Valley Christian of San Jose shortstop Bryson Brigman makes a throw at last summer’s Area Code Games while Amador Valley’s Johanna Grauer uncorks a pitch. Photos: Scott Kurtz (Courtesy Student Sports) & Courtesy SportStars.
St. Francis goes back to the top in baseball despite bizarre No. 3 seeding for CCS Open Division. Softball’s leaders remain Amador Valley, Mitty and Alhambra. 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.
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Baseball: CCS, NCS playoffs are here
It’s hard to know by what kind of analysis, formula, computer program or a human being with a brain how the St. Francis of Mountain View baseball team could be a No. 3 seed for the CIF Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs, which start on Wednesday of this week.
The Lancers are the defending champions, they have a better record than any team in the field and they’ve played the strongest schedule. Even the most ardent supporters of top seed Leigh of San Jose (23-6) would have to admit that.
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.
The worst part of it for St. Francis, though, is that if the team wins its first playoff game that its second one probably will be against league rival Bellarmine (23-6), which somehow was seeded No. 11. The Bells will play their first playoff game Wednesday at No. 6 seed Saratoga (21-9).
The CIF North Coast Section playoff pairings were difficult due to California of San Ramon’s collapse in the East Bay Athletic League (the Grizzlies lost four of their last five games) and subsequent three-way tie for the league title between San Ramon Valley, De La Salle and Amador Valley.
Still, the NCS pairings made more sense than the CCS. All four of those EBAL teams occupy the top four seeds for the Division I bracket. Then in Division II, although College Park at 23-3 wasn’t seeded No. 1, picking Campolindo for that spot makes sense because the Cougars are the three-time defending champions.
Here is this week’s Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area Top 20 (compiled by Mark Tennis; after games of Saturday, May 17; previous ranking in parentheses):
1. (2) St. Francis (Mountain View) 25-4
2. (3) College Park (Pleasant Hill) 23-3
3. (1) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 22-6
4. (5) Maria Carrillo (Santa Rosa) 24-2
5. (8) Campolindo (Moraga) 20-4
6. (6) Bellarmine Prep (San Jose) 23-6
7. (4) Clayton Valley (Concord) 22-4
8. (11) Leigh (San Jose) 23-6
9. (13) San Benito (Hollister) 21-6
10. (10) San Ramon Valley (Danville) 17-7
11. (9) Valley Christian (San Jose) 20-9
12. (14) De La Salle (Concord) 17-7*
13. (7) California (San Ramon) 17-7
14. (12) Serra (San Mateo) 16-11
15. (15) San Leandro 20-6
16. (NR) Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 16-8
17. (19) Granada (Livermore) 16-8
18. (NR) Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 20-5
19. (NR) Wilcox (Santa Clara) 21-8
20. (17) Los Gatos 23-9
Dropped Out: Previous No. 16 Saratoga; No. 18 Montgomery (Santa Rosa); No. 20 Newark Memorial (Newark).
Teams On The Bubble:
Analy (Sebastopol) 22-4, Drake (San Anselmo) 19-7, Foothill (Pleasanton) 13-9, Heritage (Brentwood) 16-8, Justin-Siena (Napa) 19-7, Leland (San Jose) 19-8, Lincoln (San Jose) 24-2, Livermore 13-11, Lowell (San Francisco) 22-9, Pacific Grove 19-6, Petaluma 19-7, Pinole Valley (Pinole) 20-6-1, Westmont (Campbell) 20-9, Watsonville 20-6.
Softball: Amador Valley in the national picture
(Writeup by Harold Abend)
The Cal-Hi Sports Caravan was all set to head to Pleasanton to see Amador Valley superstar Johanna Grauer in action in the East Bay Athletic League finale against crosstown arch rival Foothill last Thursday.
The trip got curtailed but when head coach Teresa Borchard texted the details of a 10-3 victory right after the game concluded, the Caravan had a text for her.
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.
It was relayed that Mission Viejo, Southern California’s No. 1 team and the No. 1 team in both California and the nation, had dropped a 2-1 game to Pacifica of Garden Grove. It was to be determined later on Monday how it would play out in the rankings since Mission Viejo still has two wins over Pacifica from earlier in the season, but it was still good news for Borchard and her girls.
When asked by text if they wanted the top spot in those rankings, Borchard texted back. “MY GIRLS WANT IT BAD!”
Amador Valley regardless can’t look too far beyond the upcoming CIF North Coast Section playoffs and Grauer is firmly established as a frontrunner for Ms. Softball State Player of the Year if the girls in purple can run the table in the playoffs and finish undefeated.
There were a couple of surprises in the CIF Central Coast Section seedings with the most obvious a Valley Christian team that was the first WCAL team in a while to pin a loss on top-seeded Mitty falling behind Pioneer and Hillsdale in the Division II playoffs for the fourth seed.
Here is this week’s Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area Top 20 for softball (compiled by Harold Abend & Mark Tennis; previous ranking in parentheses; after games of Saturday, May 17):
1. (1) Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 24-0
2. (2) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 27-1
3. (3) Alhambra (Martinez) 21-2
4. (4) James Logan (Union City) 22-2
5. (7) Pioneer (San Jose) 22-4
6. (6) Valley Christian (San Jose) 20-7
7. (5) Leland (San Jose) 21-4
8. (8) Carlmont (Belmont) 24-3
9. (12) San Benito (Hollister) 21-3-1
10. (11) Notre Dame (Salinas) 23-3
11. (10) Granada (Livermore) 16-8
12. (17) Heritage (Brentwood) 18-4
13. (14) Salesian (Richmond) 15-1
14. (9) Foothill (Pleasanton) 14-10
15. (16) San Ramon Valley (Danville) 16-8
16. (15) St. Patrick-St. Vincent (Vallejo) 22-5
17. (18) Presentation (San Jose) 21-7
18. (19) Carondelet (Concord) 10-11
19. (20) Newark Memorial (Newark) 18-6
20. (13) Livermore 11-13
Dropped Out: None.
Teams On the Bubble
Analy (Sebastopol) 15-6; Arroyo (San Leandro) 17-7; Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 12-9-1; California (San Ramon) 8-15; Castro Valley 17-9; Encinal (Alameda) 14-9; Freedom (Oakley) 14-7-2; Half Moon Bay 20-7; Hillsdale (San Mateo); Los Altos 19-7; Maria Carrillo (Santa Rosa) 18-5; Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 16-6; Monte Vista (Danville) 11-12; Moreau Catholic (Hayward) 12-6; Notre Dame (Belmont) 16-11; Petaluma 20-6; Redwood (Larkspur) 18-5; San Leandro 14-8.
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
