Brady Aiken of San Diego Cathedral Catholic may be the first pick in Thursday’s MLB Draft, but he hoped to still be playing afterward in the CIF San Diego Section Open Division finals. Photo: Scott Kurtz.
New Top 20 overall is a giant mess, which actually isn’t that rare for this time of the year because the differences between teams in some section playoffs is so small, but some of the divisional races may be over. Note: Softball State Top 20 being expanded for final rankings to State Top 40 and will be out later this week.
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NEW BASEBALL STATE
TOP 20 OVERALL RANKINGS
This is one week of the state baseball rankings when head-to-head results from early in the season gets pretty much ignored in favor of teams that still have a chance to win major section championships.
We almost always put all four CIF Southern Section Division I semifinalists into the State Top 20 prior to their Tuesday matchups and the same is true of the four teams still going in the CIF San Diego Section Open Division. Once those championships are decided, final choices for the final rankings are made and then there’s also more time to study each team’s complete season log.
The final No. 1 slot remains unsettled. It’s true that dropping a team from No. 1 if it were to win its last game is rare, but we are reserving the right to do that this year in baseball. At this point, how Rancho Bernardo of San Diego does in its playoff bracket is just not complete.
The Broncos did bounce back from a shocking 4-3 loss to Mira Mesa in their playoff opener to win twice and were still alive to win their section title. They also played on Tuesday in a matchup against La Costa Canyon of Carlsbad.
If Rancho Bernardo were to get by in that game, it still would need to win two more times to win the San Diego Open Division crown, but on the other hand the Broncos also can still finish with a better overall won-loss record than Clovis.
In one sense, it sure would make it easy if another team other than Rancho Bernardo wins in San Diego this week.
(Compiled with assistance from Paul Muyskens; updated through games played Saturday, May 31; previous rating in parentheses)
*Indicates season complete.
1. (1) Rancho Bernardo (San Diego) 30-4
2. (2) Clovis 33-5*
3. (10) JSerra (San Juan Capistrano) 22-7
4. (7) College Park (Pleasant Hill) 27-3*
5. (NR) Granite Hills (El Cajon) 24-7
6. (6) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 25-6
7. (NR) Temecula Valley (Temecula) 22-8
8. (NR) De La Salle (Concord) 20-8*
9. (NR) Santa Margarita (Rancho SM) 18-10-1
10. (4) Norco 26-3*
11. (14) Buchanan (Clovis) 26-8*
12. (NR) Leland (San Jose) 22-9*
13. (13) St. Francis (Mountain View) 26-5*
14. (12) Bellarmine Prep (San Jose) 26-7*
15. (NR) Chatsworth 27-5-1
16. (20) Clovis North (Fresno) 22-9*
17. (NR) Palm Desert 25-6
18. (NR) Foothill (Tustin) 21-10
19. (NR) Trabuco Hills (Mission Viejo) 24-10
20. (NR) La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 20-11
Dropped Out: Previous No. 3 Huntington Beach; No. 5 Loyola (Los Angeles); No. 8 Wilson (Long Beach); No. 9 Archbishop Mitty (San Jose); No. 11 Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood) 22-7-1; No. 15 Great Oak (Temecula); No. 16 Fountain Valley; No. 17 Agoura (Agoura Hills); No. 18 Valley Christian (San Jose); No. 19 Vista Murrieta (Murrieta).
RACE FOR DIVISION II NO. 1 RANKING
College Park, which also is up to No. 4 overall this week in the State Top 20, has already wrapped up the CIF North Coast Section Division II championship with a 7-2 win last Saturday over Marin Catholic of Kentfield. Previous No. 2 Great Oak of Temecula lost last Friday in the CIFSS Division II quarterfinals. Previous No. 5 Leland of San Jose (23-9) will move up after winning CIF Central Coast Section Open Division title. For our five division format, Leland is considered D2 and not D1.
RACE FOR DIVISION III NO. 1 RANKING
Manteca, which moved up to No. 1 last week, won the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV title on Memorial Day. The Buffaloes (25-3) are D3 for the Cal-Hi Sports state rankings. Previous No. 4 Laguna Beach entered last Friday’s CIFSS Division IV quarterfinals at 26-2 and defeated No. 3 Sonora of La Habra 5-3. If the Breakers beat Torrance on Tuesday in the semifinals and then finish 29-2, a switch at the top will at least have to be considered.
RACE FOR DIVISION IV NO. 1 RANKING
No. 1 Santa Ynez advanced to this week’s CIFSS Division V semifinals with a 3-2 win over Sierra Vista of Baldwin Park. The Pirates play 24-2 Big Bear in the semis. On the other side of the bracket, previous state No. 2 Tahquitz of Hemet is out but No. 3 Oak Hills of Hesperia is still going and is playing Village Christian of Sun Valley (21-8) in the semifinals. If Santa Ynez, Oak Hills or Big Bear win the title in that division, that team would end No. 1 in the state for Division IV. If Village Christian wins the title, Sutter (27-2) from the CIF Northern Section would be in line to be No. 1.
RACE FOR DIVISION V NO. 1 RANKING
Both top two teams, Minarets of O’Neals (28-5) and Head-Royce of Oakland (21-4), are done for the season and have won section titles. These two squads are both No. 1 worthy, but there doesn’t appear to be a strong enough case for there to be a switch, either.
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
One Comment
Ten teams in the Top 20 were NR last ranking? And four teams went from NR to the top 9? Seems like a lot of movement after 30+ games.