Prep softball rankings: Vanden still unbeaten; check out our playoff predictions

It’s postseason tournament time, the second season for softball players whose teams made the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. The Sacramento area makes up most of the northern half of the section and looks to dominate most of the larger divisions.

This year, all games will be played at home sites, at least until the finals. It’s a single-elimination tournament all the way through, no losers’ bracket. Lose one, your done.

Divison I

Sheldon, with it’s lineup full of NCAA Division I college commits, is the top seed. The Huskies are followed by Folsom, Lincoln of Stockton and Rocklin. Sheldon is The Bee’s top team, with a 23-5 record, winning 12 of their last 13 games and polishing off the daunting Delta League with a 12-0 mark. The Huskies have banged out 27 home runs this year, led by Dakota Kennedy’s 10 long balls.

Folsom has won seven of its last eight games, including two over Del Oro and a split with Rocklin. Emma Falen’s pitching and timely hitting have been the winning strategy for the Bulldogs this year, and Rocklin can beat anyone. These four teams have a shot.

Lincoln (of Stockton) has played an impressive schedule, with wins over Sheldon and Roseville. Lincoln lost to St. Francis, the only setback in the last 16 games. Jordan Hayes and Daniella Hunter have hit 10 home runs apiece to lead a team with 33 homers. Senior pitcher Peja Goold has struck out exactly two batters per inning with an 0.98 ERA. The Trojans are very good.

Some great performances marked the last week of the season in Division I. After going hitless in her first game of the season, Franklin junior Kealani Nitta has been on a tear. The Fresno State commit outfielder has hit safely in the rest of her team’s 26 consecutive games, including an eye-popping 13-for-16 flourish to finish the regular season. And these hits have come against some of the best pitching in the area. Nitta had three hits against Bree Romero of Sheldon and three more against Jenkins. She has raised her batting average to .617, the best among the larger schools. Her teammate, Emma Nelson, also a junior, has hit safely in 22 games this season and carries a .548 average. Franklin is the No. 9 seed and travel to Gregori of Modesto.

Saturday semifinals prediction: Rocklin at Sheldon, Lincoln at Folsom

Division II

Bee No. 2-ranked Del Oro is the top seed, with St. Francis and Elk Grove seeded third and fourth, followed by Roseville. This is arguably the strongest top four teams in any division. The pitching is deep here, with strikeout ace Aissa Silva of Elk Grove, Caroline Grimes of Del Oro, Malaya Johnson of Roseville and Hope Jenkins of St. Francis among the best in the business.

Del Oro has a strong batting order, one through nine, with 35 home runs and a team batting average of .345. The Eagles outscored opponents by 36 runs in Sierra Foothill League play. Add a strong defense and you see a team that’s hard to bet against. Senior Haylee Engelbrecht leads the Eagles with a .500 average, 12 doubles and has six home runs. Kendal Manley and Olivia Robison each have eight dingers.

St. Francis is well-rounded and battle-tested in the Delta League. One of their three losses was a 4-0 setback at Del Oro, but that was March 15. The other two losses were to No. 1 Sheldon. Catcher Grace Jenkins has popped nine homers, second in this division only to Shelby Shanks of Bear Creek (Stockton), the 10th seed. Shay McDowell has seven home runs for Roseville and Johnson has five.

Del Oro opens with Laguna Creek, St. Francis hosts Cordova. champions of the Greater Sacramento League, Elk Grove hosts Atwater, Vacaville is at Roseville and Lodi is at Granite Bay.

Saturday semifinals prediction: Roseville at Del Oro, Elk Grove at St. Francis.

Division III

How good is Vanden? Doubters are about to find out. Yes, the Vikings 18-0 record includes only three games outside the Montecello Empire League and no tournaments. In nonleague play, Vanden beat Sheldon, East Nicolaus and Pleasant Grove, all ranked in our top 10. Mia Santos of top-seed Vanden has a .614 batting average, hitting safely in 17 games of Vanden’s perfect 18-game season. Pitcher Hazyl Gray is 13-0 with a 0.89 ERA. She is hitting .446 and has a team-leading six home runs.

Vanden will likely play either Vista del Lago or Ponderosa in the semifinals, with the winner taking on either Central Catholic (23-3) or Oakdale (24-2) from the strong Valley Oak League. Randi Roelling may be the best player in the southern Sac Joaquin Section. The Cal-bound junior pitcher shut down Oakdale with a 17-strikeout, one-hit performance to propel the CC Raiders to a 2-1 win and a VOL co-championship with the Mustangs. She is 14-2 with a 0.55 ERA, and is batting .349 with five home runs.

Oakdale features the the Everett sisters pitching duo; Delainey and Reagan. Delainey has one-hitters in both Oakdale games; a 1-0 win and last week’s 2-1 loss. Vista del Lago has ramped up its nonleage schedule this season and Ponderosa broke through the Oakmont/Lincoln blockade to win the Foothill Valley League. They will likely meet at VDL on Thursday with a chance to test themselves at Vanden on Saturday.

Senior Araceli Jaimes of 11 seed Lincoln finished her regular season with a bang. She drove in nine Zebra runs in a 20-2 win over Oakmont. Jaimes was 3-for-5 with a double and a grand slam. She’s hitting .338 with four home runs. Oakmont faces Vista del Lago in Folsom for round one. Lincoln must travel to Merced.

