Torrey Pines High School - Falcons - New #1 Team in California
Mark Tennis & Andrew Drennen
CalHiSports Staff
(Previous rank in parentheses)
1. (2) Torrey Pines (San Diego) 24-4 www.tpfalcons.com
Torrey Pines celebrated its climb to No. 2 in the state for all divisions and No. 9 in the nation by Student Sports with a pair of Palomar League wins over San Diego Section Top 10 teams. So what will the Falcons do now that they've risen again, up to No. 1 in the state plus a couple more spots to #9 in the National FAB 50 and #12 in USA Today's Super 25 National Ranking. The Falcons also concluded the Falcon-Pirate Tournament with the championship game played on Saturday when they beat Oceanside, 6-4. In league play, the Falcons beat No. 9 Westview, 4-1, and No. 10 Poway, 6-4. Against Westview, Reid Suitor, a senior right-hander, was the latest Falcons' starting pitcher to go the distance in a complete-game victory. Against Poway, Walker Moore hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a 4-4 tie. Moore was 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Eric Hillenbrand was the winning pitcher with Walker Moore getting the save. Eric Hillenbrand leads the the team and Palomor League with 8 Wins and only 1 loss. Hillenbrand also leads the league in batting average 455 and 40 hits. Catcher Kevin Silvett had a solo home run in the fourth for a 4-2 lead and and two hits for the day. In the Oceanside game, Silvett played the outfield and was 4-for-4 with two homers and three RBIs. Falcons starting pitcher Jerroud Sabourin threw his second complete game win in a row as well against Oceanside in the Championship Game.
2. (3) Serra (San Mateo) 18-2
After a week in which the Padres beat state-ranked Valley Christian twice ands West Catholic Athletic League rival Bellarmine was upset, they get to go back in front of the Bells in the state rankings. Beau Witsoe's pitching plus a home run and a double on offense by shortstop Jon Karcich keyed a 6-0 win in the second game against the Warriors. Serra won the first game, 11-5. This week, if Serra can win against St. Ignatius of San Francisco and St. Francis of Mountain View it would win the WCAL regular season title.
3. (2) Bellarmine (San Jose) 27-3
After their 6-5 upset loss last week to Sacred Heart Cathedral, the Bells now have two league losses compared to one for Serra. The week wasn't all that bad, though, as Bellarmine also beat state-ranked Valley Christian of San Jose, 5-1, and handled Riordan of San Francisco, 8-2. The Bells still have the WCAL playoffs and then the Central Coast Section playoffs and they still remain in the hunt to be State Team of the Year. They could still play Serra two more times before the end of the season.
4. (4) Chatsworth 26-2
The Chancellors had a trio of wins last week over Cleveland of Reseda, Taft of Woodland Hills and Granada Hills. In their 6-3 win over Cleveland, Michael Moustakas hit two homers giving him 12 on the year and 26 for his career. Trent Jones was the star in the 4-0 win over Granada Hills has he threw a one-hitter striking out six. In the 17-0 win vs. Taft, the offense came alive with Oliver Padre, Bobby Coyle and James Whardon having two hits each.
5. (5) El Camino Real (Woodland Hills) 22-4
The Conquistadores kept pace with their rivals over at Chatsworth by winning their trio of games in equally impressive fashion. It started with a 15-0 win over Birmingham of Lake Balboa behind the arm of Eric Pettis. In the 11-3 win over Cleveland, Dominic D'Anna had three hits, then Shaun Kort picked up win number seven in a 7-1 victory over Granada Hills.
6. (6) Capistrano Valley (Mission Viejo) 23-3
It was a pair of wins over Trabuco Hills of Mission Viejo last week for the Cougars, starting with an 8-4 win as Matt Hiserman and Scott Stidham led the way with three hits each. In the 6-2 win over Trabuco Hills, Matt Watt improved to 8-1 by striking out six. Capo Valley ends its regular season this week with a pair of games against San Clemente.
7. (7) Chino 23-1
The Cowboys won a pair of games last week over Glendora, 11-3 and 7-2. In the 7-2 win, Nate Murrillo hit a two-run blast that was part of a seven-run first inning. Pitcher Anthony Simmons then made the seven spot stand up as the Cowboys cruised to their 23rd win of the season.
8. (11) De La Salle (Concord) 16-4
Coach Eric Borba's club continued to streak for a second week following the Phil Nevin National Classic tourney title. De La Salle won first by 16-2 over Freedom of Oakley and then beat the Falcons again, 3-1, behind strong pitching by Taylor Reid. The Spartans completed the week with a 7-3 nonleague victory over St. Mary's of Stockton. Chris Lynch, a member of the school's CIF Div. I state champion basketball team, smashed a home run in that game while Anthony Aliotti went 3-for-3 with three RBI.
9. (12) Esperanza (Anaheim) 21-3
The Aztecs took on Huntington Beach twice last week and came away with a pair of victories. P.J. Spinazze scored the game-winning run in the Aztecs' first win, which was 5-4. In the second game, the Aztecs' Ryan Ackland improved to 10-2 in a 5-0 shutout. With the win, the Aztecs also claimed the Sunset League title.
10. (14) Clovis 23-4
A two-game set against arch-rival Clovis West, which has proven it can beat anybody on any day this year, will conclude the regular season this week for the Cougars. They posted triumphs last week of 3-0 and 5-2 over Central of Fresno.
11. (15) Poly (Riverside) 21-4
The Bears took on Arlington of Riverside last week twice and took home win in both outings. The Bears slugged out 15 hits an 11-1 win. They came back and got by Arlington in the second game, 4-3.
12. (16) Cypress 21-3
This team, which seems to be the darlings of Baseball America for some unknown reason, reached the 20-win plateau last week as it took a pair from Kennedy of La Palma. Brett Tanos scored the only run and Adam Wilk struck out four in the 1-0 shutout over the Fighting Irish. Then in the second game of the week, Cypress had an easier time, winning 9-3. Michael Morrison improved to 8-0 in a complete game performance. We try not to pay attention to national rankings (other than the Student Sports FAB 50 because it's part of our job to help do those rankings), but it was hard not noticing that the Centurions were No. 4 two weeks ago and were No. 6 in that publication's most recent rankings. They have been their highest-ranked California team, which is odd since they haven't been No. 1 in their own county and haven't even sniffed the No. 1 ranking according to the L.A. Times. Who knows, maybe Baseball America will prove everyone wrong, but going out on a limb like that is not the way to do rankings.
13. (13) Valencia 22-3
The Vikings put two more in the win column last week with a pair of victories over Canyon Country Canyon. In the 2-1 win, Chris Natzner scored the game winning run off a single by Casey Milligan. They came back and shut out Canyon 7-0. Valencia squares off against Hart of Newhall this week in the regular season finale.
14. (8) California (San Ramon) 14-3
Coach Dave Hamilton's team only dropped slightly in this week's rankings after a 1-0 loss to Amador Valley since it was able to play the same team later in the week and then won, 3-0. In the second game, Tyler Rogers pitched a two-hitter while Zach Johnson went 4-for-4 with an RBI. The Grizzlies' other wins last week were against Foothill of Pleasanton (12-3) and Castro Valley (7-5). This week, Cal Hi gets to play Freedom of Antioch, Granada and then a showdown against state-ranked Monte Vista.
15. (nr) Vista 18-5-1
The Panthers picked up a win and a tie against Fallbrook in the Avocado League race to take over first place with a one-game lead and two to play. On Monday of last week, the CIF San Diego Section office ruled that an 8-8 tie between Fallbrook and Vista that was suspended for darkness after nine innings on April 18 would stand as a tie instead of being resumed at a later date. Then on Thursday, Vista shut out the Warriors 5-0 as Trevor Cahill struck out 13 batters and allowed only two hits against Fallbrook's heavy-hitting lineup. Victor Martinez drove in four runs with a double and a three-run home run in the fourth inning. Vista also defeated El Camino of Oceanside last week by 4-1. McCullough Dean struck out 10 batters and Martinez was 1-for-3 with a three-run home run in the fifth inning. In the completion of a suspended game in the fourth inning on April 4, Vista also defeated Rancho Buena Vista last week, 6-4.
Robert Abel of Woodland went 4-for-4 in a game last week and has been a senior leader on a team mostly comprised of juniors.
16. (9) Fallbrook 20-4-1
The Warriors fell out of first place in the Avocado League when they suffered a 5-0 loss to Vista on Thursday and the CIF San Diego Section office ruled earlier in the week that an April 18 game that was suspended because of darkness after nine innings would stand as a tie instead of being resumed at a later date. Fallbrook also picked up a 6-1 decision last week over Oceanside. Arizona State-bound Mike Leake spaced out four hits in the complete-game victory.
17. (17) Centennial (Bakersfield) 24-3
Joe Ramirez, who has to be one of the top sophomores in the Central Section, pitched a three-hitter and struck 12 to lead the Golden Hawks past South of Bakersfield, 11-2. Ramirez also had two hits, including a double, and scored two runs in the same game. Coach Randy Roberts' team also won last week, 15-3, over Stockdale of Bakersfield. The Golden Hawks play North and Ridgeview in this week's games and then will look to see where they'll be seeded in the Central Section playoffs.
18. (18) Monte Vista (Danville) 14-4-1
Andrew Raponi, who earlier in the year slugged a three-run homer to give the Mustangs a win over Serra of San Mateo, ripped a grand slam last week in a 8-2 victory vs. Livermore. Monte Vista, which will get to face No. 14 California this week, also won last week by 9-6 over Castro Valley, 4-3 over Livermore and 2-0 over Granada of Livermore.
19. (nr) Foothill (Tustin) 20-4
The Knights reached the 20-win mark last week with a pair of wins over Aliso Niguel of Mission Viejo. In the first win, shortstop Shane Youngdale led the Knights with a three-hit day, including a homer in a 10-3 win. Brian Oda and Sean Bonesteele then homered once each as Foothill got by the Wolverines, 7-6.
20. (nr) Woodland 22-2
We'll go with the Wolves back into the top 20 and also to No. 1 among Sac-Joaquin Section teams after wins last week of 10-5 and 13-11 over Woodcreek of Roseville. Previous No. 20 Jesuit lost twice to Elk Grove. In the 10-5 win, a five-run explosion in the 10th inning was capped by a three-run triple by Garret Wright. Then in the 13-11 triumph, both Robert Abel and Zach Vawter-Scoggins both went 4-for-4. Woodland has also beaten both of the teams it has lost to and a pair of victories this week will give the program five league titles in five years. That's been done before, but for the Wolves this would be in three different leagues.