Prep softball rankings: A shakeup in the top 5 as league races come to a close soon

They’re not identical but it’s a little hard to tell St. Francis’ Jenkins twins apart.

Gracie is the better hitter. Sort of. The junior catcher is hitting .537, just a hair better than Hope’s .518 average. But Hope has more pop, with seven home runs to Gracie’s five.

The bottom line: The juniors are both very good softball players; they’re heading to UConn to continue their playing days after next season. Hope pitches, routinely hitting 68 mph on the radar gun and racking up a 1.79 ERA this spring. Gracie catches and plays sterling defense. The duo is a big reason St. Francis is 14-5 and ranked seventh in the area.

The Troubadors’ season is almost over, with a Monday tussle with No. 4 Elk Grove and a Tuesday match with No. 14 Pleasant Grove all that remain.

Bring back the playoffs

It’s week 9, and most league titles will be decided this week and the season will come to an unceremonious ending with no playoffs. Normally we would wrap up our Top 20 rankings and let the playoffs begin. But this year, the rankings take on a different role for those involved. Along with league championships, it’s the only other measure of success the teams have to go on.

We miss the playoffs!

Sheldon’s on field record is a stellar 19-2 but officially only 13-8 when the six forfeits are factored in. Would the on-field record be any different had they not used a player who had not completed her sit-out period? Possibly, but not likely. And is there any team right now playing better ball? Probably not. But like Sheldon, Rocklin also has just two losses on the field, both to SFL rivals and by a combined total of just three runs. Rocklin owns a convincing 8-1 win at Sheldon at the start of the season, so it remains No. 1 with a huge challenge this week to stay there.

While there is no change in the top two, there is a little shuffling among the three other teams in the top five, two of whom have suffered recent losses. Here’s a look at some of the league races as we close out the season:

Sierra Foothill League

Del Oro (10-2) and Rocklin (9-2) both stumbled last week and are tied in the SFL loss column. Whitney surprised Del Oro by scoring four runs in the top of the seventh inning to take an exciting 12-11 win. Del Oro and Rocklin each own a win against the other in close games and the rubber match Monday in Rocklin will settle it once and for all.

Folsom will finish third but the resurgence of Brian Seva’s Granite Bay Grizzlies is impressive. They have been very competitive and spoiled No. 1 Rocklin’s senior day with a 2-1 upset Friday. Seva’s daughter Hailey is a solid senior shortstop hitting .507 with eight home runs. Seva’s sophomore daughter Avery shares the pitching duties with Marissa Alders, who got the win against Rocklin. Last week’s Sac Bee player of the week nominee Amy Kupershoek had a key RBI and some great defensive plays in left field in that game. She is the last of four sisters to play for the green and black, but Seva has cultivated huge numbers in his frosh, JV and varsity ranks, and looks to be a force in the already-forceful SFL.

Delta League

Sheldon clinched the league title with wins over Elk Grove and St. Francis, and then for good measure went up to Folsom on Saturday and beat Vista del Lago 13-7. Pitcher Jaylee Ojo had a grand slam in the win, her Sacramento-area-leading 10th round-tripper of the year. Catcher Reina Zermeno has eight knocks and Dakota Kennedy has seven. Ojo is a sophomore, the other two are juniors. As a team, the Huskies have a .414 average with a whopping 35 home runs. Nobody comes close to that combination of efficiency and power. Sutter (19-0) has a .435 team average but they don’t exactly play in the Delta League.

Elk Grove and St. Francis will meet Monday in what may be the game to decide second place, as both teams are tied with 7-3 records with two games remaining. This game will feature two of the best battery combos in the area, Aissa Silva and Brooklyn Pettis for Elk Grove and the Jenkins twins of St. Francis.

Pleasant Grove’s fine senior pitcher Ashley Goard, whose rise ball has more late movement than a MaxPreps web page, struck out nine Herd batters and had three hits, including a home run, in her team’s 10-1 win Friday.

Foothill Valley League

Lincoln is 8-0 in league play and has the inside track for the title. Oakmont is a game back and playing well, as witnessed by a 12-1 nonleague victory over Center in its last outing. The return match is a week from Thursday. Grace Johnson is hitting .630 and Lanie Bloomquist and Madie Redinger have each slugged four home runs for the Vikings. For Lincoln, Araceli Jaimes has been on a tear lately. The junior is 17 for her last 23 at-bats to raise her average to a team-leading .521. This will be the last season in Lincoln for co-head coach Betty Zamora, who will take the reins at the new Twelve Bridges High School next year.

Capital Valley Conference

As we have predicted all along, Roseville will go undefeated in the CVC and has already clinched the title. Recent wins over East Nicolaus, St. Francis and Del Oro cement Roseville’s move back up to the No. 3 ranking. The Tigers have several athletes headed for university scholarships but only one graduates. More of the same next year as their top five hitters and best pitcher all return Shay McDowell, Malaya Johnson, Marissa Jordan, Makayla Newsom and Sophia Ayala all have one more year at Roseville. McDowell is hitting .500 and Johnson is 13-5 in the circle with 168 strikeouts. Inderkum and Yuba City are left to fight it out for second place.

Pioneer Valley League

It’s a wide-open race between Marysville, Center, Colfax and Bear River. Marysville appears to have the inside shot. Colfax senior catcher Sophie Smith, headed to West Point, had three hits and two RBIs to hand Center it’s lone league loss. Smith is hitting .476 with four dingers and a 4.4 GPA. Marysville’s Jenissa Conway is hitting .462 to complement her nine home runs.

Sierra Valley Conference

Rosemont edges out Liberty Ranch by one game with an 11-1 record. Eliana Enriquez led Rosemont with a .582 batting average and Jyden Miles finished at .482 with four home runs. Liberty Ranch stats are off the hook, but against a weak schedule. Only one team on that schedule, Rosemont, had a winning record. Still, kudos to Presli Kooman who can finish her senior year with a .700 batting average if she goes 3-for-4 in her final game this week.

Bee’s Top 20 Softball Ranking

(games played through Saturday)

1. Rocklin (15-2)

2. Sheldon (13-8)

3. Roseville (16-4)

4. Elk Grove (18-4)

5. Del Oro (16-4)

6. Vanden (11-0)

7. St. Francis (14-5)

8. Lincoln (16-4)

9. Oakmont (14-5)

10. Sutter (19-0)

11. Vista del Lago (12-3)

12. East Nicolaus (14-1)

13. Folsom (10-6)

14. Pleasant Grove (10-11)

15. Granite Bay (11-9)

16. Ponderosa (12-5)

17. McClatchy (8-3)

18. Marysville (13-5)

19. Colfax (8-6)

20. Center (6-7)

On the bubble: Cordova (11-3), Cosumnes Oaks (8-7), Inderkum (12-6), Laguna Creek (8-6), Liberty Ranch (14-4), Pioneer (8-3) Rodriguez (9-3), Rosemont (14-4), Vacaville (6-7), Yuba City (11-6).

This story was originally published May 17, 2021 at 8:23 AM.