Vacaville baseball, Roseville softball start season on top. Who else is ranked?

Rain will come some day. The high school baseball and softball coaches around the region understand this and have gleefully filled up their early schedules with games under bright, sunny skies.

“I’m getting nervous, just waiting for the downpours to come,” said Vacaville baseball coach Stu Clary with a laugh.

Mostly, Clary doesn’t get unnerved about anything. He and his peers for baseball and softball are looking to improve through nonleague competition with aim of winning league championships. Or, at the very least, qualify for the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs in pursuit of a blue championship banner.

Top ranked by The Bee to open the season after finishing the season at No. 1 the previous two seasons, Vacaville targets a section Division I championship repeat. Roseville is The Bee’s preseason No. 1 team, determined to extend its season to the final day after falling in a D-II playoff opener to Ponderosa.

Coaches often sandbag their teams this time of year with comments such as, “We’re young and inexperienced, but hopefully we’ll compete.” Not veteran Roseville softball coach Art Banks. His team is indeed young with only three seniors on the roster, but at a recent coaching meeting in Yuba City with other coaches within earshot Banks said of his Tigers, “We’re loaded! We have everybody back and we are good.”

Clary of Vacaville doesn’t mince words either. He said of his Bulldogs, simply, “Oh, we’re good. I don’t know if we’ll be as good as we were last year, but we’ll be good. The cupboard is not bare.”

Banks has been coaching since the 1980s and knows talent when he sees it. His Tigers last week beat Whitney, last season’s Sierra Foothill League and section D-I champion, by an 8-2 count, laying down the gauntlet that everyone knew was coming. The Tigers are ready to pounce.

Baseball leaders

The Bulldogs and Clary return a majority of the core that beat Jesuit in last season’s championship series. It starts with big slugging first baseman and Washington-bound Michael Brown, whose stock is so high that he may be a top Major League Baseball draft pick in June. Vacaville has eight other players committed to play at the next level in pitcher Kyle Bender (Washington), outfielder Jared Breedwell (San Francisco), outfielder Kenny DeCelle (Santa Clara), infielder Griffin Harrison (Sacramento State), infielder Brian McClellin (Cal), outfielder Brewster Mott (Air Force), infielder Bradley Taylor (Azuza Pacific) and infielder Derek Williams (George Fox).

Jesuit, under longtime coach Joe Potulny, is ranked No. 2 and is also stacked with college-bound talent and potential future professionals. Arizona signee Daniel Susac headlines this group and is also on the draft radar. The Marauders also feature Daniel’s cousin, Tonko, who is one of the top pitching prospects in the county and is on the draft radar for 2021. In the rotation with Susac will be USC signee Charlie Hurley and Cal Poly-bound Chris Baytosh.

Jesuit welcomes back starting shortstop and UCSB signee Luke Williams, who missed all but one game last year due to injury.

Defending section D-II champion Oakmont is ranked third. The Vikings are led by reigning Bee Player of the Year and Arizona-bound senior T.J. Nichols, who pitched, played shortstop and had key hits in the playoffs during his team’s championship run in 2019. Oakmont returns a pair of first-team All-Metro players in Washington-bound catcher Carson Blatnick and outfielder Andrew Paolini.

But the Vikings will not have pitcher Kai Peterson, who underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery. He went 9-1 last season and was second on the team with 71 strikeouts.

The Sierra Foothill League is represented with five teams in the baseball rankings. Defending champion Folsom is ranked fourth, led by 2019 SFL MVP C.J. Hutton, headed to UC Davis, Cal Poly-bound catcher Ryan Stafford and San Diego State-bound Tyson De Wall. Folsom will be challenged in SFL play by No. 7 Granite Bay, No. 8 Oak Ridge and No. 9 Rocklin.

