Prep softball rankings: New team tops rankings; Sutter aims at 50; Rocklin schedules up

The strikeout specialists are putting on a show, the hitters are going deep and the top coaches are ducking no opponents. The Sacramento-area softball season is off to a great start with head-to-head matchups among the top teams in the area.

We have an unbeaten streak approaching 50 games this week, which faces a serious challenge from the new, unbeaten No. 1 team in The Sacramento Bee rankings. A team trying to stay off the radar a bit longer is exposed for its success on the field as a new coach tries to return the program to its glory days. We’ve seen extra-inning heroics, including a rare walk-off triple. Seriously.

It’s all adding up to a great start to what promises to be an epic softball season with an abundance of talented student athletes. There are too many players to mention each week, but we try.

Let’s start with with that walk-off triple, which occurred under the lights at Folsom Lake College last Thursday. With the score tied at 3, bottom of the ninth inning, Rocklin pitcher Brielle Wright battled in the circle. With a runner on first base, she faced one of the best players in the area in left-handed hitting Tayler Biehl, shortstop for Vista del Lago. Biehl had already hammered a line-drive home run in the first inning and reached base on a bunt. Biehl placed a line-drive shot perfectly out of reach for the left fielder. The ball rolled to the fence. Biehl made it to third base before Makalya Mentzer scored the winning run as the crowd erupted. Charlize Cai, VDL’s impressive sophomore pitcher, struck out 11 Thunder batters for the win.

Biehl, who will be an Arizona Wildcat next year, and Wright, who will pitch at Princeton, are examples of the best Sacramento-area softball has to offer. Having lost two extra inning nail-biters against two of the top teams in the area, Wright took to the circle the day after the VDL loss and shut down the heavy-hitting Roseville Tigers for five innings. Rocklin bounced back for a 5-0 rivalry win.

For the week, Wright faced three top-10 teams, struck out 27 batters and only picked up one win. That’s because Rocklin coach Mallory Asaro believes in scheduling big in the preseason, so her team will be prepared for another championship run in the Sierra Foothill League. In eight preseason games the Thunder, last year’s No. 1-ranked team, have played four of the top five teams, earning Rocklin the award for the toughest scheduling. Despite losing two extra-inning games, the Thunder moved up in the rankings. Scheduling matters.

Their 4-4 record says more about Asaro’s belief in her team and what lies ahead for the Thunder. Rocklin and Del Oro (6-1) are early favorites to win the Sierra Foothill league, as coach Sean Erickson is also scheduling top teams.

Elk Grove the New No. 1

Asaro and Erickson are not the only coaches who believe in scheduling big. Elk Grove’s Amanda Buck has her Herd thundering through the best teams in the area with a perfect 6-0 mark as they take over the No. 1 ranking from Sheldon this week. Sophomore lefty Aissa Silva is putting up phenomenal numbers. Her earned run average is pristine 0.00, she has stuck out half of the batters she has faced, including back-to-back 17K performances, and has allowed just 11 hits in 33 innings.

Ava Domenici of Lincoln matched up head to head with Silva in a game this year. Domenici gave up a first inning run to Elk Grove which stood as the final score. Domenici struck out nine Herd batters in seven innings, Silva compiled seven K’s in six frames. Silva has come close to posting no-hitters a few times. Center pitcher Rylei Trujillo got the only hit against Silva and struck out 10 Elk Grove hitters earlier this year. But that was one of Silva’s 17K performances in a 5-0 win.

Nifty 50?

There’s a matchup of intrigue this Thursday up at tiny Sutter High School, where the North Section Huskies, under coach Stefanie Danna, have racked up 48 consecutive wins.

Sutter pitcher Riley Wickum (Cal State Northridge commit) struck out 18 batters in games last week and Ella Jolley hit two home runs. Jolley is hitting .611 with four home runs, while Wickum is hitting .550 with a home run and leads the team with 11 runs batted in.

“You can see that Sutter plays really well as a team and Wickum throws well,” said first-year Woodcreek coach Gary Ybarra. “She’s tough.”

Ybarra had his team off to a 4-0 start prior to a 10-0 loss to the Huskies last week.

If Sutter can get by Orland on Tuesday, a win against Elk Grove on Thursday would be a school record 50th consecutive win. Sutter beat Elk Grove 5-2 last year with many of the same players on both rosters.

As for Woodcreek, Ybarra would have preferred not to be ranked in the Top 20 just yet, even though he’s trying to bring the program back to its glory days.

“We would have preferred to fly below the radar for a little longer,” Ybarra said. But with players like seniors Morgan McMillian and Kristyn Dodd, and pitchers Maliya Lawson and Maryn Mcneil, the Timberwolves intend to challenge Roseville in the Capital Valley Conference.

Note from the North Section

Wheatland, Sutter and East Nicolaus have combined to go 20-0 so far this year. They are not facing the competition each week of the Delta, SFL, FVL or the CAL, but there is college-level talent on those teams. Hopefully, we will see them locally as tournaments return this year. Wheatland and Sutter will be moving to the Sac-Joaquin Section this fall.

Here are just a few more games of note this week: St. Francis at Del Oro, Vista del Lago at Roseville, Sheldon at Lincoln, Vanden opens its season at 5-1 Fairfield, the SFL opens play with Folsom at Rocklin and Del Oro at Whitney. Two small-school powers who are undefeated this season match up as 5-0 East Nicolaus visits 9-0 Wheatland on Tuesday. The mighty Delta League opens next week.

For more Sacramento-area softball notes and video clips or suggestions find me on Twitter @Pete24Dufour. Players, list your high school teams in your profile.

Sacramento Bee Softball Top 20 rankings

1. Elk Grove (6-0)

2. Del Oro (6-1)

3. St. Francis (4-0)

4. Sheldon (2-2)

5. Rocklin (4-4)

6. Roseville (4-2)

7. Vanden (0-0)

8. Vista Del Lago (3-0-1)

9. Folsom (1-0-1)

10. Sutter (6-0)

11. East Nicolaus (5-0)

12. Granite Bay (4-1)

13. Woodcreek (4-1)

14. Pleasant Grove (4-3

15. Whitney (1-1)

16. Lincoln (2-4)

17. Oakmont (2-1)

18. Antelope (5-2)

19. Wheatland (9-0)

20. Bella Vista (6-2-1)

Bubble teams: Center (0-5), Fairfield (5-1), Inderkum (7-2), Oak Ridge (6-0), Marysville (4-2), McClatchy (1-0), Monterey Trail (5-1), Pioneer (4-3-1), Ponderosa (5-2-1), River City (4-2-1).

This story was originally published March 15, 2022 at 7:32 AM.