Prep baseball rankings: Vista del Lago series win; Pioneer moves up; Woodcreek sweep
Sal Rivera has been around the game of baseball for a while now.
The Vista del Lago High School coach started his coaching career at nearby El Camino High School and has been in the coaching circle for about a decade. Last week he witnessed one of the top moments in his baseball life.
With the Eagles down one in the bottom of the seventh inning against ninth-ranked Del Campo, Kaden Knapp and Spencer Marr both walked to bring up Drew Anderson, who hit a double over the left fielder’s head. That hit scored two runs and gave No. 6 Vista del Lago a 6-5 win.
Because the Eagles beat Del Campo in extra innings a few days prior, 7-6, the win clinched the series.
“Personally, it was one of my top-5 moments as a player or a coach in my baseball life,” Rivera said. “It was so cool to be a part of ... (to) be in that moment and watch those guys cheer after that stuff, it was surreal. It’s good motivation for them to know they can come back in any situation no matter what that situation may be. It’s a confidence-booster. … Any of those games could have been (sweeps) for either team.”
How does a team recover from a tough week of baseball? The answer for Vista del Lago is yoga. The team has a biweekly yoga session on Saturdays to rest, recover and mentally prepare for the following week.
“This week was pretty intense,” Rivera said. “We had yoga in the morning on Saturday. They were pretty beat up from a tough series. … (Yoga) is a way for the kids to decompress and stretch out any injuries, get their legs back and mind right for the upcoming week. These league games are like gold and they mean a lot.”
It seems to be working. Vista del Lago is off a 7-2 start after going 14-13-1 last season. The Eagles return a majority of the team from last year including Knapp, Anderson, Marr, Tyler Davis, Jacob Cullen, Justin Laforturne, Bobby Romitti, Sam Anderson, Aidan Santos and Richie Greogry. They’re all seniors.
“We return everybody, which is nice,” Rivera said. “We learned a lot this offseason. They did a lot of work in the offseason. To have the senior leadership is second to none. They know how last season went. They have a lot of motivation to prove how successful they can be.”
Vista del Lago has a bye week off the Capital Athletic League schedule. The team has nonconference games against Wheatland, Cosumnes Oaks and Folsom before playing El Camino, Rivera’s old school, next week.
Around the horn
▪ Welcome to the rankings, Pioneer. For the first time this season the Patriots are ranked after recording wins over Del Oro and Winters last week. In the game against top-15 ranked Del Oro, Carson Timothy struck out 10 in six innings.
▪ Woodcreek swept Yuba City to improve to 5-1. Dating back to last season, the Timberwolves have won 20 Capital Valley Conference games in a row. Woodcreek has nonconference games against two ranked teams in Folsom and Oakmont this week.
▪ Coming in Handy: Placer sophomore John Handy had a clutch grand slam under the bright lights at James Field in Auburn to blow the game open against league rival Lincoln. His grand slam helped his team beat Lincoln 14-9 and clinch the series. Daniel Corkery had three hits in the rubber match.
▪ Trailing 3-0 heading into the sixth inning, West Park put up five runs to beat Nevada Union 5-3. Treston Kochhar had the go-ahead 2-run double that gave the Panthers their first varsity win in school history. The school opened last year and West Park only fielded a junior varsity team during the shortened season.
▪ Oakmont swept Ponderosa to open Foothill Valley League play on a hot start. Tony Lira, Danny Myles, Brayden Murua and Demetri Perry have put up good performances for the Vikings.
▪ After trailing by two runs heading into the sixth inning, Granite Bay rallied to beat Roseville 6-5. Avery Isola and Preston Fondren both had standout performances at the plate.
▪ Kennedy is off to a 7-2 start and is on the bubble rankings for the first time this season. Michael Santos-LaPlaca, Francisco Castillo, Jackson Colegrove,Talen Hollowell and Zackary Wood all have double-digit hits so far.
▪ The Bee’s top-ranked team in Elk Grove opened Delta League play with a sweep over Pleasant Grove. In the series opener, Kade Brown had three hits and five RBIs.
▪ Laguna Creek has won three in a row. The Cardinals beat Dixon to start the week and took two from Burbank. Matthew Walkup, who was a key contributor on last season’s team, is the current team-leader in hits.
▪ Stat watch via MaxPreps: McClatchy senior Malcolm Moore is currently tied for the Sac-Joaquin Section lead in home runs (7) and hits (19). Moore is the section’s outright leader in RBIs with 20. Colfax’s Noah Souza leads the Sacramento-area in strikeouts with 37.
The Bee’s Top 25
With records as of Sunday
1. Elk Grove 5-2
2. Woodcreek 5-1
3. McClatchy 9-0
4. Granite Bay 3-3
5. Franklin 6-3
6. Vista del Lago 7-2
7. Vanden 8-0
8. Rocklin 3-5
9. Del Campo 6-3
10. Vacaville 6-3
11. Oak Ridge 3-3
12. Folsom 4-2
13. Ponderosa 4-5
14. Del Oro 7-1
15. Whitney 7-1
16. Rio Americano 4-3
17. Roseville 3-6
18. Jesuit 3-5
19. Placer 3-3
20. Pleasant Grove 2-5
21. Bella Vista 5-2
22. Pioneer 5-1
23. Oakmont 4-4
24. River City 8-3
25. Davis 3-5
Bubble teams: Bradshaw Christian (2-2), Christian Brothers (2-5), Colfax (4-6), Cordova (3-4), Kennedy (7-2), Laguna Creek (4-3), Lincoln (2-5), Marysville (7-2), Nevada Union (6-2), Sutter (6-1)