SportStars NorCal Softball Rankings | May 4

Amador Valley Continues Meteoric Rise Within The NorCal Softball Rankings; No. 1 Mitty, No. 2 St. Francis Prepare To Clash Again •

NorCal Softball Rankings

All records are through Wednesday, May 3 (via MaxPreps). Previous rank is in parenthesis.
PICTURED ABOVE: Members Of No. 8 Amador Valley-Pleasanton Celebrate Their Livermore Stampede Win Over No. 1 Mitty Last Month. (Ben Enos photo)

1. (1)  Archbishop Mitty-San Jose   18-2

2. (2)  St. Francis-Mountain View   21-2

3. (4)  Hollister   21-2

4. (3)  Granada-Livermore   18-4

5. (6)  Sutter   21-1

6. (7)  East Nicolaus  24-0-1

7. (8)  Pleasant Grove-Elk Grove   20-5

8. (20)  Amador Valley-Pleasanton   13-10

9. (5)  San Ramon Valley-Danville   16-5

10. (10)  Vista del Lago-Folsom  22-2

11. (11)  Vacaville   22-1

12. (13)  Central Catholic-Modesto   21-3

13. (12)  Oakdale   15-6

14. (9)  Notre Dame-Salinas   15-6

15. (NR)  Redwood-Larkspur   16-4-1

16. (NR)  California-San Ramon   15-7

17. (16)  Ponderosa-Shingle Springs  17-3-1

18. (17)  Franklin-Elk Grove   20-5

19. (NR)  Willow Glen-San Jose   15-5

20. (15) Whitney-Rocklin   15-5

DROPPED OUT:

No. 14 Pinole Valley, No. 18 College Park-Pleasant Hill and No. 19 Freedom-Oakley

5 TEAMS KNOCKING:

21. College Park-Pleasant Hill (13-6), 22. Pinole Valley (22-1), 23. Clayton Valley-Concord (14-4), 24. Monterey (15-5) and 25. Marin Catholic-Kentfield (14-5).

AROUND THE HORN

There’s a saying that many of the sports talking heads like to use a lot these days: “When a team continues to show you who they are, believe them.” For the past four weeks, Amador Valley-Pleasanton is playing like a Top 10 team — and it’s time it was reflected in these NorCal Softball Rankings.

And since we only put them into No. 20 on April 24, it was a steep climb for the Dons this week as we slotted them into No. 8. Since the start of the Livermore Stampede on April 6, Amador Valley has gone 10-3 with wins over current No. 1 Mitty-San Jose as well as No. 4 Granada-Livermore and No. 9 San Ramon Valley-Danville.

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Outside of Amador’s big jump, most of the movement was pretty mellow this week. Hollister moved up to No. 3 after Granada’s loss to Amador Valley. The Haybalers went toe-to-toe with Mitty and fell just 3-2. Central Catholic-Modesto and Oakdale traded placed at No. 12 and 13 after the Raiders defeated the Mustangs 6-0 in Valley Oak League play.

Three new teams join the rankings this week, two of them returning after being previously ranked earlier this season. The returnees are No. 15 Redwood-Larkspur which has won nine straight, and No. 19 Willow Glen-San Jose. The latter is a younger team which can claim one of No. 1 Mitty’s two losses this season. Willow Glen also added a win over No. 14 Notre Dame-Salinas and has two wins over a good Branham-San Jose squad.

The one brand new team is California-San Ramon. The Grizzlies have been in the shadows of a few other East Bay Athletic League teams this season, but have won six in a row and 10 of their last 11.

We’ll be treated to No. 1 Mitty at No. 2 St. Francis-Mountain View this Friday (May 5) at 4 p.m.. The Monarchs have held the top spot since beating the Lancers 3-2 on April 19. Just a hunch: It probably won’t be the last time these two squads meet this month.