Vicente Luevano knew there would be skeptics this season after he took the reins of the Yuba City baseball program from coaching legend Jim Stassi.

"When people first found out, they were saying, 'Whoa! You've got a lot of guts. You've got big shoes to fill,' " Luevano said.

Even without any of Stassi's talented sons – Brock, Max and Jake all were Honkers stars during the program's most recent heyday from 2005 to 2010 – and with only three returning starters and a new coaching staff, No. 4 Yuba City underwent a seamless transition and still is excelling.

The Honkers are 21-4 and recently won the Tri-County Conference title for the fifth consecutive season. Up next will be a bid to win a fifth straight Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championship.

"I credit the kids," said Luevano, who played for Stassi and coached the junior varsity the previous two seasons. "We have 10 seniors on the team, and they have bought into everything we've put on the table. There's been no 'Coach Stassi did it this way.' "

The biggest buy-in has come from senior pitcher-first baseman Tyler Olson. A reserve last season who hit .190, Olson leads the Honkers with a .565 batting average and 27 RBIs. He's also developed into arguably the team's best pitcher (5-0, 1.59 ERA).

Senior Cody Kent (11-1 the past two seasons) and junior Zach Oakley (4-2 this season) also have pitched well, while Aaron Byers (.467), Raul Lozano (.441), Blake Parks (.382) and Robbie Kunkle (.371) join Olson as the top offensive producers on a team hitting .365.

Parks was an all-league catcher last season, but a nagging shoulder injury has only allowed him to be a designated hitter.

Christian Divelbiss has stepped in at catcher. The muscular, speedy senior not only has thrown out seven of 11 base stealers, he's hitting .353 with 15 stolen bases in 16 attempts.

With the playoffs beginning Monday, talk of winning five consecutive section titles is heating up. Max Stassi, now catching for the Class-A Stockton Ports, is helping fan the flames.

"Max keeps calling me and saying, 'You've got to go for five,' " Luevano said. "I keep telling him, 'Don't call me.' But I'm not worried. These guys don't want to be the ones to see the streak end. They want everyone to know that Yuba City still plays good baseball."

Trojans' turnaround - No. 5 Oak Ridge started the season 5-6 and looked as if it would struggle to make the transition from the Division II Sierra Valley Conference to the demanding D-I Delta River League.

Since then, the Trojans have won 13 of their last 15, including Monday's 3-0 win over No. 8 Pleasant Grove in which senior left-hander Chris Muse-Fisher pitched a no-hitter.

"We've gotten mentally tougher," said Oak Ridge coach Todd Melton. "At the start of the year, we needed to learn how to compete. Most of the seniors last year didn't play much, and the juniors were in the first year at varsity in a completely different league. The Delta River is a big jump."

Melton said senior outfielder Cole Hansen (.369) eventually stepped up to fill the big leadership gap left by the graduation of Jake Schu (now at Nevada).

Pitchers Austin Ales (4-2, 2.93 ERA) and Muse-Fisher (5-0, 1.81), while not as overpowering as last year's star duo of Kyle Porter (Cal) and Jordan Mills (Saint Mary's), have become tough to beat.

Third baseman Jake Wehr (batting .397 with 16 RBIs) keeps getting better, outfielder Luke Eicher is hitting .328 with 20 RBIs, and Zach Mahon, a 6-3, 235-pound junior, is contributing with a team-leading .405 as a designated hitter.

"We're getting good pitching, playing good defense, and we're hitting a lot better than last year's team," Melton said.

It also makes Oak Ridge an intriguing team to watch in a loaded D-I North playoff field that includes powers Elk Grove, Davis, Jesuit, Franklin and Pleasant Grove.

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