Janelle Rodriguez delivers a pitch for La Habra in Monday night game this week vs El Modena of Orange. Photo: Patrick Takkinen/OCSidelines.com.
Etiwanda gains new No. 1 state ranking after Pioneer of San Jose is upset by Mt. Pleasant. Five teams didn’t play last week due to spring break, which helped to limit other moves. This week’s only two newcomers are Cathedral Catholic of San Diego and La Habra.
Note: There are not going to be separate free and premium posts for new rankings this season in any sport. All new and final rankings will be for Gold Club members only. This also is a great time to sign up for our Gold Club to see all of our great content, including just published 20,000 word feature on the 50 greatest football teams in state history (basketball coming soon). Our yearly rate has gone up, but you can now get it for just $9.99 to check it out for three months. For details, CLICK HERE.
(After games of Saturday, March 26)
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
(Some results from Monday of current week mentioned where applicable)
(Paul Muyskens contributed writeups to this post)
1. (2) ETIWANDA 17-0
It was a DNP (did not play) week for the Eagles, but their overall dominance so far combined with their upcoming schedule and being a CIF Southern Section Division I team is more than enough to move them up to No. 1. Their ascent also was due to previous No. 1 Pioneer of San Jose dropping a 4-3 game in extra innings to Mt. Pleasant of San Jose. Etiwanda, led by power hitting of Vanessa Taukieaho (11 homers), Megan Stevens (six homers) and freshman Julia Jimenez (six homers), will put its new No. 1 state ranking on the line right away with a game on Wednesday against preseason No. 2 and current No. 5 Norco.
2. (3) LOS ALAMITOS 12-1
The Griffins continued to roll with wins last week of 6-4 vs. Gahr of Cerritos and 3-1 over Cypress. They are off this week with spring break and depending on what happens in other games could come back ranked in the No. 1 position even with the one loss. In the victory against the Centurions, Ryan Denhart threw well once again with a four-hitter over six innings and struck out seven. Paige Austin pitched the seventh to get the save while Mary Iacopo had a double and a triple and one RBI.
