MaxPreps Northern California Top 25 high school baseball rankings

Video: Davis vs. Maria Carillo baseball highlights

A good many of the ranked teams here play very strong schedules, by design. The better the foe, the better the ultimate result.

De La Salle climbs to No. 1, Davis bounds to No. 2 and Bellarmine is No. 3, giving each of the top sections in Northern California a leading representative.


1. De La Salle (Concord) (last week: 3) 5-0
Section: North Coast
League: East Bay
Update: The Spartans slipped past No. 3 Bellarmine 4-3 in nine innings in a battle of Bay Area heavies and head into this week's National Classic in Southern California confident. De La Salle reached the North Coast Section Division I finals last season, and returners include Cullen Kafka (Oregon commit), Connor Redmond (Cal Poly), Conner Roberts (UC Santa Barbara) and Nick Sparks (Saint Mary's).

2. Davis (18) 9-0
Section: Sac-Joaquin
League: Delta
Update: The Blue Devils have found out in a hurry what they have: a fierce and fearless team that won the North championship of the Boras Baseball Classic. Davis rallied from a 5-0 deficit to beat No. 4 Serra 10-6 after beating ranked teams in Heritage 6-2, Oak Ridge 6-2 and Maria Carrillo 7-5. Ryan Holgate, Gabe Gutierrez, Hunter Jury, Peter Frame, Ryan Bell, Tyler Mortensen and Ryan Kreidler are all off to good starts. Davis won Section D-I titles in 2000, 2004 and 2014.

3. Bellarmine College Prep (San Jose) (NR) 8-2
Section: Central Coast
League: West Catholic Athletic
Update: From unranked to roaring in fast order, the Bells are talented and well coached. They beat preseason No. 1 Saint Francis 2-1, lost in nine innings to new No. 1 De La Salle and beat No. 4 Serra. Kieran Shaw earned the win against Saint Francis. Bellarmine hosts the Cunningham Easter Classic this week.

4. Serra (San Mateo) (10) 8-2-1
Section: Central Coast
League: West Catholic Athletic
Update: The Padres beat St. Mary's (Stockton), Clovis West (Fresno) and Tracy to reach the finals of the Boras Baseball Classic before falling to No. 2 Davis, 10-6. This is yet another team in the mix for the WCAL title, the best league in Northern California.

5. Jesuit (Carmichael) (7) 7-2
Section: Sac-Joaquin
League: Delta
Update: The Marauders went 2-2 in the IMG National Classic in Florida, topping Carrolwood Day of Tampa 11-3 and Moseley of Lynn Haven, Fla. and losing to nationally ranked teams. Sophomore Cody Jensen, already committed to Stanford, is 2-1 with two saves. Cal-bound Jack Wolger has pitched well. Nick Sogard and Nick Iwasa were leading hitters in Florida.

6. Los Gatos (4) 8-5
Section: Central Coast
League: Santa Clara Valley
Update: The Wildcats are already 4-0 in league play and went 2-2 in the Boras Baseball Classic, including wins over No. 6 Oak Ridge 6-2 and Stockdale (Bakersfield) 9-2. The leading arms are Hunter Bigge, Jake Holton and Brooks Olesek.

7. Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) (8) 4-2
Section: Sac-Joaquin
League: Sierra Foothill
Update: The Trojans have an impressive early win over preseason No. 2 Elk Grove, 2-1, and a quality loss to No. 2 Davis, 6-2, in the Boras Baseball Classic. Games looming before the start of league play are against Franklin (Elk Grove) and Vista del Lago (Folsom).

8. Elk Grove (2) 3-3
Section: Sac-Joaquin
League: Delta
Update: The Thundering Herd have as daunting a schedule as anyone, by design, to harden this hard group. Wins include 1-0 over ranked Valley Christian, 6-2 over Heritage and 12-2 over Mitty with losses to ranked teams De La Salle 7-1, Oak Ridge 2-1 and Tracy 5-4. Elk Grove is in the Hard 9 National Classic in Fullerton this week.

9. Heritage (Brentwood) (5) 6-2
Section: North Coast
League: Bay Valley
Update: The Patriots beat ranked Monte Vista 4-0 and Manteca 10-4 before the Boras Baseball Classic. In that prestigious event, Heritage fell to No. 2 Davis 6-2 before beating Stockdale 5-3, preseason No. 1 Saint Francis 4-3 in eight innings and losing to No. 8 Elk Grove 6-2. Heritage is in the Elite Eight Classic at Saint Francis this week.

10. Casa Grande (Petaluma) (12)
Section: North Coast
League: North Bay
Update: The top team in the North Bay has lost only to Petaluma 12-5 but has big wins over ranked Bellarmine 3-2, Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 6-2 and Livermore 6-5. John Green and Spencer Torkelson are off to hot starts at the plate.

11. California (San Ramon) (NR) 7-1
Section: North Coast
League: East Bay
Update: The Grizzlies beat preseason No. 1 Saint Francis 3-2, ranked College Park 5-4, West (Tracy) 1-0, Lodi 5-1, Liberty 2-0 and then fell to formidable Doughterty Valley (San Ramon) 2-1. Zach Chalmers is 3-0 with an 0.95 ERA.

12. College Park (Pleasant Hill) (9) 5-1
Section: North Coast
League: Diablo Valley
Update: The Falcons graduated a ton from its North Coast Section D-I title team but haven't slowed down a bit. The loss was to No. 11 California 5-4, with wins over ranked Monte Vista, 9-6 and San Ramon Valley 7-0. Freshman Kellen Kozlowski has impressed. College Park is in the Saint Francis Elite 8 this week.

