Bee’s Top 20 Sacramento-area softball teams include star-studded Oak Ridge, Destiny Christian
As championship season for winter sports in the Sac-Joaquin Section approaches, spring student-athletes are ready to kick the door open.
Talent runs deep in the greater Sacramento area on the softball fields. Since the California Interscholastic Federation implemented regional championships for Northern and Southern California in 2022, the Sacramento region has had eight teams reach NorCal finals and has crowned four of them.
Several area graduates have gone on to star at the collegiate level and several more will likely follow from this crop.
According to MaxPreps’ initial preseason rankings, Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills entered the 2025 season as the fourth-ranked team nationally. Destiny Christian Academy, formerly known as Capital Christian, is not far behind in the national ranks, entering the year in the Top 50.
Buckle up. The 2025 softball season is upon us.
Oak Ridge, Destiny, Rocklin lead the charge
Oak Ridge, Destiny Christian and Rocklin begin this season as the top teams in The Sacramento Bee’s rankings. All three are coming off of Sac-Joaquin Section championships and have the tools to make repeat runs.
The No. 1 Trojans added a record 11th section title last spring — their second straight at the D-I level — and they’ll return a wealth of Division I talent from its NorCal runner-up finish in 2024.
The Trojan lineup is stacked with Power-5 college commits. Junior catcher Brooklyn Paratore is bound for Washington, junior utility player Sam Alekman is committed to LSU, junior center fielder Emery Glaser is a Nevada commit, and the left side of the infield is headed to North Carolina State. Shortstop Carly Short and third baseman Carmen Montes de Oca pack a punch in the order.
Senior Ellison Schroeder (Santa Clara) and sophomore Kennedi Freeland will share pitching duties for the Trojans.
▪ No. 2 Destiny Christian is coming off of back-to-back NorCal championships in its final two years known as Capital Christian. But despite the new name, plenty of the same faces return, including two-time Bee Player of the Year Ayla Tuua.
The junior pitcher is perhaps the most dominant two-way player in the section. She went 17-2 with a 0.93 ERA, 245 strikeouts in 135 innings and tossed five no-hitters in the circle while hitting .488 with 11 homers and 28 RBI for the team that finished atop the final Bee softball rankings. She is committed to LSU to play on full scholarship.
Tuua’s battery mate, McKayla Fulmer, is a Fresno State commit who hit .343 with seven homers, and second baseman Maddi Woodcock is an East Texas A&M commit.
A showdown with Oak Ridge looms on March 12.
▪ No. 3 Rocklin won its second section title in perhaps the game of the year in the D-II finals against Tracy. The Thunder graduated last year’s Bee Large School Player of the Year Sydney Barker, who is already making an impact for the Oklahoma Sooners.
But the Thunder have plenty to be excited about with the return of starter Payton Prior, who as a freshman threw 10 gritty innings in that section championship game. She went 12-3 with 176 strikeouts last year.
Rocklin coaches Jim Albin and Scott Luciano are also excited about having senior third baseman Katie Wetteland for a full season. Wetteland led the Thunder in hitting as a freshman in 2022 before a torn labrum sidelined her for most of her sophomore and junior years. In Rocklin’s season opener against Elk Grove, the Nevada-bound Wetteland went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI in a 7-0 win.
Senior catcher Marley Hogue is a Stanislaus State commit, and junior first baseman Savannah Lorenzini is headed to Coastal Carolina. Sophomore outfielder Cat Alston led the Thunder with a .396 average, 42 hits and four triples last year. Freshman Sammie Snell takes over at shortstop and will add a lot of pop at the plate.
Rounding out the Top 10
No. 4 Whitney has a load of D-I college commits in its lineup, including third-baseman Tylie Kitchen (San Diego State) and shortstop Alyssa “Peanut” Flindt (Boise State), whose sister Mya was the Bee’s Player of the Year in 2024.
The Wildcats were abruptly and dishearteningly eliminated from the NorCal bracket last year after reportedly using an ineligible player during a section playoff game. The Wildcats also feature collegiate commits Emma Rabe (Dakota State), Grace Boyd (CSU Monterey Bay) and Aliyah Lomuljo (Golden West).
▪ No. 5 Pleasant Grove has one of the top pitchers in the section in senior Madeline Lawson. The Columbia commit is approaching 500 strikeouts for her soon-to-be four-year varsity career. She also added some power to her bat last year with three home runs to go with a .368 average.
Junior infielder Shealynn Stinson is a Fresno State commit who hit .378 a year ago. Sophomore Natalie Brozaitis hit .395 and led the team with 23 RBIs as a freshman.
