Rankings

League Standings
as of 3/27/08

Valencia1-0
Hart 1-0
Saugus 1-0
Golden Valley 0-1
Canyon 0-1
West Ranch 0-1

Overall Standings

Valencia 13-2
Hart 9-4
Saugus 6-8-1
Golden Valley 10-6
Canyon 3-10-0
West Ranch 3-11-0


CIF-SS 2008 Coaches’ Softball Rankings

As of March 17, 2008

Division 1 

Division 2

Division 3

1. Santiago

1. Kennedy 

1. Beckman 

2. Valencia

2. Temescal Canyon 

2. Charter Oak 

3. Agoura

3. Lakewood

3. La Serna

4. Norco

4. Ayala

4. Fullerton

5. Marina

5. Canyon - Anaheim

5. Burbank

6.Mater Dei

6. Redlands

6. Crescenta Valley

7. El Toro

7. Paso Robles

7. Quartz Hill

8. Poly (Riverside)

8. El Modena

8. Laguna Hills

9. Thousand oaks

9. Temecula

9. Los Altos

10. Corona

10. Mission Viejo

10. Hawthorne

 

LA Times Pre-season Rankings as of 3-24-2008

Rk. School (Record) Division LW
1. Corona Santiago (10-1) Div. I 1
2. L.P. Kennedy (12-1) Div. II 2
3. Valencia (12-2) Div. I 3
4. Norco (13-2) Div. I 4
5. Ayala (8-4-1) Div. II 6
6. San Pedro (9-1) City 7
7. Thousand Oaks (7-1) Div. I 9
8. El Modena (6-5-1) Div. II 5
9. Lakewood (9-2) Div. II 11
10. Marina (9-2) Div. I 14
11. El Toro (9-5-1) Div. I 10
12. Ana. Canyon (9-3) Div. II 13
13. L.B. Wilson (8-3) Div. II 15
14. Mission Viejo (9-3-1) Div. II 16
15. Camarillo (7-5) Div. I 17
16. Esperanza (6-4-2) Div. I 12
17. Vista Murrieta (6-3) Div. II 18
18. Riverside Poly (5-3) Div. I 8
19. G.G. Pacifica (4-7) Div. II 19
20. Hart (8-3) Div. I 20
21. Simi Valley (8-0) Div. I 21
22. Agoura (6-1) Div. I 23
23. La Mirada (6-2) Div. II 25
24. Foothill (7-5) Div. I NR
25 Beckman (10-3) Div. III NR

California State Rankings

1. Sheldon (Sacramento) 6-1
We weren’t able to release a preseason top 20, but if you saw the preseason Rivals.com FAB 50 you would have seen the Huskies in the top 10 nationally but behind fellow California schools Kennedy and Santiago. They now move to No. 1 in the state after finishing second at the Nike Faster to First Classic two weeks ago. The loss in the title game came to unbeaten Pembroke Pines of Florida. Sheldon didn’t beat Kennedy or Santiago in that tourney, but did beat Ayala of Chino Hills in the semifinals after Ayala had upset both Kennedy and Santiago earlier. Super junior Jolene Henderson and the rest of coach Mary Jo Truesdale’s team will be tested again this weekend at the Livermore Stampede.

2. Kennedy (La Palma) 12-1
You could easily flip Santiago and Kennedy for the next two positions and that’s indeed what the L.A. Times has done. We simply had Kennedy one spot higher in the preseason than Santiago and since both lost to the same team (Ayala) we’ll leave it in the same order we had in the preseason for now.

3. Santiago (Corona) 10-1
The first Mountain View League game against Norco has already taken place with the Sharks having won a 2-0 contest. The next one takes place on April 1. With Kamerin May throwing bullets, Santiago opened with five straight shutouts and didn’t suffer a loss until being upset 3-1 by Ayala at the Nike Faster to First tourney.

4. Valencia 12-2
The Vikings would have been No. 11 or No. 12 in the state in the preseason, but have been better than that. They won the Arizona Tournament of Champions for the second straight year and then lost twice at the Nike Faster to First Classic. One of the reasons for Valencia looking stronger than at first thought is the pitching of Jesse Spigner, who was more known for her hitting coming into the season. Spigner has helped answer the question what Valencia was going to do without graduated Ms. Softball State Player of the Year Jordan Taylor.

