DCA is No. 1 seed in CIF softball NorCal, Roseville top baseball seed in D-4
The final stretch of the high school sports calendar for the 2025-26 academic year is here, punctuated by the CIF Northern California softball and baseball Regional Championships.
The NorCal tournaments for these sports started in 2022. Next season, there will be a state championship grand finale.
For these tournaments, all Northern California teams are ranked in order and dropped into divisions accordingly, based on a competitive-equity formula that crunches strength of schedule, strength of league, playoff results, and, sometimes, head-to-head results.
Destiny Christian Academy of Sacramento is the top seed in the Division I softball bracket, the elite of the elite in a state big on this sport. DCA is the only unbeaten team in the state, ranked second in the state by Cal-Hi Sports.
In baseball, Roseville is the No. 1 seed in Division III, the only regional program to gain that distinction. NorCal games for both sports will be held at home sites on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Softball
Rolling along at 28-0, the Lions seek to win the program’s third NorCal banner in four years and the first at Division I after taking Division IV honors in 2023 and the Division II trophy in 2024. DCA opens against No. 8-seeded College Park of Pleasant Hill.
This is the swan song week for one of the region’s all-time great softball stars in Ayla Tuua, the three-time Sacramento Bee Player of the Year who is similarly impressive off the field as a goodwill ambassador on campus and in the community. Headed to Louisiana State University on scholarship, the slugger/ace pitcher led her team’s spirited charge through the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. For the season, Tuua is batting .671, second on the team to sophomore catcher Ella Dossey’s .694 average. Vanguard-bound outfielder KK Fulmer is batting .571.
Tuua has swatted a NorCal-leading 17 home runs to go with 51 hits, 71 RBI and 56 runs. Purdue-bound Roxanne Sardo has 11 home runs 44 RBI, and Takiyah Haygood has 40 RBI. Tuua in the pitching circle has an 0.25 ERA and a 9-0 record, and Sardo is 9-0 with an 0.74 ERA.
Whitney, Elk Grove also in D-I
Sac-Joaquin Section Division I champion Whitney of Placer County and section Division II winner Elk Grove are also in this bracket, seeded sixth and seventh, respectively. Elk Grove beat Whitney in a nonleague game 4-1 in March and has a 28-4 record and a 12-game winning streak under coach Amanda Buck, but the head-to-head effort over Whitney didn’t earn the Thundering Herd a higher seed. One reason: Whitney’s league — the Sierra Foothill League — was deemed stronger than Elk Grove’s Delta League.
Elk Grove, which is dominated by freshmen, is led by first-year players Kadence Pettis (.486 batting average), Tamiyah Ward (.442) and Madelyn Benzler (.362, seven home runs, 37 RBI, 1.10 ERA as the ace pitcher). Elk Grove opens at No. 2 Clovis East (21-4) of Fresno County.
Whitney (24-8) is paced by leading hitters Sidney Kleiner (.469), Rebecca Rau (.424), Bri Seffens (.418, 33 RBI), Kaitlyn Johnson (26 RBI) and Brooklyn Steele (19 RBI). Ace pitcher Tyler Cordell is 19-3, with a 1.17 ERA. Whitney opens at No. 3 Mitty of San Jose (26-3) and ace pitcher Kyleigh Mace (21-2, 0.83 ERA, 237 strikeouts).
Del Oro, East Nicolaus in D-II
Del Oro of Placer County (20-8) won the NorCal Division I title a year ago, returned a host of players and longtime championship coach Sean Erickson, and the Golden Eagles are seeded second in Division II opposite of No. 1 Alameda of the Bay Area (23-5).
Del Oro lost to Elk Grove 3-2 in the section Division II finals. The Golden Eagles are paced by sophomore hitters Caelyn Campos (.490, 16 doubles, 21 RBI, 30 runs) and Emma Johnson (.436, nine doubles, 12 home runs, 32 RBI, 21 runs) and pitchers Mikayla Finn (11-4, 2.17 ERA) and freshman Katharine Popovski (9-1, 1.35 ERA).
