The Bee’s Baseball Top 20: Granite Bay is No. 1, Whitney No. 2; Franklin, Roseville rising
The Granite Bay Grizzlies have found their groove.
The defending CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division II champions have looked the part of front runner this season, top-ranked by The Sacramento Bee and head turners after winning the esteemed Boras Classic with a 4-0 showing against some of the top teams in the state. That tournament effort was punctuated by a 23-3 romp over state-ranked Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa in the March 28 championship game.
Under longtime coach Pat Esposito, the Grizzlies opened Sierra Foothill League play with a three-game sweep of rival Del Oro, winning 4-1, 4-1 and 7-0. In the third game, junior Parker Jennings tossed a no-hitter and struck out eight. He allowed no walks, but two errors denied him a shot at a perfect game.
Bee No. 2 Whitney beat Granite Bay 5-2 on Monday behind its Texas Longhorns-bound ace Corden Pettey. He struck out 10 and allowed four hits. Whitney was led offensively by Noah Warner’s two RBIs and RBIs by Bryce Farris and Brady Estes. Jax Gimenez had two hits and Trajan Rogowski had two hits and scored two runs.
The three-game series continues Wednesday at Whitney in Rocklin and concludes Friday at Granite Bay.
Granite Bay will play No. 6 Oak Ridge for a three-game set next week and then take on national power Mater Dei of Santa Ana on April 20 for the Boras state title. Mater Dei won the Southern California version of the event.
Senior outfielder Tim Reed leads Granite Bay in hitting with a .380 average, followed by senior outfielder Brady Roach (.364) and senior infielder Jimmy Radler (.348). Reed has scored 19 runs and leads the team with 19 hits. Radler has a team-best 14 RBIs and junior outfielder Jace Bystrowski has 12. Chase Bentley has seven doubles.
Jack Stannard has a 2.10 ERA to lead the staff and is 2-0. Chase Bentley sports a 2.33 ERA and a 2-1 record and Peter Caldera has 2.39 ERA with a 3-0 record. Jack Ghufram has 3-0 record and a 2.66 ERA.
Franklin fire
No. 3 Franklin is the defending section Division I champion, beating Whitney. Franklin has two losses, one to Granite Bay and one to Whitney.
The Wildcats are 7-0 in the Delta League after three-game sweeps of Sheldon (13-0, 19-1, 6-0) and Jesuit (6-0, 3-2, 6-0) and opening their three-game series against Davis on Monday with a 2-0 win. Game 2 is Wednesday at Franklin and the finale is Friday at Davis.
In the opener of that series, Nic ace Abraham tossed a complete-game two-hitter with six strikeouts and no walks, and Jason Harris and Cole Tobey drove in runs. Jadyn Ramos and Tyler Cody scored the runs.
In beating Jesuit 6-0, Cal-bound centerfielder Jordy Lopez reminded that he’s a pretty darn good pitcher, too. He tossed a one-hitter with seven strikeouts and collected three hits, including a triple, and drove in two.
Roseville roar
Roseville is 11-4-1 overall and 5-2 in the Capital Valley Conference. The Tigers are ranked eighth by The Bee.
The CVC race includes Roseville and No. 18 Bella Vista, which won the opening game of the three-game series on Tuesday with a 5-3 effort. Caelan Irvine, Drew Longaker, Kyle Smith and Alec Murray each drove in runs for Bella Vista. Murray homered, Irvine had three hits and Chase Rasmussen had two. Devin James and Zack O’Neil combined in a six-hitter with 11 strikeouts.
Senior Logan Fox leads Roseville with a .353 average, 10 RBI and 12 runs scored, followed by John Vincente (.345) and Mason Susnara (.333). Kyle Pettersen has a team-best two homers and five stolen bases.
Tyler Ritter has an 0.78 ERA, followed by Lincoln Dotoli (1.01) and Dustin Holcomb (2.10)
THE BEE’S TOP 20
Baseball
Records entering Wednesday
1. Granite Bay (13-2)
2. Whitney (8-6)
3. Franklin (12-3)
4. Rocklin (12-3)
5. Oakmont (10-5)
6. Oak Ridge (7-8)
7. Vacaville (11-5)
8. Bradshaw Christian (14-0)
9. Roseville (11-3-1)
10. Folsom (9-7)
11. Woodcreek (9-6)
12. Elk Grove (10-8)
13. Jesuit (6-9-1)
14. Pleasant Grove (9-7)
15. Lincoln (10-3-1)
16. Rio Americano (14-5)
17. Sutter (13-3-1)
18. West Park (7-7)
19. Bella Vista (11-3)
20. Del Oro (7-9)
Bubble: Bear River (13-1), Davis (8-8), Laguna Creek (11-4), McClatchy (11-4), Pioneer (11-4), Placer (10-5), Yuba City (10-8).