5. Norco 13-2
The only two losses for the Cougars have come to Sheldon and Santiago. Teagan Gerhart hasn’t missed a beat in the circle despite being on Norco’s basketball team that once again went deep into the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

6. San Pedro 9-1
Coach Tony Dobra’s team again features the pitching of Taylor Petty and the slugging of Perelini Koria. The slugger should soon break the career state home run record but Pedro’s overall season effort so far has been more than solid with just one loss to No. 2 Kennedy of La Palma.

7. El Modena (Orange) 6-5-1
The Vanguards started out 1-3 at the Arizona TOC, but then turned things around somewhat at the Nike Faster to First with wins over El Toro and Ayala while losing only to champion Pembroke Pines and Valencia. El Modena, of course, is in the same loaded Century League as Canyon of Anaheim and El Dorado of Placentia so unlike many teams it doesn’t necessarily have to test itself in major tourneys. Kudos to coach Steve Harrington for playing the toughest schedule possible.

8. Ayala (Chino Hills) 8-4-1
After starting out 0-2-1 with both losses to El Toro, the Bulldogs shocked the world with three straight upsets at the Nike Faster to First tourney over Kennedy, Spanish Springs of Nevada and then Santiago. They closed the tourney by losing to both Sheldon and El Modena, but the earlier run guarantees a high state ranking, especially if they continue to win.

9. Clovis 14-3
All of the Cougars’ losses so far have come to out-of-state teams during a trip several weeks ago to play at the Arizona TOC. They came back home from that trip and promptly shut out nine straight opponents. Coach Mike Noel’s team won the Clovis Easter Classic last week with a 3-1 win in the final over Madera.

10. Thousand Oaks 6-1
The Lancers, led by pitcher Brittany Reynolds and outfielder Tiffany Messerschmidt, would be the top-ranked team playing this week at the Best of the West tourney in Santa Maria. On Monday, they were scheduled to face Stockdale of Bakersfield.

11. Escondido 11-0-2
We thought that with a number of top players back, including pitcher Lisa Akamine, that the Cougars would be the preseason team to beat in the San Diego Section. They have lived up to that label so far with just two ties and one of the wins has come against 10-2 Mt. Carmel.

12. Freedom (Oakley) 6-0
New coach Jeff Jonas’ team was ranked No. 1 last week in the first Alameda Newspaper Group East Bay poll. The Falcons are led by junior Hannah Williams, who was a freshman starter two years ago when they were unbeaten and No. 1 in the nation. So far, some of the team’s younger players have stepped up on offense and defense.

13. Canyon (Anaheim) 9-3
Since dropping their third game to Esperanza, the Comanches have been outstanding with wins against Marina, Camarillo and Notre Dame of Belmont with the only losses coming to Sheldon and Santiago. Taylor Van Acker and Shannon Busillos are both hitting .500 while freshman Cheyanne Tarango has more than held her own as the pitcher.

14. Marina (Huntington Beach) 9-2
Coach Shelly Luth’s team has lost only to Canyon of Anaheim and Kennedy and owns wins against El Toro and Mission Viejo.

15. El Toro 9-5-1
One of the wins by the Chargers has come against Valencia. They’ve been in two tough tournaments so far and have proved they are capable of beating anyone they play. And with Niki Williams and Kendal Hennings, there aren’t many teams in the country that have a pair of infielders who are better.

16. Granada (Livermore) 7-0
Pitcher Kendall Beerman, who was last week’s Northern California athlete of the week for girls, led the Matadors to the championship of the Queen of the Mountain tourney. They will be among the field this weekend at the hometown Livermore Stampede.

17. Camarillo 7-5
The Scorpions have played a tough schedule and own a head-to-head win over San Benito, which is the two-time defending Div. I champ out of the Central Coast Section.

18. San Benito (Hollister) 3-3
Despite the 3-3 record, we’d still put the Haybalers above anyone else in the Central Coast Section. They are the two-time defending Div. I section champs and their losses all came at the Nike Faster to First tourney against Camarillo, Centennial of Peoria (Ariz.) and Norco.

