College Park players hold CIF North Coast Section title plaque last Saturday. They’ve now been named 2015 State Team of the Year. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Baseball’s final No. 1 state ranking is going to the Falcons of the CIF North Coast Section. St. Francis of Mountain View was strongly considered and was ahead of College Park last week, but has to stay No. 2. Even though it’s baseball, in the end a head-to-head result is the difference.
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Because of pitching matchups, head-to-head results in baseball rankings aren’t as significant as they are in football and basketball. Still, many CIF sections use the head-to-head result in baseball playoff seedings and it’s hard to ignore at the end of a season when all of the results are in.
In last week’s Cal-Hi Sports state rankings, unbeaten San Dimas was No. 1 followed by St. Francis of Mountain View (27-5) and then College Park of Pleasant Hill. Once San Dimas was knocked out of the CIF Southern Section Division III title chase due to a loss to Walnut, that left the door open for either St. Francis (which already had completed its season) or College Park to finish No. 1.
It’s never an easy decision to hop a team from No. 3 to No. 1, but College Park has done exactly that and today also has been selected as the 2015 State Baseball Team of the Year.
The biggest factor in the move, of course, is a head-to-head win that the Falcons posted over the Lancers 6-1 in the semifinals of St. Francis’ own Elite 8 Classic. Even though College Park then lost in the final of that tournament to California of San Ramon, the team’s final resume was too strong for St. Francis to overcome.
Another huge factor is that College Park was able to avenge its own head-to-head loss suffered in May to De La Salle of Concord with a 5-2 triumph over the Spartans last Saturday in the CIF North Coast Section Division I championship. That earlier result is why the Falcons weren’t the No. 1 seed in the NCS D1 bracket and partly why they were ranked behind St. Francis.
“Being the No. 2 seed helped because our guys sure thought they should have been No. 1,” said College Park head coach Andy Tarpley. “We gathered a lot of info from that first game (against De La Salle). It was an intense game at Cal and everything, but this is the game we were pointing for.”
College Park’s final resume for the rankings actually isn’t quite complete because one team the Falcons beat at the National High School Invitational in North Carolina – Loyalsock Township of Williamsport, Pa. – is still going at 23-2 in the Pennsylvania state championships. Another team that the Falcons beat in that tourney prior to their loss to San Clemente (Calif.) in the final was nationally ranked Mosley of Lynn Haven, Fla. Mosley made it to the Florida Class 5A state final and finished 28-4.
Another factor that helps is that this is the same group of players who went 27-3 last year and won the CIF North Coast Section Division II title. That’s 54-7 over two seasons in case you’re counting. Plus, De La Salle itself finished with wins over two other CIF section champs – St. Francis and Elk Grove.
“We just stepped up in so many big games,” said Falcons’ pitching and hitting standout Joe DeMers. “Being No. 1 is a feeling that we’ve all worked for and we deserve whatever we get.”
DeMers, who has signed with Washington, was joined in a loaded D1 college-bound lineup by teammates such as outfielder Trevor Larnach (Oregon State), outfielder Nick Oar (Stanford), outfielder Jeffrey Mitchell (Cal), and catcher/shortstop Willie MacIver (Washington).
Others on the roster for the mythical state champions are senior A’Mari Baltimore, freshman A.J. Speer, senior Davis Ellington, senior Noah Burnham, junior Hank DaRe, senior Evan Gravenmier, freshman Christian Encarnacion, senior J.R. Santiago, junior Havin Lim, junior Josh Nelson, senior Tommy Hammill, senior Chris Brown, junior Sam Behrens and junior Jack Downing.