Del Campo is at fifth seed Ponderosa, and Pioneer must travel to Central Catholic.

Saturday semifinals prediction: Vista del Lago at Vanden, Oakdale at Central Catholic.

Division IV

Dixon and Marysville have drawn first-round byes as the top two seeds in this division. Dixon is 19-1 but just how good are the Rams? Senior multi-sport star Brianna Humphries is outstanding, with a .588 batting average and 10 home runs. Sophomore pitcher Felesha Lepenske is 10-0 with a 0.52 ERA and four home runs. Seventh seed Capital Christian hosts Center, and No. 8 seed Casa Roble hosts No. 9 Sonora. Casa carries just one senior on it’s roster and is loaded with young talent. Senior Grace Matej missed the early part of the season but since she has been back, Capital Christian is 10-2, and she’s batting .538 in that stretch. Center has outstanding pitching in Rylei Trujillo who is also hitting over .400.

Saturday semifinals prediction: Oristimba (Newman) at Marysville, Ripon at Dixon.

Division V

Senior Alex Hooper of Colfax is enjoying a great year, hitting .462 with eight home runs. The Falcons take the long trip to Riverbank as the fourth seed. West Campus is at Linden and Encina Prep draws top-seeded Calaveras.

Saturday championship game prediction: Calaveras over Linden 8-6.

Division VI

Woodland Christian will put it’s 22-3 record on the line as the No. 1 seed hosting Buckingham Charter. Five WC players are hitting over .450, led by senior Hailey Castanon’s .556 average and Emily Garcia’s pitching.

Saturday championship game prediction: Woodland Christian 11, Mariposa County 5.

Divison VII

Stone Ridge Christian (19-1) of Merced hosts Leroy Greed Academy (9-9). Golden Sierra and Vacaville Christian have home openers while Foresthill travels to Big Valley Christian in Modesto.

Which brings us to the award for the team must travel the furthest to play their opening game. The winner (or loser) by just one mile is Foresthill, with a 122-mile journey. The Wildfire travel one mile farther than Colfax’s trip to Riverbank. Both teams are in the Placer Unified School District. Maybe they could share a school bus?

Saturday championship game prediction: Stone Ridge defeats league rival Big Valley 10-7.

Coaches, please send in your all-league teams, which we will embargo until their release, and which will we will use for the All-Metro selections. PeteBeeSports@gmail.com.

Final Sacramento Bee Regular Season Rankings

1. Sheldon (23-5)

2. Del Oro (22-4)

3. St. Francis (23-3)

4. Elk Grove (19-6-1)

5. Folsom (18-5-1)

6. Vanden (18-0)

7. Roseville (19-7)

8. Rocklin (16-11)

9. Vista del Lago (20-4-1)

10. Pleasant Grove (15-11)

11. Sutter (25-1)

12. East Nicolaus (25-2)

13. Ponderosa (21-3-1)

14. Granite Bay (14-9)

15. Whitney (10-13)

16. Oakmont (17-5)

17. Dixon (19-1-1)

18. Wheatland (25-3)

19. Marysville (18-4)

20. Inderkum (17-10)

Bubble teams: Capital Christian (11-7), Casa Roble (13-10), Del Campo (12-7), Laguna Creek (11-14), Liberty Ranch (14-1), Lincoln (12-12), Pioneer (13-10-1), River Valley (16-9-1), River City (15-8-1), Woodcreek (15-12), Woodland Christian (18-3).

Tuesday’s softball playoff games

Division I

16 Johnson at 1 Sheldon

15 Chavez at 2 Folsom

13 McClatchy at 4 Rocklin

12 River Ctiy at 5 Tracy

11 Turlock at 6 Whitney

10 Enochs at 7 Pleasant Grove

9 Franklin at 8 Gregori

14 Stagg at 3 Lincoln (Stkn.)

Division II

16 Laguna Creek at 1 Del Oro

15 Cordova at 2 St. Francis

14 Atwater at 3 Elk Grove

13 Vacaville at 4 Roseville

12 Lodi at 5 Granite Bay

11 Golden Valley at 6 St. Mary’s

10 Bear Creek at 7 River Valley

9 Rodriguez at 8 Woodcreek

Division III

16 Rosemont at 1 Vanden

15 Pioneer at 2 Central Catholic

14 Beyer at 3 Oakdale

13 Oakmont at 4 Vista del Lago

12 Del Campo at 5 Ponderosa

11 Lincoln at 6 Manteca

10 Ceres at 7 Merced

9 Kimball at Los Banos

Division IV

Top five have byes

1 Dixon

2 Marysville

3 Orestimba

4 Ripon

5 Liberty Ranch

11 Galt at 6 Escalon

10 Center at 7 Capital Christian

9 Sonora at 8 Casa Roble

Division V

8 Encina at 1 Calaveras

7 West Campus at 2 Linden

6 Summerville at 3 Hilmar

5 Colfax at 4 Riverbank

Division VI

8 Buckingham Charter at 1 Woodland Christian

7 Delta Charter at 2 Millennium

6 Argonaut at 3 Mariposa

5 Le Grand at 4 Ben Holt

Division VII

8 Leroy Greene at 1 Stone Ridge

7 Foresthill at 2 Big Valley

6 Ripon Christian at 3 Vacaville Christian

5 Alpha Charter at 4 Golden Sierra