Another player likely to hear his name called at the MLB Draft will be Franklin outfielder Chase Davis. The Wildcats are No. 5 and will challenge Jesuit for the Delta League title in a league that also includes No. 6 Elk Grove and No. 13 Davis. Defending D-lll champion Ponderosa is ranked 11th and is led by Stanford-bound junior outfielder and pitcher Ty Uber.

Back to softball

Roseville is led by pitcher/hitter Malaya Johnson and hitters Makayla Newsome and Fordham-bound Bella Ayala.

Whitney is No. 2, still formidable after graduating Bee Co-Players of the Year Mazie and Mackenzie Macfarlane, both on scholarship at Utah State. Back are Hawaii-bound pitcher Nia Trinidad (15-3 in 2019) and slugger Montana Hermosillo.

No. 3 Sheldon has the pitching, pop and speed to compete for another D-I section championship after falling to upstart Folsom in the playoffs last season. North Carolina-bound Kiannah Pierce batted .562 last season and Nevada-bound Sam Oliver .468.

No. 4 Rocklin is led by pitcher Brooke Thompson and UCLA-bound catcher Jayla Castro. No. 5 Elk Grove suffered a blow when star pitcher Ava Hand underwent surgery on her left ankle, though Brooklynn Pettis is back after batting .467 in 2019.

No. 6 Del Oro will battle Rocklin for SFL honors with the goal of returning to the D-II section finals behind pitcher Katelyn Oldwin. No. 7 East Nicolaus finished No. 2 in The Bee’s final rankings last season, a small-school powerhouse in the Northern Section that has fared well against regional large-school programs, including a 7-5 win last season over Whitney. Ace Avery Croxal is back after going 18-2 with an 0.50 ERA.

Longtime area journalist/announcer Pete DuFour provided the softball context to this story.

The Bee’s Preseason Top 20 Baseball Rankings

With last year’s record

1. Vacaville (31-2)

2. Jesuit (23-11)

3. Oakmont (30-3)

4. Folsom (25-6)

5. Franklin (20-8)

6. Elk Grove (11-17)

7. Granite Bay (12-16)

8. Oak Ridge (14-12)

9. Rocklin (14-15)

10. McClatchy (22-9)

11. Ponderosa (18-15)

12. Capital Christian (18-9)

13. Davis (18-11)

14. Bella Vista (23-7-1)

15. Del Campo (21-12-1)

16. Colfax (26-7)

17. Woodcreek (21-9)

18. Placer (16-10)

19. Rio Americano (20-10)

20. Lincoln (13-14)

Bubble teams: (alphabetical order) Casa Roble (21-8), Christian Brothers (16-12), Cosumnes Oaks (7-21), Laguna Creek (16-12), Pleasant Grove (15-14), Roseville (10-17), Vista del Lago (14-14), Whitney (11-17), Winters (24-4), Woodland (18-7).

- Cameron Salerno

The Bee’s Preseason Top 20 Softball Rankings

With last year’s record

1. Roseville (17-9)

2. Whitney (26-6)

3. Sheldon (19-7-1)

4. Rocklin (16-9)

5. Elk Grove (21-10)

6. Del Oro (21-10-2)

7. East Nicolaus (30-2-2)

8. Vacaville (17-4)

9. Vanden (19-8)

10. Vista del Lago (22-6)

11. Cosumnes Oaks (17-6-1)

12. Oakmont (14-8-1)

13. Folsom (17-8)

14. Ponderosa (13-8)

15. Yuba City (15-5-2)

16. Center (13-4)

17. Pioneer (10-9)

18. Casa Roble (15-11-1)

19. Marysville (21-3-1)

20 (Tie) Lincoln (15-12-1)

20 (TIE) Rosemont (17-7)

Bubble teams: Del Campo (22-6), Inderkum (11-12), McClatchy (14-6-1), Mira Loma (11-7-1), Nevada Union (7-9), Oak Ridge (9-13), Pleasant Grove (5-15), River City (17-8-1), St. Francis (17-11), Sutter (23-5).

- Pete Dufour