19. Presentation (San Jose) 14-1
The Panthers have gotten out to a terrific start and seem to be the pick by some as No. 1 right now in the Central Coast Section. They won the Circle of Champions tourney, although they haven’t gone out of the area to play anyone quite as tough as the teams that San Benito has faced.

20. Madera 12-2
Vanessa Salinas has an early-season ERA of 0.28 for the Coyotes, who lost to Clovis in the finals of the Clovis Easter tourney. The team’s only other loss was in the second game of a twinbill in which the other pitchers were used. Aurelia Gamch has been the leading hitter with a .531 average.

Note: Riverside Poly would have been ranked high last week at 4-1, which includes a second-place finish behind Valencia at the Arizona TOC. Last week, however, the Bears lost games to both La Sierra of Riverside and Arlington of Riverside.

2008 Rivals.com preseason FAB 50 national rankings for softball:

(Listed with last year’s record)

1. Kennedy (La Palma, Calif.) 29-2 (14)

2. Santiago (Corona, Calif.) 26-6 (29)

3. Canyon del Oro (Tucson, Ariz.) 33-3 (2)

4. Sheldon (Sacramento, Calif.) 29-1 (7)

5. Broad Run (Ashburn, Va.) 29-0 (8)

6. Lake Wales (Lake Wales, Fla.) 23-6 (26)

7. Shadle Park (Spokane, Wash.) 28-1 (11)

8. St. Mary’s (Phoenix, Ariz.) 29-8 (38)

9. Regina (Harper Woods, Mich.) 38-5 (28)

10. Klein Oak (Klein, Texas) 21-6 (nr)

11. Riverdale (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) 50-6-1 (44)

12. Hart (Newhall, Calif.) 27-8 (24)

13. Pace (Pace, Fla.) 25-5 (36)

14. Buena (Sierra Vista, Ariz.) 31-6 (39)

15. Smithson Valley (Spring Branch, Texas) 28-3 (nr)

16. Norco (Norco, Calif.) 26-6 (25)

17. Elkins (Missouri City, Texas) 24-10 (nr)

18. Garland (Garland, Texas) 38-9-2 (10)

19. Pembroke Pines Charter (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) 25-4 (nr)

20. El Modena (Orange, Calif.) 26-5 (nr)

21. Spanish Springs (Sparks, Nev.) 35-1 (45)

22. South Florence (Florence, S.C.) 34-0 (23)

23. San Benito (Hollister, Calif.) 32-3 (50)

24. Cabrini (Allen Park, Mich.) 35-0 (31)

25. Goodpasture (Madison, Tenn.) 38-14 (nr)

26. Katy (Katy, Texas) 35-9 (18)

27. Downer’s Grove South (Downer’s Grove, Ill.) 32-7-1 (nr)

28. Pacifica (Garden Grove, Calif.) 28-7 (13)

29. Naples (Naples, Fla.) 28-1 (27)

30. Elyria (Elyria, Ohio) 30-4 (nr)

31. Roseburg (Roseburg, Ore.) 27-2 (nr)

32. Chaparral (Scottsdale, Ariz.) 29-8 (nr)

33. San Pedro (San Pedro, Calif.) 28-3 (46)

34. Bowie (Austin, Texas) 28-5-1 (nr)

35. Ryle (Union, Ky.) 37-5 (nr)

36. Jesuit (Portland, Ore.) 25-5 (nr)

37. Castle (Newburgh, Ind.) 30-6-1 (nr)

38. Hoover (North Canton, Ohio) 29-2 (nr)

39. Notre Dame (Belmont, Calif.) 24-5-1 (nr)

40. Central Cabarrus (Concord, N.C.) 28-1 (30)

41. Bishop O’Connell (Arlington, Va.) 29-2 (49)

42. Normal Community (Normal, Ill.) 32-7 (nr)

43. Westwood (Austin, Texas) 35-5 (nr)

44. Centennial (Peoria, Ariz.) 31-7 (nr)

45. Valencia (Valencia, Calif.) 32-1 (1)

46. South Panola (Batesville, Miss.) 33-4 (48)

47. Beecher (Beecher, Ill.) 33-4 (nr)

48. Everglades (Miramar, Fla.) 29-2 (4)

49. Cooper City (Cooper City, Fla.) 24-6

50. Wheeling Central (Wheeling, W. Va.) 28-3