Five for Spring

When did May get here? Weren’t we just writing about our All-NorCal football teams and previewing baseball and softball?

For whatever reason, it often feels like no high school sporting season goes by faster than spring. As a sports writer, it always feels like we emerge from the basketball state championships, blink, and there’s two weeks before spring playoffs begin. 

So around this time, I like to do a re-set, get my bearings and tell you what we here at SportStars are looking forward to over the last month (sniff.) of the 2015-16 season of NorCal high school athletics.

Here are five things we’ll be following over the next five weeks. 

1. SABRINA WATCH — Ha! Not even a spring sport. We, and every other women’s basketball fan across the country will be tuned in to see where Sabrina Ionescu — who is honored later in this issue as part of our All-NorCal Basketball Team selections — will choose to play her college career. Her reported three finalists are Oregon, Oregon State and Cal. However, she’s ranked No. 4 among ESPNW.com’s top recruits in the nation, so the entire Division I college landscape has interest in her landing spot. The regular signing period ends on May 18. 

2. DANIELLE & THE DONS — The Amador Valley-Pleasanton softball team once again has that runaway-train look about them. Sophomore two-way star, Danielle Williams, already has three no-hitters and was batting a crisp .469 through April. Is there an NCS Division I team out there that can push them, keep them from repeating as champs? It might be the team right across town from them, Foothill-Pleasanton. Or perhaps an offensively gifted Heritage-Brentwood team. Either way, it should be good drama. 

3. CLASH OF THE TITANS — Davis High has been the Sac-Joaquin Section’s (and arguably NorCal’s) best baseball team through the first two months of the season. The Blue Devils opened the year with a 13-game winning streak and promptly knocked SportStars NorCal Preseason No. 1 Elk Grove out of the top spot. The defending SJS Div. I-champion Thundering Herd recently reminded Davis of their presence by stomping the Devils 14-1 on April 25. Davis avenged two days later with a 2-1 victory, but the message had already been sent. The two programs own each of the last three Div. I titles (Elk Grove in 2013 and 2015; Davis in 2014), and seeing them scrap for another should be a treat.

4. STATE SWIMMING 2.0 — Now that the CIF already has one year of the CIF State Swimming Championships under its belt, it will be intersting to see how they seek to broaden its appeal and make sure that the state’s most elite swimmers are there competing. However, more locally, now that there are state championships to defend, we’re eager to see if swimmers such as Bryce Mefford (Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills), Hank Poppe (San Ramon Valley-Danville) and Madelyn Murphy (Carondelet-Concord) will be able to repeat.

5. BAY AREA 75 ANTICIPATION — With awards season already under way — if you’re holding our Sac-Joaquin edition featuring the River Cats All-City Team, you know what we’re talking about — we’re already getting fired up thinking about the fourth annual Bay Area 75 (due out mid-June). Who’s No. 1? Could Ionescu be the first girl to top the rankings? Will a spring athlete make a major push? It should be fun finding out.

Enjoy the drama, sports fans. See you next month when we express shock at the arrival of June.