▪ One of the longtime coaching staples of Sacramento in any sport, Mary Jo Truesdale is no longer in the Sheldon dugout. After 26 playoff appearances in 27 years, including nine section titles and 17 league banners, Truesdale decided it was time to call it a career.
“There would never be a right time for me (to retire),” Truesdale said after the 2024 season concluded. “I would love to coach until I’m 100. It’s really difficult to say goodbye, but there’s no good time.”
Longtime Truesdale assistant Joe Jaquez takes over for the No. 6 Huskies, who return a strong 1-2 punch in the circle with Kwinci Brown (Kentucky) and Micah Kennedy. Infielder Madison “Squirt” Chapman (Simpson University) is the catalyst at the top of the order. Catcher Grace Harding, junior Angie Guzman and transfer Miyani Marshall will provide some pop in the lineup.
▪ A pair of junior Cal Poly commits lead No. 7 Granite Bay, including pitcher Cam Lincoln and slugger Leilani Terrazas. Lincoln had a 1.70 ERA and 148 strikeouts in 99 innings last year while Terrazas has 13 career home runs and 52 RBI entering her junior year.
Sami McKown, Madison Lopez, Reese Clark and Paetynn Snobar are also names to watch for the Grizzlies.
▪ No. 8 Ponderosa still has players leftover from its 2023 section championship team, including outfielders Molly McFarland (Humboldt State) and three-sport star Brooklynn Nordquist. Sadie Ward and UC Riverside commit Marissa Granade will likely assume the pitching duties while junior Ellie Escobar (Southern Oregon) returns a .422 average from a year ago.
▪ No. 9 Vacaville returns one of the heaviest hitting lineups in the section. The Bulldogs had 25 of their 29 home runs last year from players who return this season.
Idaho State bound Laila Dean and East Tennessee commit Natalya Stonebraker each hit seven long balls last year. Paige Witte had five and Naomi Morant had three as juniors. Senior catcher Hayden Kyne is signed to Notre Dame and enters her fourth varsity season with a .386 career batting average.
▪ No. 10 Del Oro is beginning its season with a 30-day cell phone detox with no social media to raise awareness for mental health.
On Jan. 31, the Golden Eagles traded in their smartphones for old fashioned flip phones and held an auction to raise funds for stadium lights on the Del Oro softball field — with help from San Francisco Giants ace Logan Webb, a Rocklin High School alum. With fewer distractions, the Golden Eagles started the season with a bang with an 11-0 win over Placer that included five extra-base hits and a three-hit, 12-strikeout performance from Mikayla Finn.
Abby Davidson (Utah Tech), Ava Messina (American International) and Delaney Osborne (Southern Illinois) highlight the senior class. But Del Oro has plenty of youth that will contribute as well, including juniors Kate Brown, Chloe Champas and Avery Enyart, sophomore Avyn Brower and freshmen Caelyn Campos and Emma Johnson.
▪ Other key committed players to track this season include Marissa Bryson (Stanford), Sofia Hernandez (Cornell) and Caitlin Mayfield (UNLV) of Pioneer; Mikayla Arlotto (Cal Poly) of Franklin; Hailey Shiflet (CSU San Marcos) of Bella Vista; Emily Morris (Saint Mary’s) of Dixon; Chloe Gomes (CSU San Marcos) of Oakmont; Claire Krotine (Santa Clara) of St. Francis; Maryn MacNeil (Hawaii) of Woodcreek; and Teagan Hayes (Tennessee-Martin) and Adison Huiskens (Idaho State) of Woodland Christian.
The Bee’s Top 20
(With 2024 records)
1. Oak Ridge (24-5)
2. Destiny Christian (26-3-1)
3. Rocklin (15-16)
4. Whitney (22-4)
5. Pleasant Grove (19-4)
6. Sheldon (15-13)
7. Granite Bay (10-17)
8. Ponderosa (20-6)
9. Vacaville (22-7)
10. Del Oro (7-19)
11. Franklin (10-17)
12. Inderkum (14-13-1)
13. Pioneer (21-6)
14. Bella Vista (19-5)
15. East Nicolaus (25-5)
16. Dixon (22-5)
17. Elk Grove (18-11)
18. St. Francis (17-10)
19. Vista del Lago (17-10)
20. Woodland Christian (18-5)
Bubble: Christian Brothers (17-7); Folsom (15-14); Laguna Creek (14-9); Oakmont (14-13); Roseville (17-12); Sutter (30-0); West Park (15-6); Wheatland (17-10); Woodcreek (14-10); Yuba City (16-11).
Nick Pecoraro is a sports journalist and host of “Premier Preps with Nick Pecoraro,” a weekly prep show available on YouTube that recaps games and teams in the Sacramento area each week. Find it at youtube.com/@PremierPreps.