SportStars NorCal Baseball Rankings | May 2

Last Two Weeks Of April Was A Battle Of Attrition For Several Teams Within NorCal Baseball Rankings, Leading To Shakeup •

NorCal Baseball Rankings

All records are through Monday, May 1 (via MaxPreps). Previous rank is in parenthesis.
PICTURED ABOVE: Senior Infielder Derek Pham Of No. 8 Franklin-Elk Grove. (David Gershon photo)

1. (1)  Valley Christian-San Jose   22-3

2. (2)  Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa   21-0

3. (5)  De La Salle-Concord   18-4

4. (7)  St. Mary’s-Stockton   20-5

5. (3)  Archbishop Mitty-San Jose   19-5

6. (4)  Whitney-Rocklin   21-5

7. (6)  Bellarmine-San Jose   14-8-1

8. (8)  Franklin-Elk Grove   24-4

9. (9)  Clayton Valley-Concord   15-4

10. (19)  St. Francis-Mountain View   14-10

11. (14)  Foothill-Pleasanton   15-6

12. (17)  Elk Grove   18-8

13. (NR)  Amador Valley-Pleasanton   16-4

14. (12)  Granada-Livermore  16-6

15. (NR)  Lincoln-Stockton   20-6

16. (18) Marin Catholic-Kentfield   16-5

17. (20)  Los Gatos   17-6

18. (10)  San Ramon Valley-Danville   14-8

19. (11)  Serra-San Mateo   17-6

20. (NR)  Hollister  19-3

DROPPED OUT:

No. 13 Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills, No. 15 Lodi and No. 16 Dublin

5 TEAMS KNOCKING:

21. Dublin (15-7), 22. Woodcreek-Roseville (16-7-1), 23. Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton (16-6-1), 24. Casa Grande-Petaluma (17-4) and 25. Redwood-Larkspur (16-6).

AROUND THE HORN

If your team was ranked on April 20 and its only suffered one loss (or less) since, then consider that team among the elite or the very lucky.

Baseball, more than any sport, is going to have the random losses here or there. Catch a pitcher who’s locked in, or run into a hot hitting team in a small park. Losses just happen in baseball. But these last two weeks featured a lot of them happening to some really good teams. (All of which makes No. 2 Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa look even better right now).

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Four of the teams who didn’t lose over last two weeks just so happen to be our newest Top 4. Valley Christian-San Jose and Cardinal Newman continue to hold down the top two spots, respectively, while De La Salle-Concord and St Mary’s-Stockton climb up to Nos. 3 and 4. The Spartans and Rams benefited from former No. 3 Mitty suffering a 12-1 loss to then-No. 19 St. Francis-Mountain View.

Former No. 4 Whitney-Rocklin took on two defeats, dropping games to Del Oro-Loomis and Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills. Bellarmine-San Jose also lost twice and dropped from No. 6 to 7.

Teams that moved up after nice weeks include St. Francis, which had a win over Bellarmine in addition to topping Mitty. The Lancers jumped up nine spots to No. 10. Lincoln-Stockton also returns to the rankings, slotting into No. 15 after six straight wins.

And while one East Bay Athletic League team dropped out (Dublin), another has jumped in. Amador Valley-Pleasanton makes its 2023 season debut at No. 13 after going 4-0 over the last two weeks. They’ll close out regular season play with a two-game set against arch-rival No. 11 Foothill-Pleasanton on Wednesday and Friday of this week. Foothill has also won its last four games.

Hollister wasn’t perfect, but a 5-1 stretch was enough to get the Haybalers back inside the Top 20. They slot in at No. 20 with a chance to avenge two of their three losses (Carmel and Salinas) over their last four games.