13. Saint Francis (Mountain View) (1) 6-5
Section: Central Coast
League: West Catholic Athletic
Update: The Lancers have scheduled monsters, so the losses are legit — including to No. 11 California, 3-2, new No. 1 De La Salle, 5-0, and No. 3 Bellarmine 2-1. Wins include ranked Los Gatos 5-1, ranked Mitty 1-0 and Leigh (San Jose) 7-0. Saint Francis hosts its Elite 8 Classic this week.

14. Monte Vista (Danville) (6) 5-2
Section: North Coast
League: East Bay
Update: The Mustangs lost to No. 12 College Park 9-6 and No. 9 Heritage 4-0 and are gearing up for a league race that will include De La Salle, California, San Ramon Valley and others. Steven Anderson is 2-1 with a 1.31 ERA.

15. Maria Carrillo (Santa Rosa) (13) 5-3
Section: North Coast
League: North Bay
Update: Pumas split with ranked Vintage 6-1 and 3-2 and lost to No. 2 Davis 7-5 before beating ranked Tracy 7-5 in a strong Boras Baseball Classic showing. A leading player is Andrew Vaughn, headed to Cal.

16. San Ramon Valley (Danville) (21) 7-1
Section: North Coast
League: East Bay
Update: The Wolves have piled up runs, scoring 17, 17, 14, 14, 14 and 10 runs in victories. The loss was 7-0 to College Park. League play looms with top-ranked De La Salle a gauge effort on April 2. Nick Moroney has 12 RBIs, Jared Dawson 10 and Ryan Davis nine. Ted Fleming is 3-0 with an 0.98 ERA.

17. Vintage (Napa) (15) 5-4-1
Section: Sac-Joaquin
League: Monticello Empire
Update: The Crushers have split with No. 15 Maria Carrillo, a 6-1 win and a 3-2 loss, and beat preseason No. 1 Saint Francis 5-1 with another ranked win over Mitty 7-5. Ross Henderson has driven in seven runs and Jared Horn is 3-0 with an 0.35 ERA while Nick Akey has two saves.

18. Valley Christian (San Jose) (14) 8-5
Section: Central Coast
League: West Catholic Athletic
Update: The Warriors have scheduled tough — really tough — with losses to ranked Elk Grove 1-0, Jesuit 8-4 and Serra 3-2. Coleman Brigman and Alex Ferroni have combined for 18 RBIs and Patrick Wicklander is 3-0 with an 0.92 ERA.

19. Livermore (19) 4-2
Section: North Coast
League: East Bay
Update: The Cowboys lost to No. 10 Casa Grande 6-5 and have wins over Northgate (Walnut Creek) 2-1 and Mt. Eden (Hayward) 6-0 as league play looms. Mason Arnold and Justin Mitchell are hitting .368, Kade Gomes .400 and Dominic Foscalina .350.

20. Redwood (Larkspur) (20) 7-1
Section: North Coast
League: Marin County
Update: The Giants lost only to No. 10 Casa Grande 6-2 in an opener back in the chill of February. There have been wins of 2-0, 6-2, 5-0 and 15-0 as the arms have come alive. Zack Kopstein is 4-0 with a 1.59 ERA and Zach Cohen is 3-1 with a 1.02 ERA.

21. Tracy (NR) 8-2
Section: Sac-Joaquin
League: Tri-City Athletic
Update: The Bulldogs are off to an encouraging start, including a win over preseason No. 2 Elk Grove 5-4 in extra innings to open the Boras Baseball Classic. Another quality win was over Yuba City 7-3 with quality Boras losses to ranked Serra 7-2 and ranked Maria Carrillo 7-5. Nathan George is hitting .522 with nine RBIs and Thomas Greely is 2-0 and Cody Bolton 1-0 with a 1.09 ERA.

22. Pitman (Turlock) (22) 7-1
Section: Sac-Joaquin
League: Central California
Update: The Pride have lost to Lodi 5-1 and have wins over Oakdale (twice) and Stagg 12-0 to head ino the San Luis Obispo Spring Tournament with some momentum. Nick Jones, Anthony Encalade and Bradley Enos have combined for the seven wins. Enos is 3-0 with an 0.49 ERA.

23. Marin Catholic (Kentfield) (23) 6-1
Section: North Coast
League: Marin County
Update: The Wildcats lost only to No. 10 Casa Grande 6-2 and have squeezed out wins over San Marin (Novato) 4-1, Terra Linda (San Rafael) 6-3, Branson (Ross) 6-1 and Drake (San Anselmo) 6-1. Peter Armusewicz is batting .400 with nine RBIs and Brandon Buckley is 2-1 with a 1.84 ERA.

24. Palo Alto (NR) 11-1-1
Section: Central Coast
League: De Anza
Update: The Vikings are off to a hot start, losing only to No. 4 Serra 6-1 and winning two games in extra innings, including over previously ranked Wilcox (Santa Clara) 4-3. Max Jung-Goldberg is hitting .413 with 11 RBIs and Alec Olmstead had 10 RBIs. Olmstead and Jeremy Akioka are both 3-0, both sporting an ERA 1.40 or lower.

25. Woodcreek (Roseville) (NR) 6-1
Section: Sac-Joaquin
League: Sierra Foothill
Update: The Timberwolves are rolling with quality wins over Franklin (Elk Grove) 9-5, Yuba City (10-1), Central (Fresno) 10-0, Clovis North (Fresno) 8-2 and Garces Memorial (Bakersfield) 9-0. The loss was to Buchanan (Clovis) 1-0. Matthew Ornelas, Cody Lindsey and Dennis Boatman have pitched well.

The Sacramento Bee on the red-hot start for the Davis Blue Devils, and other area teams off to fast starts

Joe Davidson has covered high school sports in Northern California since 1984, including since 1988 for The Sacramento Bee. Follow him on Twitter: @SacBee_JoeD and on Facebook: facebook.com/joe.davidson