Oak Ridge will start the season as The Bee’s top-ranked baseball team

In normal times, baseball and softball coaches worry mostly about the one element that could delay or cancel games: rain.

COVID-19 is the opponent all high school sports programs face in trying to produce a safe, successful season this spring. There will be no section or CIF State Northern California playoffs, canceled because a late start would mean postseason games stretching into the summer when school is long out.

The Oak Ridge Trojans from the mighty Sierra Foothill League start the season top ranked by The Bee. Last season, Oak Ridge opened with wins over Bay Area powers Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa and Bellarmine Prep of San Jose before the season was shut down due to the pandemic.

“We are really deep at every spot,” Oak Ridge baseball coach Todd Melton said of his team. “(We have) lots of talent. We will have options.”

The Trojans feature a lethal pitching staff with San Jose State-bound Carter Heninger, Washington State-bound Brent Jones, Sacramento State-bound juniors Dylan Warren and Andrew Uharriet and seniors Brady Routon and Josh Albright.

Other teams ranked from the SFL include No. 2 Rocklin, led by a trio of Pac-12 commits in Toran O’Harran (Stanford), Brandon Larson (Washington) and Payton Brennan (UCLA). Third-ranked Folsom returns Cal Poly-bound catcher Ryan Stafford and San Diego State-bound pitcher Tyson DeWall. Granite Bay is ranked No. 8 and has a handful of Division I commits in Ryan Gallagher (UC Santa Barbara), J.R. Freethy (Nevada) and Brett Ott (Sac State).

The Delta League is also well represented with Jesuit, Elk Grove, Franklin, Davis all in the Top 20. Jesuit is No. 4, though it will be without Arizona-bound star pitcher Tonko Susac this spring due to arm surgery. Jesuit had the highlight of the shortened prep baseball last season with a 3-1 win over national No. 1 De La Salle of Concord behind Susac’s dominant performance on the mound. It was one of the few spring prep sporting events to happen in California before the nation shut down due to COVID-19 last spring.

In total, teams from the SFL and Delta league account for seven teams in the top 10.

“The SFL for me, and I’m biased, is the best baseball league in Northern California,” Melton said. “The Delta League is awesome, too. They have great teams in their league. It’s just a different dynamic. Those are two great D-I leagues.”

Vacaville, the 2018 and ‘19 Sac-Joaquin Section D-l champion, is ranked No. 6. The Bulldogs graduated 14 seniors, each playing at the next level. Vacaville is led by three D-1 college bound seniors in Griffin Harrison (Sac State), Brewster Mott (Air Force) and Kyle Bender (Washington).

“Our most experienced player has like five or six varsity at-bats,” Vacaville baseball coach Stu Clary said. “Because we had 14 seniors last year, the juniors didn’t get a lot (of playing time). We only played five games last season.”

Clary added, “We should contend for our league championship. We’re still Vacaville High School. I don’t know yet how deep we are, but I think I’m in the same boat as everyone else, we just don’t know. (This) is a good group of hard working kids that get it done in the classroom and have been busting their tail on the field.”

Clary emphasizes this season will be all about flexibility if COVID-19 prompts games to be canceled.

“Even when we are putting our schedules together, everyone is super flexible,” Clary said. “That’s the way it should be. We are just going to have to take every day day-by-day. Hopefully we don’t have COVID cancellations but we are used to dealing with (the weather factor). We are going to make it happen. There will be some weeks where we have four or five games and play a doubleheader on Saturday. That’s just a part of the gig.”

A pair of Pac-12 bound catchers headline The Bee’s No. 9 and No. 11 teams, respectively. Placer’s Anson Aroz is a senior heading to Oregon and McClatchy’s Malcolm Moore is a junior heading to Stanford with major MLB Draft buzz surrounding him already.

Longtime small-school power Capital Christian will not field a varsity team this spring due to low participation numbers.

The Bee’s Preseason Top 20 Baseball Rankings

With 2019 record

1. Oak Ridge (14-12)

2. Rocklin (14-15)

3. Folsom (25-5)

4. Jesuit (23-11)

5. Elk Grove (11-17)

6. Vacaville (31-2)

7. Franklin (20-8)

8. Granite Bay (12-16)

9. Placer (16-10)

10. Woodcreek (21-9)

11. McClatchy (22-9)

12. Ponderosa (18-15)

13. Del Campo (12-12-1)

14. Lincoln (13-14)

15. Davis (18-11)

16. Bella Vista (23-7-1)

17. Cosumnes Oaks (7-21)

18. Pleasant Grove (15-14)

19. Oakmont (30-3)

20. Christian Brothers (16-12)

On the bubble: Alpha Charter (20-3), Casa Roble (21-8), Colfax (26-7), Del Oro (4-22), El Camino (13-14) Kennedy (16-10), Laguna Creek (16-12), Nevada Union (16-13), Pioneer (18-8), Rio Americano (20-10), Roseville (10-17), Vista Del Lago (14-14), Whitney (11-17), Woodland (18-7), Yuba City (16-12-1).

Top 25 area players

Joey Adge, catcher, Del Campo, Sr.

Josh Alger, INF/RHP, Roseville, Sr.

Anson Aroz, C, Placer, Sr.

Kyle Bender, RHP, Vacaville, Sr.

Payton Brennan, OF, Rocklin, Jr.

Luke Carrell, LHP, Davis, Sr.

Lex Dillion, LHP, Whitney, Sr.

Brandon Forrester, INF, Jesuit, Jr.

Jr Freethy, INF, Granite Bay, Sr.

Andres Galan, INF, Franklin, Sr.

Martin Haswell, RHP, Placer, Sr.

Carter Heninger, RHP, Oak Ridge, Sr.

Aiden Jimenez, INF/RHP, Elk Grove, Jr.

Brent Jones, LHP, Oak Ridge, Jr.

Colby Lunsford, INF, Bear River, Sr.

Eddie Madrigal, INF, Elk Grove, Sr.

Malcolm Moore, C, McClatchy, Jr.

Jack Nilsson, LHP, Lincoln, Sr.

Toran O’Harran, OF/RHP, Rocklin, Jr.

John Sheehan, C, Cosumnes Oaks, Sr.

Ryan Stafford, C, Folsom, Sr.

Nolan Stevens, LHP/1B, Franklin, So.

Caden Thompson, INF, Woodcreek, Jr.

Ty Uber, RHP, Ponderosa, Sr.

Devon Walczykowski, 1B, Jesuit, Sr.

Who’d we miss? Email to Cameron Salerno: csalerno@sacbee.com

This story was originally published March 17, 2021 at 5:00 AM.