The Bee’s baseball Top 20: Whitney, Franklin lead pack; seek D-I section finals rematch
Two high school baseball heavyweights from the opposite ends of the Sacramento region met for championship bragging rights last season, and there could be a rematch brewing.
The Franklin Wildcats of Elk Grove beat the Whitney Wildcats of Rocklin 6-2 to win the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship in front of a full house at Sacramento City College’s Union Stadium. Franklin lost a 6-5, nine-inning thriller at eventual Northern California D-I champion De La Salle of Concord in finishing its finest season at 30-5.
Whitney entered this season ranked No. 1 by The Bee and backed it up with a 2-1 nonleague win at Franklin on March 12. Led by coach Jackson Watt, Whitney won behind a masterful pitching effort from Texas-bound junior Corden Pettey and a defense anchored by returning Bee All-Metro stars Jax Gimenez, an Oregon Ducks commit, and Luke Oyler (Sacramento State).
Franklin is similarly loaded for longtime coach Bryan Kilby and his stellar coaching staff. The team returns ace Nic Abraham, a Tennessee commit who shared Bee Player of the Year honors last season with teammate Nolan Stevens, now at Mississippi State. Also back for Franklin is Cal-bound centerfielder Jordan Lopez and other returning starters such as Noah Meaux, Jason Harris and Dylan Minnatee.
In a 13-2 nonleague win over Rocklin, Abraham tossed a two-hitter and struck out seven in four innings, and Jadyn Ramos, Jason Somera and Kyle Pott combined for 11 RBI.
The Sierra Foothill League and the Delta League are deep and talented again and have ranked teams dotted throughout. Whitney leads the pack in the SFL, followed by No. 3 Granite Bay, No. 7 Oak Ridge, No. 13 Del Oro, No. 17 Folsom and No. 18 Rocklin.
The Delta League starts with defending champion Franklin, No. 5 Elk Grove, No. 8 Davis, No. 10 Jesuit and No. 15 Pleasant Grove.
Pleasant Grove recently dedicated its home baseball diamond to founding coach Rob Rinaldi, one of the area’s all-time greats who now coaches girls golf on the Elk Grove Unified School District campus.
This is the final academic year for Davis and Jesuit as Delta members. The decades-long rivals will enter the SFL for next season through section realignment, something the administrators at both schools pushed for. It will add remarkable depth to the best league in the section.
No. 4 Oakmont heads the Foothill Valley League and No. 6 Woodcreek the Capital Valley Conference. Oakmont is coming off of a section D-IV championship and is 5-0 this season under longtime coach Paul Martinez with wins over Whitney (4-0), Del Oro (4-3) and Woodcreek (8-4).
Sutter, which beat Bradshaw Christian 4-3 in a 13-inning thriller to win a D-V section title last season, is 9-0 with Jagger Beck and Casey Combo both sporting 3-0 pitching records. Sutter is ranked 19th and Bradshaw Christian 20th.
Bear River (6-0) is not preseason ranked, but the Bruins of Lake of the Pines do have a pitcher to keep an eye on. Sophomore Kaden Nichols tossed a six-inning perfect game with 14 strikeouts in a 10-0 win over Golden Sierra. He followed up with a three-hitter and 13 strikeouts to beat defending section D-VI champion Leroy Greene of Sacramento 2-0.
THE BEE’S TOP 20
Baseball
With last year’s record
1. Whitney (26-9)
2. Franklin (30-5)
3. Granite Bay (15-19)
4. Oakmont (21-14)
5. Elk Grove (18-11)
6. Woodcreek (22-10-1)
7. Oak Ridge (15-13-1)
8. Davis (18-11)
9. McClatchy (18-10)
10. Jesuit (14-16-1)
11. Vacaville (18-11)
12. Laguna Creek (14-10)
13. Del Oro (13-13)
14. Rio Americano (27-7)
15. Pleasant Grove (13-15)
16. Christian Brothers (22-8-1)
17. Folsom (12-15-2)
18. Rocklin (14-16)
19. Sutter (26-5-1)
20. Bradshaw Christian (22-6)
Bubble: Bear River (6-0), Del Campo (17-12), Lee Roy Greene (20-2), Lincoln (16-11), Pioneer (23-6), Placer (15-13), Ponderosa (18-11-1), Roseville (18-11), Woodland (20-5), Yuba City (17-11).
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