The Bee’s Top 20 baseball rankings: Boras Classic features top Northern California teams

The 12th annual Boras Baseball Classic isn’t officially a Northern California championship tournament, but it’s close.

It is a showcase of some of the powerhouse programs from the Sacramento and Bay areas, a who’s who of top-tier programs and talents. The event is named after longtime baseball super scout Scott Boras, a graduate of Elk Grove High School, with Oak Ridge serving as the host school under coach Todd Melton.

The action started Monday and concludes Wednesday at the Army Depot Park at 8411 Okinawa Street in Sacramento. For brackets and ticket information, visit the Boras Classic website.

The Boras Classic has a Southern California tournament that runs next week, and the event in recent years has included tournaments in Arizona. All told, more than 5,000 players who have competed in Boras tournaments have played Division I college baseball and more than 500 have signed Major League Baseball contracts, including four No. 1 overall picks since 2016. This season’s North Boras includes 125 D-I committed players and 79 players ranked in the Perfect Game Top 250 of draft prospects.

Bee top-ranked Whitney returns to the Boras Classic and is led by Santa Clara commit infielder Jax Gimenez, Sacramento State commit Luke Oyler and Texas-bound ace Corden Pettey.

No. 2 Granite Bay is in the Boras Classic for the seventh consecutive time and won the 2023 Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championship. The Grizzlies are led by Oklahoma-bound pitcher Parker Jennings, Sacramento State-committed Peter Caldera, University of San Francisco-bound outfielder Tim Reed and San Jose State-bound pitcher Jack Ghufran.

No. 3 Franklin is back in the Boras Classic after winning the section D-I championship last season over Whitney. The Wildcats are led by Tennessee-bound ace Nic Abraham and Cal-bound centerfielder Jordy Lopez.

No. 7 Woodcreek won the North Boras in 2022 and return a host of seniors who were sophomores on that club. The Timberwolves of Roseville are led by shortstop Connor Barth (Oregon State), infielder Dylan Green (Oregon) and pitcher Austin Nye (Vanderbilt).

No. 8 Rocklin is back in the Boras for the first time since 2013 and is led by Arizona-bound outfielder Cash Brennan, Arizona-bound pitcher Troy Ueltzen and Pacific-bound outfielder Grant Munoz.

No. 15 Oak Ridge is also back in the Boras Classic with a young team that has played a brutal schedule, including losses to Bellarmine of San Jose, Franklin, Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa and Woodcreek.

Bellarmine and Newman are also back in the Boras Classic. Newman won the North title last season over Bellarmine, which beat Whitney earlier this season.

Aces duel

Franklin on Tuesday morning beat Bakersfield Christian 2-0 in a showcase of 6-foot-4 ace pitchers who worked their magic in front of bleachers full of scouts armed with radar guns and a large crowd under cloudy skies.

Abraham won the duel, striking out seven and tossing a two-hitter while his defense made great play for Franklin. The runs were scored in the top of the second on an error and an infield hit, and they were enough against TCU-bound left-hander Mason Brassfield, who struck out eight and touched 95 mph on the radar guns. He is a projected high draft prospect.

“That was awesome,” Franklin coach Bryan Kilby said. “Great atmosphere, two great pitchers on the mound. It’s the best tournament in Northern California with really, really good teams and great players. It’s an honor to be here. Nic was outstanding, and we’re a decent-hitting team, but (Brassfield) gave us fits.”

Kilby then hustled over to the neighboring diamond to warm his team up for Granite Bay, which on Tuesday rolled Bellarmine 12-2 behind a seven-run fifth inning. Tim Reed had four RBI for Granite Bay. Chase Bentley allowed three hits, struck out eight and walked none in five innings.

Ariola, Rinaldi honored

Two of the region’s greatest baseball coaches and genuine good people in education were honored recently by having fields named after them.

Pleasant Grove recognized founding program coach Rob Rinaldi with a ceremony on March 8 after he helped turn a new-school program in Elk Grove into an annual contender. He now coaches the school’s girls golf team, one of the top programs in the state.

Retired Davis baseball coach Dan Ariola was moved to have his old home turf named after him last week. He and Rinaldi have history and have been pals for decades. They were Davis High teammates in the early 1980s.

Rinaldi first coached at Woodland, winning championships, and Ariola stayed at his alma mater, winning three section crowns. Woodland played at Pleasant Grove for the field dedication, connecting the generations for the proud coach.

Ariola was introduced at the ceremony on Friday before a Delta League game against Jesuit. The event included scores of former players by current coach Ethan Guevin. His father, Tony Guevin, coached the Blue Devils in the 1990s.

The Davis-Jesuit series also marked the final one for the storied programs as Delta League members, an era dating back to the 1980s. Davis and Jesuit asked a move to the Sierra Foothill League for all sports through league realignment, starting this fall.

Stat marvels

▪ Entering the week, Brian Kucserka of Vista del Lago leads the section with an .857 batting average in 10 games. Jando Torres of Woodland Christian is third at .692 and Sammy Sanchez of Pioneer fifth at .625.

▪ Cameron Johnson of Yuba City, Masen Belding of Del Oro, Jake Redding of Lincoln and Van Froling of Inderkum are the area leaders with three home runs.

▪ Ty Collum of Laguna Creek is the area leader with 18 RBI, followed by Alan Quirate-Guzman of Pleasant Grove with 17 and Ryan Giovannoni of Sutter, Gavin Ashton of El Dorado, Martin Vega of Florin, Mario Navarro of Monterey Trail, Ari Silva or McClatchy and Dylan Schell of Highlands with 15.

▪ Area strikeout leaders: Kaden Nichols of Bear River with 60 in 29.1 innings, Emare Viera of Center with 53 in 26 innings, Levi Nyberg of Cordova with 52 in 23.2 innings and Caden Clive of Delta with 46 in 24.1 innings.

THE BEE’S TOP 20

Baseball

Records entering Tuesday

1. Whitney (6-3)

2. Granite Bay (6-1)

3. Franklin (6-2)

4. Oakmont (7-3)

5. Elk Grove (7-4)

6. Folsom (9-2)

7. Woodcreek (5-5)

8. Rocklin (6-2)

9. Roseville (8-3-1)

10. McClatchy (7-2)

11. Pleasant Grove (7-3)

12. Del Oro (4-6)

13. West Park (5-4)

14. Laguna Creek (9-3)

15. Oak Ridge (5-5)

16. Jesuit (4-5-1)

17. Rio Americano (9-4)

18. Sutter (11-1)

19. Bradshaw Christian (11-0)

20. Bella Vista (9-1)

Bubble: Bear River (9-1), Casa Roble (9-2), Davis (4-7), El Camino (9-2), Lincoln (5-3-1), Placer (6-4), Vista del Lago (9-2), Yuba City (7-6).