SportStars NorCal Softball Rankings | March 16

It’s Been A Wet March So Far, But That Didn’t Keep The NorCal Softball Rankings From Seeing Quite A Bit Of Change •

NorCal Softball Rankings

All records are through Monday, March 15 (via MaxPreps). Previous rank is in parenthesis.
PICTURED ABOVE: Emma French of No. 6 Benicia. (Chace Bryson photo)

1. (1)  St. Francis-Mountain View   1-0

2. (2)  Granada-Livermore   4-0

3. (3)  Archbishop Mitty-San Jose   3-0

4. (6)  Central Catholic-Modesto   3-0

5. (8)  Oakdale   3-0

6. (9)  Benicia   1-0

7. (7)  Notre Dame-Salinas   3-1

8. (5)  Heritage-Brentwood   1-1

9. (10)  San Ramon Valley-Danville   2-0

10. (NR)  Del Oro-Loomis   2-0

11. (11)  East Nicolaus  3-0

12. (4)  Sheldon-Sacramento   1-2

13. (14)  Vista del Lago-Folsom  2-0

14. (15)  Marin Catholic-Kentfield  3-0

15. (18)  Sutter   1-0

16. (NR)  College Park-Pleasant Hill   2-0

17. (NR)  Foothill-Pleasanton   5-0

18. (20)  Pinole Valley   7-0

19. (NR) Whitney-Rocklin   1-0

20. (NR)  Dixon   2-0

DROPPED OUT:

No. 12 Elk Grove, No. 13 Aragon-San Mateo, No. 16 Livermore, No. 17 Los Gatos and No. 19 San Rafael.

5 TEAMS KNOCKING:

21. Valley Christian-San Jose (4-1), 22. Kimball-Tracy (4-0), 23. Hollister (4-1), 24. Folsom (2-0) and 25. Sacred Heart Cathedral-S.F. (6-0).

AROUND THE HORN

After a rainy couple of weeks, it appears we might see games pick up over the next week. What we did see over the first half of March was mostly predictable.

But even with that said, we had a fair amount of movement within the NorCal Softball Rankings. That includes five preseason-ranked teams falling out. We also had a pair of Top 5 teams slide down the ladder some.

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The biggest slide came from preseason No. 4 Sheldon-Sacramento. We noted in our preseason rankings that the Huskies had more than a few holes created by graduation, and it seems like there are indeed some early growing pains after losses to now-ranked Del Oro-Loomis and Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills. The Huskies fell eight spots to No. 12.

Preseason No. 5 Heritage doesn’t have as many lineup spots to fill, but pitcher is one of them. Interestingly, offense was their issue in a 3-2 extra-innings loss to Carondelet-Concord. The Patriots slide down three to No. 8.

Now let’s talk about the rising teams. We had a pair of unbeaten Valley Oak League teams — Central Catholic-Modesto and Oakdale — take over the No. 4 and 5 spots, respectively. And Del Oro, which opened with wins over Sheldon and preseason-No. 12 Elk Grove, debuts at No. 10.

Four more new teams claiming spots in the bottom quarter of the rankings include No. 16 College Park-Pleasant Hill, No. 17 Foothill-Pleasanton, No. 19 Whitney-Rocklin and No. 20 Dixon.

Dixon gets an immediate test on Thursday (3/16) when it takes on No. 11 East Nicolaus. On the same day, Foothill will host No. 2 Granada.