Prep softball rankings: Sacramento-area teams will compete at NorCals; Sheldon moves up

Some key local matchups and a top-flight tournament in Tracy this past week has helped to define league races and has also provided a glimpse of possible matchups for the first-ever Northern California championships for teams that win Sac-Joaquin Section titles.

Each section champion will have a shot at NorCals. The teams will be picked and seeded May 29. The first games in the eight-team, single-elimination brackets will be May 31, the semifinals will be June 2 and the finals June 4. All games are at home sites of the higher seed. There will be five divisions, to be determined by the CIF office. This tournament has been on hold for two years because of the pandemic, but it could lead to the first-ever California state championships in softball. Stay tuned.

Top Sacramento-area schools who have ventured out across the region in recent weeks include Sheldon, Elk Grove, St. Francis, Roseville, Whitney, Rocklin and Dixon, playing in top ultra-competitive tournaments in Tracy and Livermore. The results speak to the talent in The Bee’s Top 20, but also reveal competitiveness of other leagues outside the Sacramento area.

Sheldon had a good week, winning two games in the Delta League before heading out to Tracy to beat Roseville and Orestimba, then falling to Central Catholic (18-3) of Modesto. Sheldon improved to 16-5, 6-0 in the Delta and takes over the No. 2 spot in this week’s Top 20 rankings.

No. 4 Elk Grove bounced back from a loss to No. 3 St. Francis by beating St. Mary’s and Dublin. The Herd tied Oakdale (19-1-1, leaders of the Valley Oak League), losing only to powerful Notre Dame of the PCAL league (Salinas). In the Oakdale tie, Aissa Silva tossed a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts.

No. 8 Roseville did not fare as well, losing to Sheldon, Notre Dame and Lincoln (Stockton), all teams who could win section championships. No. 15 Whitney played in the Livermore tournament earlier this month and posted a 3-2 record with wins over Archbishop Mitty (San Jose), College Park (Pleasant Hill) and Foothill (Pleasanton) before losing to two of the top teams in Northern California, St. Francis (Mountain View) and Granada (Livermore).

Again, major kudos to those teams seeking out the best competition Northern California has to offer. It can only make them stronger, and it can’t hurt their rankings either. Strength of schedule matters, as we always say.

Back at home, No. 1 Del Oro (17-2, 9-1 in SFL) suffered a setback at No. 6 Folsom as Emma Fallon fanned 12 Eagles and the Bulldogs pulled to within one game of first place in the SFL with a 5-1 win. Del Oro senior Caroline Grimes struck out eight Bulldogs in six innings. She then tossed a three-hitter to beat Granite Bay on Friday. Grimes, a 4.0-plus GPA student, is about to formally announce her signing to play for coach Erin Thorpe at UC Davis next year.

Rocklin beat Oak Ridge and then topped rival Whitney in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the seventh inning to stay three games back in the SFL. Pitcher Brielle Wright tossed a three-hitter in the Whitney win.

In the Capital Athletic League, No. 9 Vista del Lago dispatched the only team likely to catch it, beating Capital Christian, although Del Campo is two game back and hosts the Eagles this week. Morgan Sweet was 3-for-4 with a home run in the win over CC.

In a huge battle of the smallest schools just to our north, No. 11 Sutter was able to slip by No. 12 East Nicolaus 1-0, as Olivia Bauer’s fielder’s choice scored Alexa Carino for the only run of the game. Carino was aboard with her second hit of the game. She and Bauer are sophomores. It was quite a show put on by big-time pitchers Riley Wickum of Sutter, who will play for CSU Northridge next year, and Meika Lauppe of East Nicolaus, who is bound for Arizona State in 2023. Wickum gave up just one hit, striking out 16 for Sutter, which managed just three hits off of Lauppe, who reportedly consistently touched 70 mph on the radar gun.

Hand the MEL crown to the Vanden Vikings. They have a three-game lead with five to go and nobody seems to be able to hit Hazyl Gray. The senior pitcher is 10-0 with 85 strikeouts and has a 0.84 earned run average. At the plate she has a .462 average and leads the team with 24 RBIs and six long balls. Junior Shawnese Hogue-Lacy is hitting .525 with three homers. The Vikings have outscored their opponents 123-13. Their nonleague wins? Sheldon, Pleasant Grove and East Nicolaus. That’s a small sample, but a good one.

With that, here’s our Top 20 softball rankings. (Records reflect games played through Saturday.)

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Sacramento Bee Top 20

1. Del Oro 17-2

2. Sheldon (16-5)

3. St. Francis (16-2)

4. Elk Grove (15-4-1)

5. Vanden (13-0)

6. Folsom (12-4-1)

7. Rocklin (13-8)

8. Roseville (13-7)

9. Vista del Lago 15-2-1

10. Pleasant Grove (12-8)

11. Sutter (20-1)

12. East Nicolaus (18-2)

13. Ponderosa (13-3-1)

14. Oakmont (12-3)

15. Whitney (8-10)

16. Wheatland (17-1)

17. Woodcreek (12-7)

18. Granite Bay (10-6)

19. Dixon (13-3)

20. River Valley (12-5)

Bubble teams: Casa Roble 11-8, Dixon 13-1-1, Inderkum (13-7), Liberty Ranch 9-1, Lincoln 6-10, Marysville (10-3).

This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 6:57 AM.