Prep baseball rankings: Sweeps in Delta League; Laguna Creek and Ponderosa enter top-5

The Delta League might be the best baseball league in the Sac-Joaquin Section. The opening weekend of league play justified that opinion.

Second-ranked Elk Grove swept Sheldon behind big performances by Kade Brown, Sam Frizzi, Aiden Hutcheson, Eddie Madrigal and Ryan Zamora. The Herd’s only loss this season was to St. Mary’s of Stockton in a season-opener. Elk Grove has won eight in a row since.

Then there’s No. 3 Franklin, which swept Davis behind dominant pitching by Nolan Stevens, Michael Freitas, Tyler Mojica and Andres Galan. The Franklin pitching staff allowed two runs in three games.

Pleasant Grove jumped to No. 6 in the rankings after sweeping Jesuit. The Eagles outscored the Marauders 25-9. Bobby Blandford drove in five runs during the series, Ben Pernetti drove in three.

Quick hits

▪ Granite Bay remains top ranked by The Bee. The Grizzlies have wins over Franklin (twice), Placer, Oak Ridge and Jesuit. J.R. Freethy’s three RBIs and good pitching by Joe Plise and Thomas Meyer helped Granite Bay beat Woodcreek 7-3. The Grizzlies beat Yuba City 12-1 Saturday for the second time this season. The highlight of the game was a grand slam by J.P. Smith.

▪ The battle of Folsom between Folsom High School and Vista del Lago ended in a 7-7 tie after 10 innings. Eagles’ outfielder Spencer Marr drove in four runs. Folsom’s Ryan Oaks and Payton Dupree both had two RBIs.

▪ River City enters the rankings for the first time this season. The Raiders are off to a 7-0 start. Lance Sabatke, Freddy Rodriguez, Gage Johnson and Hunter Kelly all have at least 10 hits and 10 RBIs.

▪ After starting the season 0-3, Del Campo has won four in a row against Oakmont, Vacaville, Del Oro and previously unbeaten Cosumnes Oaks. In the 3-1 win against the Wolfpack, Jordan Jacobson went the distance, struck out 12 and drove in a run at the plate. Surreal Haro and Will Tuter also drove in runs.

▪ After a long rehab stint because of an injury, Colfax pitcher Jaron Nicholas made his season debut against Foothill. Nicholas allowed one hit in five innings and struck out 13.

▪ After dealing with a handful of cancellations due to COVID-19, McClatchy opened the season last week with wins over Foresthill and Inderkum. The Lions outscored their opponents 39-6. Malcolm Moore leads his team with seven RBIs. Ben Silva has driven in six.

▪ Laguna Creek has jumped all the way up to No. 4 after wins Cosumnes Oaks and Burbank. In the 27-0 win over Burbank, Noah Lucchesi drove in three runs. Vincent Agrella threw a perfect game and struck out nine.

▪ Placer took two out of three against rival Lincoln last week. That included a walk-off single in the series-opener by Jake Graham and a 16-3 win led by John Handy’s three RBIs.

▪ The longest home run of the season came in Vacaville this week. Bulldogs slugger Brewster Mott hit a ball an estimated 450 feet in a 10-0 win over Armijo.

▪ Rocklin beat Roseville last week in dramatic walk-off fashion. Peyton Brennan stole home to give the Thunder a 5-4 win.

▪ Yuba City has won six of its last seven after sweeps in conference play over Antelope and River Valley. The Honkers are led by Bryson Reif, Landon Comer, Mo Rodriguez, Kade Barrie and Matt Hernandez.

▪ Stat leaders from the area according to MaxPreps: Granite Bay’s JR Freethy leads the Sacramento area in hits (19) and batting average (.655). Freethy is also tied with Rocklin’s Chase Meggers and Rio Americano’s Will Heron in home runs with three and in RBIs with Vanden’s Jake Tranchina and Pleasant Grove’s Bobby Blandford with 18. Colfax’s Anthony Packard leads the Sac-Joaquin Section with 39 strikeouts. Franklin’s Nolan Stevens and Ponderosa’s Ty Uber aren’t far behind with 38. Vanden’s Dylan Simmons and Ponderosa’s Tyler Stewart are both 4-0.

THE BEE’S TOP 25

1. Granite Bay (8-1)

2. Elk Grove (8-1)

3. Franklin (9-3)

4. Ponderosa (9-2)

5. Laguna Creek (8-0)

6. Pleasant Grove (9-2)

7. Woodcreek (8-4)

8. Cosumnes Oaks (8-2)

9. Davis (6-3)

10. Vanden (10-2)

11. Oak Ridge (3-5)

12. Rocklin (5-5)

13. Folsom (5-3-1)

14. Jesuit (3-5)

15. Placer (7-5)

16. Del Campo (4-3)

17. Vista del Lago (5-3-1)

18. Roseville (8-5)

19. Rio Americano (5-0)

20. McClatchy (2-0)

21. River City (7-0)

22. Oakmont (5-8

23. Vacaville (6-8)

24. Yuba City (6-7)

25. Colfax (8-4)

On the bubble: Alpha Charter (4-2), Bear River (2-0), Bella Vista (3-5), Christian Brothers (2-3), Del Oro (3-8), Lincoln (3-8), Sheldon (4-9), Winters (0-0), Wood (5-5), Woodland (0-0)