Amador Valley’s Victoria Molina (left) had game-winning hit in team’s title triumph at Michelle Carew Classic. St. Francis pitcher John Gavin (right) is one of top lefty hurlers in the state. Photos by: Philip Walton/SportStars & Norbert von der Groeben/SportStars.
St. Francis baseball and Amador Valley softball are the early leaders in the region even though St. Francis was edged in extra innings last Friday by Archbishop Mitty. 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.
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: WCAL goes 1-2-4
It remains to be seen whether a 2-1 loss in 11 innings from last Friday to Archbishop Mitty will cost St. Francis of Mountain View the No. 1 baseball ranking in the state, but it did drop the Lancers into a three-way tie for first at 5-2 in the West Catholic Athletic League.
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.
Mitty, which also lost earlier last week to Valley Christian, moved up into the three-way tie along with Valley Christian. St. Francis, despite the loss, still has the stronger overall resume so far this season at 10-2 and therefore stays No. 1 in the Bay Area.
Clayton Valley, which is out to an 11-0 start, tops the list of teams from the CIF North Coast Section with East Bay Athletic League early frontrunners California of San Ramon and De La Salle of Concord closely following.
Here is this week’s first regular season Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area Top 20 for 2014 baseball (compiled by Mark Tennis; after games of Saturday, April 6):
1. St. Francis (Mountain View) 10-2
2. Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 11-3
3. Clayton Valley (Concord) 11-0
4. Valley Christian (San Jose) 9-4
5. California (San Ramon) 10-1
6. De La Salle (Concord) 7-3*
*Win by forfeit not included.
7. San Benito (Hollister) 11-2
8. Foothill (Pleasanton) 8-2
9. Northgate (Walnut Creek) 10-1
10. St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 9-6
11. Bellarmine Prep (San Jose) 11-3
12. Maria Carrillo (Santa Rosa) 10-2
13. Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 8-3
14. Campolindo (Moraga) 7-3
15. Serra (San Mateo) 9-7
16. San Ramon Valley (Danville) 7-3
17. Los Gatos 15-2
18. Granada (Livermore) 8-3
19. Casa Grande (Petaluma) 8-3
20. Saratoga 10-4
Teams On The Bubble:
Acalanes (Lafayette) 9-4, College Park (Pleasant Hill) 7-2, Petaluma 10-3-1, Tamalpais (Mill Valley) 9-1, Wilcox (Santa Clara) 8-4, Willow Glen (San Jose) 12-3.
Softball: Amador Valley makes statement
(Writeup by Harold Abend)
Going to Southern California and making believers of the local softball aficionados by knocking off five pretty good teams to win the prestigious Anaheim Canyon Michelle Carew Classic makes unbeaten Amador Valley the No. 1 team in the first Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area Top 20.
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.
Along the way, UCLA-bound ace pitcher Johanna Grauer solidified her spot as one of the early leading candidates for Ms. Softball State Player of the Year.
“The best pitcher in the nation gets the Carew Classic MVP, and it only seems right. Grauer was dominating,” said Tournament Director Lance Eddy.
The Bay Area also boasts of having another national elite level team with No. 2 Archbishop Mitty. Despite winning a second-straight Livermore Stampede, third in four years, and also remaining unbeaten to start the season, the Monarchs still have to fall in behind Amador Valley just like they did in last week’s state rankings.
The Monarchs’ early Ms. Softball candidate, Cal- bound Jazmyn Jackson, was superb at the plate and in the field at shortstop, and pitcher Desiree Severance could easily have won the Stampede MVP like she did last year. However, after going 3-for-3 with three doubles, a walk and three runs scored in the 6-0 title-game victory over Elk Grove Pleasant Grove, Jackson was named the MVP. She accepted the award in her prom dress after she and the other three seniors changed so they could run off to their big event.
Here is this week’s first regular season Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area Top 20 for 2014 softball (compiled by Harold Abend & Mark Tennis; after games of Saturday, April 6):
1. Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 12-0
2. Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 14-0
3. Alhambra (Martinez) 12-2
4. Granada (Livermore) 11-1
5. James Logan (Union City) 9-2
6. Pioneer (San Jose) 11-2
7. Carlmont (Belmont) 13-2
8. Notre Dame (Salinas) 14-2
9. Soquel 11-2
10. Foothill (Pleasanton) 6-4
11. Newark Memorial (Newark) 11-2
12. Leland (San Jose) 10-2
13. San Benito (Hollister) 5-2
14. St. Patrick/St. Vincent (Vallejo) 13-0
15. Hillsdale (San Mateo) 8-1
16. Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) 6-0-1
17. Livermore 7-6
18. California (San Ramon) 5-5
19. Presentation (San Jose) 11-3
20. Heritage (Brentwood) 8-4
Teams On The Bubble:
Carondelet (Concord) 6-5, Monte Vista (Danville) 5-7, Notre Dame (Belmont) 12-4, Petaluma 8-4, Salesian (Richmond) 6-1, Valley Christian (San Jose) 9-4, Windsor 8-2.
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
One Comment
This article has Wilcox listed at 8-4. Actual record is 12-4