CAL-HI SPORTS ALL-TIME
STATE BASEBALL TEAMS OF THE YEAR
2015 — Pleasant Hill College Park (26-4)
2014 — Clovis (33-5)
2013 — North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake (28-4)
2012 — Vista (31-4)
2011 — Clovis Buchanan (30-2)
2010 — San Jose Archbishop Mitty (31-3)
2009 — Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley (26-6)
2008 — Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (27-4)
2007 — Long Beach Wilson (31-3)
2006 — San Jose Bellarmine (34-4)
2005 — Woodland Hills El Camino Real (28-4)
2004 — Chatsworth (35-0)
2003 — Carlsbad La Costa Canyon (32-1)
2002 — La Puente Bishop Amat (28-2)
2001 — La Puente Bishop Amat (27-2)
2000 — San Diego Rancho Bernardino (30-3)
1999 — Riverside Arlington (29-2)
1998 — Clovis (33-2)
1997 — Clovis (32-2) (plus one win by default)
1996 — Granada Hills Kennedy (31-3)
1995 — Fountain Valley (26-3-1)
1994 — Fountain Valley (27-3-1)
1993 — Fresno Bullard (26-3-1)
1992 — San Diego Mira Mesa (26-5)
1991 — Ontario (26-0)
1990 — Cupertino Monta Vista (27-3)
1989 — Fresno Bullard (28-2)
1988 — Fresno Bullard (29-1)
1987 — Lakewood (25-7)
1986 — Santee Santana (26-2)
1985 — Oxnard Rio Mesa (27-3)
1984 — Rancho Cordova (33-5-1)
1983 — El Cerrito (27-1)
1982 — San Diego Mt. Carmel (24-2)
1981 — Westminster (23-4)
1980 — Fresno Bullard (29-2)
1979 — Visalia Mt. Whitney (20-3)
1978 — Larkspur Redwood (30-5)
1977 — West Covina Edgewood (29-1)
1976 — Lakewood (22-4-1)
1975 — Torrance Bishop Montgomery (27-3)
1974 — Torrance North (26-6-1)
1973 — El Segundo (30-5)
1972 — Venice (19-3)
1971 — El Segundo (33-2)
1970 — Lompoc (27-1)
1969 — Sacramento Grant (16-1)
1968 — Fresno Hoover (27-3)
1967 — Long Beach Millikan (20-4)
1966 — El Segundo (24-4-1)
1965 — San Diego Crawford (22-4)
1964 — Lynwood (23-2)
1963 — Long Beach Poly (21-4)
1962 — Sacramento Bishop Armstrong (22-2)
1961 — S.F. Sacred Heart (32-2-1)
1960 — Fresno Roosevelt (20-2)
1959 — S.F. St. Ignatius (28-3)
1958 — Fresno (25-1)
1957 — Fresno (22-2)
1956 — Ontario Chaffey (21-5)
1955 — South Gate (17-2)
1954 — L.A. Loyola (22-5)
1953 — Compton (23-2)
1952 — S.F. Sacred Heart (29-5)
1951 — Sacramento McClatchy (22-0-1)
1950 — Long Beach Wilson (24-3)
1949 — San Diego (29-3)
1948 — San Diego (26-3)
1947 — S.F. Mission (12-1)*
1946 — San Diego (24-7)
1945 — S.F. Mission (10-0, League)
1944 — S.F. Mission (9-0, League)
1943 — L.A. Fremont (13-1)
1942 — San Diego Hoover (13-0 vs. prep teams)
1941 — S.F. Galileo (12-1)*
1940 — S.F. Mission (11-1)*
1939 — San Diego (20-5)
1938 — Glendale (4-0, Playoffs)
1937 — S.F. Commerce (12-2, League)
1936 — Long Beach Poly (23-2)
1935 — Sacramento (20-1)
1934 — S.F. Mission (7-0, League)
1933 — Fresno Roosevelt (20 -2)
1932 — San Diego (11-4)
1931 — S.F. Mission (8-0, League)
1930 — San Diego (19-3)
1929 — San Diego (31-5)
1928 — San Diego (22-8-1)
1927 — Fullerton (29-5-1)
1926 — Alameda (21-1)
1925 — Los Angeles (6-0, League)
1924 — S.F. Sacred Heart (6-0)*
1923 — San Diego (15-4)
1922 — S.F. Mission (6-1)*
1921 — San Diego (18-5-2)
1920 — San Diego (13-1)
1919 — Oakland Technical (8-0)*
1918 — San Diego (12-6)
1917 — San Diego (12-1)
1916 — S.F. Poly (7-0, League)
1915 — S.F. Sacred Heart (5-0)*
1914 — S.F. Lowell (6-0)*
1913 — Long Beach Poly (19-3-1)
1912 — Long Beach Poly (17-5)
1911 — S.F. Sacred Heart (5-0)*
1910 — S.F. Sacred Heart (8-0)*
1909 — Alameda (5-0)*
1908 — Palo Alto (4-0)*
1907 — Alameda (5-1)*
1906 — S.F. Lick (1-0 League)**
1905 — S.F. Lick (9-1-1)*
1904 — Palo Alto
1903 — Berkeley
1902 — S.F. Lowell
1901 — Berkeley
1900 — S.F. Cogswell
1899 — Palo Alto (5-0)
*Record for league and playoff games only.
** Playoffs and remainder of league schedule were cancelled due to earthquake.
Lick’s 1906 team was regarded as being better than its 1905 team.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of Cal-Hi Sports. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
