High school sports notes: New No. 1 in The Bee’s softball rankings, plus big games ahead
With big bats, two live arms and a knack for winning with flair, there is a new No. 1 softball team in The Bee’s high school rankings.
Take a bow, Whitney Wildcats.
Whitney is 18-5 overall and 10-2 in the muscle-bound Sierra Foothill League, the top softball conference in the Sac-Joaquin Section, punctuated by three teams ranked in The Bee’s top six and six squads in the top 17.
Whitney and coach Mike Mello earned the top ranking after two wins last week over previous No. 1 Folsom, which is enjoying its best season in program history.
The Wildcats beat Folsom 11-3 and 3-2, sandwiched by a 5-2 triumph of once top-ranked Del Oro.
Whitney on Tuesday plays No. 14 Oak Ridge, one of the region’s storied programs. The Wildcats on Thursday play Granite Bay, coached by one of the greatest players in softball history in Michelle Granger, and they conclude with Rocklin, which has been ranked as high as No. 2 this season.
How good is the SFL? Blue-banner decorated good.
Oak Ridge has a section-leading eight championships, Del Oro seven and Rocklin one. Whitney, opened in 2003, seeks its first such title but that figures to change if the momentum continues.
The Wildcats are a difficult out, batters 1 through 9, and boast of two stellar pitchers in junior Nia Trinidad (11-2) and senior Sierra Bedrin (5-2). Trinidad has also clubbed three home runs. Along with sophomore Amara Labonog, Whitney pitchers have struck out 96 in 148 innings.
And when the Wildcats preach family, they mean it, right on down to senior twins Mazie and Makenzie Macfarlane. Mazie is batting .500 with 17 RBIs, three triples and three homers. Makenzie is hitting. 410 with 18 RBIs.
Montanah Hermosillo has 21 hits, 16 RBI and five home runs for the Wildcats.
Thundering along
Elk Grove moved up to No. 2 in The Bee’s softball rankings on the strength of its 13-game winning streak under coach Amanda Buck.
The Thundering Herd is 7-0 in the Delta League with a logjam for second place between St. Francis, Sheldon and Cosumnes Oaks.
Brooklynn Pettis has a team-leading 26 RBIs and is hitting .429, third best on the Herd to Ariyana Miranda’s .533 and Angelica Cano’s .493. Katherine Wolf has 18 RBIs, Cano 16, Alyssa Ramirez 15 and Miranda and Daisy Angele 11 each.
Ava Hand is 12-1 as the staff ace with a 1.70 ERA and 147 strikeouts in 119 2/3 innings.
Baseball
Franklin has been top-ranked by The Bee all season, and the Wildcats cemented it by beating No. 2 Jesuit two of three games last week.
Franklin plays No. 3 Davis three times this week in Delta League action; that started with a home game Monday. Grant Stevens pitched a complete game to win the Jesuit opener 2-0, and the Wildcats rallied with eight runs in the sixth inning of the series capper Friday to win 8-3. Nico Regino had a bases-clearing double in the inning.
In Jesuit’s 12-5 win over Franklin, Daniel Susac clubbed a three-run homer.
With two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Delta will advance five teams to the postseason. This means Elk Grove, as storied a program for any sport in the section, has a shot to extend what has been an otherwise frustrating season. The Herd entered this week 7-15 overall and 4-8 in Delta play. Franklin and Elk Grove cap the regular season with a three-game series.
Folsom thunder
No. 5 Folsom swept No. 6 Rocklin in three games to secure control of the SFL as the Bulldogs continue their finest season as a D-I program.
Winners of nine consecutive games entering the week, Folsom (17-3) has its most wins since going 19-8-1 in 2007. Coach Aaron Agnew went 7-20 his first season in 2015 and 13-13-1 last season before this season’s surge.
Folsom won D-II section crowns in 1999 and 2002 and D-III titles in 1985 and 1989.
Football star CJ Hutton had four hits in a 3-2 win over Rocklin, freshman Tyson Dewall earned a complete-game win — also 3-2 — in the second game, and Folsom scored six in the seventh inning to win the last game 13-9. Hutton, Carson Gross, Lakeal Morris and Judah Morris each drove in two runs for Folsom, which caps the regular season with three-game sets against Del Oro and Whitney.
Hunter heat
Hunter Hayes struck out 12 in six innings to lift Casa Roble past Woodland 10-4 in Golden Empire League play.
The senior has a 0.78 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 36 innings. He suffered a 1-0 loss to Woodland and ace Cooper Hjerpe earlier this season, striking out 10 in six innings (Hjerpe struck out 14 with a no-hitter).
Crump power
Andre Crump, a Bee All-Metro receiver and one of this section’s top three-sport athletes, has received a football scholarship to Sacramento State.
The senior helped power Monterey Trail to a 12-1 showing in football, he scored 50 in a game in basketball and has been a leg on two of the state’s top relay teams this spring, all while sporting a 4.0 GPA.
THE BEE’S TOP 20
This story was originally published April 29, 2019 at 6:56 PM.