Trio of Caitlyn Weisner, Holly Azevedo and Alex Luna have helped Pioneer of San Jose to No. 2 state overall ranking and unbeaten record, but the girls also are in the same state division as unbeaten overall state No. 1 Mission Viejo. Photo: Harold Abend.
With still a couple of weeks left in the season, No. 1 teams are Corona Santiago (D1), Mission Viejo (D2), Grand Terrace (D3), Port of Los Angeles (D4) and Riverdale (D5). One of these five has already completed its season.
Note: We hope you enjoy this free post. All of the remaining divisional softball rankings, including the final rankings, will be for Gold Club members. Join our team today by CLICKING HERE.
(Divisions based on section playoff alignments with consideration for enrollment. In sections with an Open Division, we are ranking those teams in state divisions they’ve traditionally been in.)
(All win-loss records after reported results of Saturday, May 23)
(Rankings below may not match overall State Top 20 from last week due to results from the last few days)
*Asterisk indicates season complete.
DIVISION I
1. Santiago (Corona) 28-3
2. Pacifica (Garden Grove) 21-5-1
3. Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 21-3
4. Los Alamitos 24-6
5. Murrieta Valley (Murrieta) 24-6
6. West Ranch (Valencia) 23-5
7. Lutheran (Orange) 25-3
8. Norco 23-8
9. Chino Hills 21-7
10. Poway 23-6
11. Heritage (Brentwood) 20-3
12. Etiwanda 23-8
13. San Benito (Hollister) 22-5
14. Canyon (Anaheim) 21-7
15. Chatsworth 28-5
Teams On The Bubble: Carlmont (Belmont) 22-5, Carson 25-5, Central (Fresno) 35-8*, Clovis 33-6*, James Logan (Union City) 21-2-1, Patrick Henry (San Diego) 23-4-1, Sheldon (Sacramento) 24-7*, Woodcreek (Roseville) 25-3-1*.
Notes: There were no upsets in Friday’s CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs. Both the Central Section and Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs are done. Central Section champion Clovis will eventually rise up into the rankings (both divisional and State 20) once some of the CIFSS ranked teams start to lose.
Pitcher Brooke Bollinger has been outstanding all season for Yucaipa. Photo: NevadaWolfpack.com.
DIVISION II
1. Mission Viejo 27-0
2. Pioneer (San Jose) 28-0
3. Yucaipa 27-3
4. Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 25-3
5. Alhambra (Martinez) 21-3
6. Benicia 28-4*
7. Elk Grove 28-4*
8. Citrus Valley (Redlands) 20-8
9. Redwood (Larkspur) 24-1
10. Newark Memorial (Newark) 19-5
Teams On The Bubble: Alameda 19-7, Camarillo 21-7, Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 23-7, Madera 21-14*, Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) 24-6, Petaluma 23-3, Simi Valley 17-7.
Notes: Pioneer and Mitty are on track to play next Saturday in the CIF Central Coast Section D2 championship. Mission Viejo and Pioneer also will continue to be No. 1 and No. 2 in the state start this week and will be No. 1 and No. 3 in the FAB 50 national rankings.
DIVISION III
1. Grand Terrace 23-3
2. Highland (Palmdale) 25-2
3. East Union (Manteca) 30-3*
4. La Serna (Whittier) 22-6
5. Dos Pueblos (Goleta) 24-4
6. Notre Dame (Salinas) 23-5
7. Savanna (Anaheim) 26-1
8. Warren (Downey) 23-4
9. Taft 28-5*
10. Gahr (Cerritos) 22-7
Teams On The Bubble: Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 22-4, Burbank 21-4, Cabrillo (Lompoc) 22-5, El Segundo 22-7, Liberty (Madera Ranchos) 23-7-2*, Pioneer (Woodland) 26-4*, San Clemente 20-5, Scotts Valley 22-5, Sierra (Manteca) 19-5*, Torrance 23-9.
Notes: East Union stamped itself as a bonafide No. 1 contender for this division with an impressive sweep of Woodland Pioneer for the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D3 title. Pioneer has a win over SJS D2 champ Benicia and East Union also has a win over Central Section D1 champ Clovis so it’s easy to rank the Lancers as this year’s No. 1 overall team from the SJS. Grand Terrace is the No. 1 seed in the CIFSS D3 playoffs while Highland is No. 1 in CIFSS D4. Both of those divisions are considered D3 for our state rankings since we only have five traditional divisions while some sections now have seven. We also have had to place some other CIFSS schools in D3 from lower divisions, especially Savanna of Anaheim. Savanna has an outstanding team this season, but with more than 2,000 enrollment there’s no way we can rank the Rebels any lower than D3. It’s hard to understand why Savanna is in the same CIFSS division as Lone Pine and other incredibly small schools.
DIVISION IV
1. Port of Los Angeles (San Pedro) 31-4
2. Paraclete (Lancaster) 22-3
3. Sutter 36-6-1*
4. Selma 26-1*
5. Imperial 22-5-1
6. Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 20-3
7. Hughson 22-1*
8. Mary Star (San Pedro) 21-3
9. St. Bonaventure (Ventura) 18-7
10. Mater Dei Catholic (Chula Vista) 23-7-1
Teams On The Bubble: Calvary Chapel (Santa Ana) 17-8, Cloverdale 19-4, Fortuna 21-4, Ripon 23-8*, San Dimas 19-9, Santa Catalina (Monterey) 17-5, St. Anthony (Long Beach) 14-8, Vasquez (Acton) 19-3, Webb (Claremont) 15-2.
Notes: Port of L.A. has been No. 1 in the state in D5 before and is now in the L.A. City Open Division semifinals. We’re going with the Polar Bears for D4. If they were to win that title, they’d also be No. 1 for this state division. Paraclete is in the same CIFSS divisional playoff as Savanna of Anaheim, but can be D4 for our rankings. Sutter won the CIF Northern Section D4 title on Saturday, has played bigger schools all season and looks like the top team overall this year in the CIF Northern Section. Watch out for Imperial in this division as well. That team has started out 2-0 in the CIF San Diego Section Open Division, including a win over Patrick Henry. If Imperial were to win that title, a case could definitely be made for a move all the way to the top.
DIVISION V
1. Riverdale 29-6*
2. Mariposa County (Mariposa) 25-4*
3. Rolling Hills Prep (San Pedro) 16-7-1
4. Grace Brethren (Simi Valley) 15-4
5. High Tech (San Diego) 20-5
6. Sierra Pacific (Hanford) 20-9*
7. Waterford 20-6-2*
8. Faith Baptist (Canoga Park) 15-9-1
9. Santa Clara (Oxnard) 18-4-2
10. Colusa 23-10-1*
Teams On The Bubble: Biggs 23-4*, Calvary Christian Academy (Chula Vista) 20-2, Clear Lake (Lakeport) 17-6, Orange Cove 19-8*, St. Monica (Santa Monica) 17-6-1, University Prep (Victorville) 18-5.
Notes: We looked very closely at all of the teams still going in San Diego, in the CIFSS Division VII bracket and in the NCS but can’t put any of them ahead of Riverdale or Mariposa, two teams that have completed their seasons. Then in checking over Riverdale and Mariposa, we would rank Riverdale higher. Yes, we know this means Riverdale is not going to be dropped now that it’s season is over. We don’t do that to kids. It’s not official, of course, but the school can order a D5 State Team of the Year banner.
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
