Players from Archbishop Mitty celebrate after recent win. The Monarchs jumped from No. 10 to No. 5 in this week’s state rankings after win over St. Francis. Photo: @AMHSAthletics / Twitter.com.
No. 1 Norco will go from playing one unbeaten team to another at this week’s Michelle Carew Classic with a first-round game vs. Rio Mesa of Oxnard. Last week’s No. 2 team, Mater Dei Catholic of San Diego, also will be in the Carew along with some of the best from Orange County. But with Mater Dei Catholic dropping, a space for No. 2 was created and going into it is NorCal No. 1 Foothill of Pleasanton. Archbishop Mitty also thunders up to No. 5 this week and could play Foothill in this week’s Livermore Stampede.
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(Previous ranking listed in parentheses)
(Through reported results of Saturday, March 30)
(Results from some games played on Monday, April 1 or later not included)
(Thanks to correspondents Chuck Nan for Orange County, Daniel Poulter for Northern California and Bill Hutton for CIF Central Coast Section for providing writeups and information)
1. (1) Norco 18-0
Playing unbeaten Mater Dei Catholic in San Diego last Saturday in what we were able to bill as a No. 1 vs. No. 2 for the state rankings got longtime Riverside Press-Enterprise writer Eric-Paul Johnson to make the trip for it and it ended up being another impressive win for the Cougars. All-American Kinzie Hansen had an RBI double in the first inning and then scored in the third on an RBI double by Paige Smith and that was all that University of Washington-bound Sarah Willis would need. She ended with a three-hitter and struck out six for the team’s 12th shutout of the season. Abby Dayton also had three hits in the game. The funny thing about the Cougars’ schedule this week is that they’re going from facing one unbeaten team to another. That’s because their opponent in their first game of this week’s Michelle Carew Classic will be 13-0 Rio Mesa of Oxnard. No, we can’t make that a No. 1 vs. No. 2, but it still should be interesting.
