Pitching Depth And Stubbornly Resilient Lineup Lead De La Salle To Two Titles And The Top Spot In Our Final NorCal Baseball Rankings •
PICTURED ABOVE: No. 1 De La Salle Celebrates Its NorCal Div. I title. (Jean-Paul Toshiro photo)
Final NorCal Baseball Rankings. All records are through June 4.
1. (2) De La Salle-Concord (27-6)
Spartans won both the North Coast Section and CIF NorCal Div. I finals in comeback fashion, topping then-state No. 1 St. Francis in the latter.
2. (1) St. Francis-Mountain View (31-5)
Gut-wrenching seventh inning collapse to De La Salle in NorCal final was Lancers first loss since calendar flipped to May.
3. (3) Foothill-Pleasanton (26-6)
Three of Falcons’ six losses came to No. 1 De La Salle, though they did manage to top the Spartans 4-1 in the East Bay Athletic League championship game.
4. (4) Palo Alto (26-7)
Vikings played St. Francis to a scoreless tie through seven innings of the Central Coast Section Div. I final; were bounced by Foothill in CIF Div. I opening round.
5. (5) Valley Christian-San Jose (24-7-1)
A consistent Top 5 team all season, the Warriors saw three of their seven losses come against St. Francis — including a season-ending 3-2 defeat in CIF Div. I semifinals.
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6. (6) Bellarmine-San Jose (22-10-1)
Bells’ strong season included a pair of wins over CIF Div. II champion Mitty, as well as single victories over St. Francis and Valley Christian.
7. (8) Woodcreek-Roseville (25-3)
Timberwolves opened the season 24-1 and held No. 1 for two weeks spanning April and May, but an intense regular season finish (nine games in 11 days) may have factored in SJS playoff opening-round upset.
8. (9) Archbishop Mitty-San Jose (24-10)
An 11-1 Boras Invitational championship game loss to Woodcreek was the CIF Div. II champ’s only loss outside of West Catholic Athletic League play.
9. (7) California-San Ramon (23-6)
Grizzlies saw their season end to Foothill (who won in extra innings after scoring four to tie in the bottom of the seventh) in the NCS Div. I semis.
10. (10) Del Campo-Fair Oaks (29-6)
After a high-profile run to the SJS Div. III title, the Cougars landed the CIF competitive equity short straw with a first-round Div. I matchup at De La Salle.
11. (11) Granite Bay (21-14)
The SJS Div. II champions and CIF Div. II runners-up had nearly 40 percent of their wins come against teams ranked in our Final 25.
12. (12) Whitney-Rocklin (28-6)
A landmark season for this program included its first SJS title by defeating McClatchy 2-1 in the Div. I final; season ended with regional loss to Valley Christian.
13. (13) McClatchy-Sacramento (29-5)
Lions senior catcher Malcolm Moore is getting MLB first-round-pick buzz after hitting .500 with 13 HR and 51 RBI in 34 games.
14. (18) College Park-Pleasant Hill (16-9)
The Falcons moved up in these final rankings as section and regional results help add shine to their overall body of work; Best win: Granite Bay (4-3)
15. (15) Franklin-Elk Grove (24-7)
Wildcats entered the SJS playoffs as the No. 1 seed in Div. I, but were upset by McClatchy in straight games during the best-of-3 semifinal.
16. (20) Clayton Valley-Concord (21-5)
Another team to move up thanks to some opponents’ late season success, the Ugly Eagles tallied wins over Granite Bay, Cardinal Newman, College Park and Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills.
17. (NR) Elk Grove (20-9)
Thundering Herd never found consistency in 2022, but still wound up with wins over Valley Christian and Granite Bay as well as a one-run loss to De La Salle.
18. (16) Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa (24-6)
After predictably rolling to an NCS Div. IV championship, the Cardinals season ended with a Div. I regional opening-round loss to St. Francis.
19. (19) Vanden-Fairfield (28-5)
Del Campo needed extra innings to vanquish the Vikings in the CIF Div. III championship; Bellarmine found them to be an equally tough out in CIF Div. II play
20. (NR) Sacred Heart Cathedral-S.F. (17-11-1)
Fighting Irish had wins over Mitty and Bellarmine in WCAL play, and 10 of the team’s 11 losses came against teams that made the CIF regionals.
21. (NR) Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills (17-15)
Trojans reached SJS Div. I finals as a No. 6 seed and logged regular season wins over Bellarmine, College Park, Whitney and Granite Bay (twice).
22. (NR) San Ramon Valley-Danville (16-11)
Perhaps no team pushed No. 1 De La Salle to its limits more than the Wolves. In four meetings, SRV had one win and a pair of one-run losses.
23. (17) Pleasant Valley-Chico (27-4)
Vikings finish as our top Northern Section team after playing McClatchy even through six innings of the teams’ CIF Div. II opener (an eventual 11-7 loss).
24. (NR) Rio Americano-Sacramento (21-13)
Raiders won nine of their last 11 to finish as SJS Div. II runners-up and CIF Div. III semifinalists.
25. (NR) Rodriguez-Fairfield (26-4)
Mustangs breakout season ended in SJS semifinals loss to Granite Bay, but future remains bright with three of their top five hitters and their top pitcher all returning for 2023.