What’s the key to Del Oro softball team’s 9-0 start? Players put their cellphones away
Before the 2025 season began, members of the Del Oro High School softball team went on a 30-day cell phone digital detox to help improve and raise awareness for mental health.
A month without social media or other digitally related distractions has proven beneficial on the softball field in Loomis. The Golden Eagles entered the week at 9-0 and as The Sacramento Bee’s No. 3 team in the latest Top 20.
“What this endeavor has done for them as individuals is important,” Del Oro head coach Sean Erickson said. “But moreover, what it has done to a group of girls to tie them together and make them feel a part of something bigger than themselves is incredible. And they did it.”
Del Oro uncharacteristically went just 2-13 in Sierra Foothill League play last season and missed the postseason for the first time in 10 years. Erickson sought for ways to unite this year’s team.
“There’s a bond and a tie that binds, and I think last year we were untied,” Erickson said. “We had great leadership and wonderful athletes, great kids. But they didn’t have that opportunity to have something that would bring them together, force them into a togetherness and then have them come out the back end of that so good, so able, so capable. That’s probably the largest difference between last year’s team and this year’s team.”
Del Oro’s roster is made up of four seniors, three juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen. Several members of the team thought the time without their smartphones provided an opportunity to bond together and has served as a direct correlation for the early success on the field, where the Golden Eagles have outscored opponents 81-14 over their first nine games.
“We’ve already had more team dinners and we’ve become closer,” said sophomore pitcher Mikayla Finn after a recent win. “I feel like that’s a big part of how we’re playing. We’re just enjoying each other’s company. It’s just been really great.”
Finn, who holds a 0.57 earned run average, delivered a complete game win with a career high 15 strikeouts on March 6 against Sheldon.
Oak Ridge, Rocklin are Top 2
Speaking of pitching, top-ranked Oak Ridge might have the best 1-2 punch in the circle.
Senior Santa Clara commit Ellison Schroeder and fast-rising sophomore star Kennedi Freeland have the Trojans off to a 9-0 start. The Trojan tandem has only given up nine earned runs and has held opponents to a .123 batting average.
Schroeder is 6-0 with a 0.61 ERA. She fired a no-hitter with 11 strikeouts on Feb. 24 against Monterey Trail.
▪ Another no-hitter coming from a Sierra Foothill League hurler came from Rocklin sophomore Payton Prior on the same day against Roseville. Prior, who was in the circle for Rocklin’s CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championship victory last season, struck out 11 Tigers in five innings for the No. 2 Thunder. She is 7-0 with a 0.85 ERA and 54 strikeouts.
Senior Katie Wetteland, who has missed nearly two full years at Rocklin due to multiple tears to her labrum, is making up for lost time. The Nevada-Reno commit is hitting .571 with five homers, 22 RBI and nine extra-base hits.
Placer climbing out of the depths
After some lackluster years on the softball field in Auburn, Placer is off to its hottest start since 2014.
The Hillgals started 0-2 with their 33rd and 34th losses in a row, a losing streak dating back to 2022. They endured back-to-back 0-15 seasons. But Placer has since rallied for six straight wins entering Foothill Valley League play this week.
The Hillgals are collectively hitting .374 through their first eight games and are led by freshman Carly Rice, who holds a .609 average with two homers and a team high 17 RBI. Sophomore Paige Denniston has three long balls with a .400 average, and senior Sydney Nitta pulls double duty with a .455 average and six doubles and a 6-2 record with 51 strikeouts and 32 innings for Placer.
The Bee’s Top 20
(Records entering Monday)
1. Oak Ridge (9-0)
2. Rocklin (8-0)
3. Del Oro (9-0)
4. Destiny Christian (3-1)
5. Pleasant Grove (2-1)
6. Whitney (5-2)
7. Pioneer (5-2)
8. Davis (10-2)
9. Franklin (8-3-1)
10. Sheldon (4-3)
11. East Nicolaus (4-0)
12. Vacaville (3-4)
13. Woodcreek (4-3)
14. Granite Bay (3-2)
15. Inderkum (6-5)
16. Ponderosa (3-6)
17. Woodland Christian (6-1)
18. Bella Vista (5-4)
19. Sutter (5-2)
20. Rio Linda (7-1)
Bubble: Christian Brothers (4-4); Dixon (1-1); Elk Grove (5-5); Folsom (4-2-2); Laguna Creek (4-1); Oakmont (4-2); Placer (6-2); Roseville (2-2); West Park (3-3); Wheatland (5-4); Yuba City (5-2-1)
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.