Another loss by Orange Lutheran to Mater Dei (the second of the season) causes the Lancers to fall from third in this week’s rankings and for both unbeaten Gahr of Cerritos and Rio Mesa of Oxnard to inch forward to No. 3 and No. 4. Will those two go all the way to CIFSS Division II championship?
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(Through games of Saturday, April 15; Previous ranking in parentheses)
1. (1) Norco 22-0
It will be a monumental upset if the Cougars were to lose in any remaining regular season game, but knowing how dangerous teams are going to be in the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs taking a loss before then might not be that bad, either.
2. (2) Los Alamitos 18-3
After their loss to Norco in the Michelle Carew semifinals, the Griffins have won by 6-0, 10-0 and 16-0. They are not playing this week due to spring break.
Cerritos Gahr head coach Sean Quarles may be getting neck strain watching all the long balls his girls are crushing so far this season. Photo: YouTube.com/FullCountSoftball.
3. (4) Gahr (Cerritos) 17-0
The schedule admittedly isn’t that great for the Gladiators, but they’re still unbeaten and in the upcoming CIFSS D2 playoffs they could run into No. 4 Rio Mesa at some point. Gahr players combined to hit four homers in win last week vs. Downey.
4. (5) Rio Mesa (Oxnard) 17-0-1
Despite not playing last week after four wins the week before the Spartans move up to the No. 4 spot in the ranking’s this week thanks to previous No. 3 Orange Lutheran needing to drop down.
5. (6) Sheldon (Sacramento) 15-1
The Huskies hope to avenge their only loss later this week in a league matchup vs. Elk Grove. They didn’t play last week after winning the Livermore Stampede.
6. (7) Stockdale (Bakersfield) 17-0
Frosh P Sydney Hornbuckle is a perfect 12-0 with a 0.43 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 81.1 innings pitched. Stockdale will finally get back to playing some games this week when it plays two league games against Liberty of Bakersfield.
7. (3) Lutheran (Orange) 16-4
This is where the Lancers drop after their second loss this season to Mater Dei. This time, they gave up a run in the bottom of the seventh inning after taking a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh. The Monarchs then won in the bottom of the eighth.
8. (8) San Marcos 14-4
Wins against Oceanside and Vista pushed the Knights’ win streak to six games. Three of their four losses were to top two teams Norco and Los Alamitos.
