University Prep (Redding) 14-15-1.
Notes: The top two seeds in the south both lost on Tuesday, which set it up for Central Valley Christian of Visalia. The Cavaliers got a win over Garfield of Los Angeles, but the big win for them that stands out the most is knocking out Kingsburg in the Central Section semis, which was led by one of the state’s best players (Jensen Hirschkorn). We also had to check if CVC and Immanuel had played this season. They haven’t. And for the regionals, CVC was sent to the south while Immanuel was sent to the north. If this was next season with state finals, they would have been in line to perhaps play each other for a state title. For the No. 1 ranking, Half Moon Bay, the top seed in the north, won its game on Tuesday, 3-0, over Sonoma Valley. The Cougars only have a computer ranking two spots higher than CVC and both were higher than any others still going in the bracket.

DIVISION V

1. Coastal Academy (Oceanside) 24-7
2. Minarets (O’Neals) 25-8-2
3. Pacific Grove 18-12-1
4. Skyline (Oakland) 16-12
5. Roosevelt (Fresno) 22-8-1
6. Verdugo Hills 15-18
7. Turlock Christian 18-4*
8. El Camino (South San Francisco) 23-6*
9. Canyon Hills (San Diego) 24-8*
10. Schurr (Montebello) 17-15
Bubble: (all season complete except team with asterisk) Biggs 22-6; Borrego Springs 18-4; College Prep (Oakland) 12-9; Corcoran 22-7; Fremont (Los Angeles) 21-8; Gunn (Palo Alto) 17-12; Los Molinos 23-6; Maxwell 22-7; Rancho Alamitos (Garden Grove) 15-13; Roosevelt (Los Angeles) 11-17*; Shafter 19-7; Urban (San Francisco) 17-9; Vacaville Christian 18-5; Western Christian (Upland) 16-14.
Notes: We’re going with Coastal Academy, the No. 2 seed for SoCal bracket, in the No. 1 spot for having a much higher computer ranking than either NorCal No. 1 seed Minarets or SoCal No. 1 seed Verdugo Hills (which also has a losing record). Coastal won its game on Tuesday over L.A. Fremont and is playing Schurr on Thursday in the semis. Verdugo Hills (won on Tuesday vs Rolling Hills Prep) is facing Roosevelt of L.A. If we had state finals this year, there would have been the chance of a Roosevelt (Fresno) vs Roosevelt (LA) matchup for D5. The Fresno team, along with Minarets, Pacific Grove and Skyline of Oakland will all be in the NorCal D5 semis on Thursday.

Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports