BASEBALL RANKINGS: St. Francis Tops Inaugural Poll

Today, Patch debuts its Silicon Valley high school baseball rankings. The top-15 weekly rankings are drawn from all schools that fall under the Silicon Valley Patch cluster.

The Silicon Valley sports cluster includes 12 different cities: Milpitas, Campbell, Los Gatos, Palo Alto, Cupertino, Los Altos, Mountain View, Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz, Capitola-Soquel, Watsonville and Gilroy.

The schools that are eligible to be ranked are: Milpitas, Del Mar, Westmont, Leigh, Branham, Prospect, Los Gatos, Palo Alto, Gunn, Cupertino, Monta Vista, Homestead, Lynbrook, Los Altos, Pinewood, Mountain View, St. Francis-Mountain View, Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz, Harbor, Pacific Collegiate, Soquel, Aptos, Watsonville, St. Francis-Watsonville, Pajaro Valley, Monte Vista Christian, Gilroy and Christopher High.

A stop-and-go start to the baseball season because of rain has meant postponements of games, reduced practice time and some surprising early results. The welcomed arrival of sunny skies means the final stretch of the regular season will be loaded with action as teams work make-up games into their schedules.

Records are based on reported games played through Sunday, April 11.

BASEBALL

1. St. Francis (17-1, 9-1 WCAL) – Lancers have answered all challengers during their sensational 2011 campaign. A 12-3 triumph over previously nationally-ranked Archbishop Mitty is a major feather in their cap.

2. Los Altos (13-5, 8-1 De Anza) - Eagles sit atop stacked De Anza league with some key bouts ahead. A key two-game series versus defending league champ looms after spring break.

3. Los Gatos (14-4-1, 7-3 De Anza)- Already armed with non-league wins over Bellarmine Prep and Aptos, Los Gatos is right in the thick of the De Anza race. ‘Cats open crucial two-game series with Homestead this Wednesday.  

4. Palo Alto (11-6, 7-3 De Anza) – Vikings swept by upstart Wilcox High squad last week. Will look to rebound in Leland tournament today against Del Mar.

5. Homestead (11-6-1, 7-3 De Anza) – Quite a start already under first year head coach Chuck Blair. Two-game set this week against Los Gatos will break up logjam in middle of De Anza’s top five.

6. Soquel (10-3-1, 6-1 SCCAL)- Knights fell in league for first time last week to Harbor; Slugger Izaak Silva and co. lead team into Baseball Battles Cancer tournament at Leland today.

7.  Aptos (6-5, 3-1 SCCAL)- Mariners take part in BBC tourney at Leland all week; tough competition will add to already top notch non-league schedule.

8. Westmont (9-6, 7-5 Mt. Hamilton) – A league date against Pioneer is up next, but non-league dual with Bellarmine Prep this Saturday may already be on the mind of the Warriors.

9.  Leigh (12-2-1, 12-1 Santa Teresa) – Longhorns have dominated any and all comers in the B league; Scott Mercer leads the way with 16 RBIs in teams first 15 games.

10.  Monta Vista (8-6, 6-2 El Camino)- Previously undefeated Matadors drop both games to Santa Clara last week. Look to curb three-game slide against Fremont today.

11. Milpitas (9-3-1, 5-3 El Camino)- Up-and-down Trojans have non-league wins over Los Altos and Carlmont; Face key test against Gunn next week.

12. Gilroy (11-6-1, 7-5-1 TCAL)-  Tri County top three of Palma, San Benito and Salinas all have three game advantage over Gilroy midway through league slate.

13. Del Mar (10-4-1, 8-4-1 Santa Teresa)- Dons scored 16 runs in two-game sweep over Silver Creek last week. Big non-league litmus test against Palo Alto occurs today in BBC tournament.

14. Monte Vista Christian (9-6, 8-2 MBL)- MVC keeps on winning, but still trails first place Monterey High  (12-0 MBL) by two in league title race. Top two teams play on May 4.

15. Gunn (7-6-1, 4-3 El Camino)-  Titans have week off for Spring Break. Open pivotal two-game series with Milpitas next Tuesday (4/19).

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Just missed the cut…….

Harbor (5-6, 3-2 SCCAL)

Watsonville (8-8, 3-6 MBL)

Scotts Valley (6-7-1, 3-4 SCCAL)