East Nicolaus of Sutter County and a longtime powerhouse in the CIF Northern Section is No. 6 seed in Division III, having won its seventh consecutive section crown. The Spartans (25-1) seek a third consecutive trip to a NorCal final and open at No. 3 Rodriguez of Fairfield (17-10).
East Nicolaus is led by hitters Kaylyn Ponce (.435), Hailey Glenn (.406, 21 RBI) and Sky Kim (.398, 25 RBI) and ace pitcher Kylah Glenn (21-0, 1.64 ERA, 202 strikeouts).
Baseball
De La Salle, St. Mary’s, Elk Grove top seeds in D-I
Winners of the Division I NorCal bracket in 2022, 2023 and 2025, the storied De La Salle Spartans of Contra Costa County are the top seed in Division I, having won the program’s 16th North Coast Section championship over the weekend. DLS is 22-1 on the field after forfeiting their first three games of the season due to unspecified team rules violations. The Spartans are state-ranked No. 3 by Cal-Hi Sports.
Sac-Joaquin Section Division I champion St. Mary’s of Stockton (26-6) is state-ranked No. 8, two spots ahead of section D-II winner Elk Grove (27-6), which has an early season nonleague win over St. Mary’s.
Elk Grove, top-ranked by The Bee and winners of 10 consecutive games under coach Joe Bellotti, is led by sophomore Jayden Hernandez (.421 average, 31 RBI), Hudson Hall (.390) and hitter/pitcher Tristen Bartlett (.374, seven saves).
Fourth-year varsity starting infielder Chase Groves, headed to Cal, has 25 RBI for Elk Grove. Pitchers Anthony Bascherini (8-2, 2.01 ERA), Cooper Gannon (6-1, 2.40) and Chase Dyer (5-1, 3.00) are part of a strong pitching rotation/bullpen. Elk Grove hosts No. 6 Soquel of Santa Cruz County, the Central Coast Section Division I runner-up.
Franklin, Rio Americano could meet in D-II
Sac-Joaquin Section Division I runner-up Franklin of Elk Grove (22-9-1) is the No. 2 seed in Division II and will host No. 7 Chico of the Northern Section (22-8). The Wildcats and longtime coach Bryan Kilby are led by 2025 Bee Player of the Year Dylan Minnatee (.396, 26 RBI), Ryan Cody (.394) and brothers Andrew and Noah Flores. Minnatee has an 0.76 ERA and Cody has a 2.20 ERA and a team-best 9-1 pitching record.
Sac-Joaquin Section Division III champion Rio Americano (27-6) is seeded sixth and visits No. 3 Los Gatos of Santa Clara County. The Raiders are paced by hitters Trey Howell-Chase (.491, 27 RBI, 38 runs), George Landis (.407) and Jackson Hobbs (.396). The ace pitchers are Joey Dormann (10-0, 0.60 ERA) and Pierce Tully (6-1, 1.62 ERA).
If Franklin and Rio Americano win openers, the teams would meet in a Thursday semifinal in Elk Grove. Clayton Valley Charter of Concord is the No. 1 seed.
Roseville top seed in D-III
Fresh off of a Sac-Joaquin Section championship repeat, Roseville (27-4) bounds into the next phase top-seeded and rolling with an 11-game winning streak. The Tigers host No. 8 Santa Cruz (18-11).
Roseville’s veteran lineup includes hitters Benjamin Jordan (.413, 13 doubles, 24 RBI, 38 runs), Ashton Chang (.396), Devin Johnson (36 RBI), Jacob Welch (.393, 26 RBI) and Justin Fischer (nine doubles, 32 runs). And there are the ace pitchers. UC Davis-bound senior Tyler Ritter is 10-0 with an 0.70 ERA and Vanderbilt-committed junior Ethan Gustus is 6-1 with a 1.51 ERA.
Wheatland is the No. 5 seed at 24-8 and will visit No. 4 Foothill of the Northern Section (22-8).
For complete brackets, ticket information and more, visit the CIF site here.