Sacramento area sends 14 teams to CIF Northern California baseball/softball championships

Joe Davidson
·4 min read

Seven Sacramento-area baseball and seven regional softball teams are in the five-division CIF Northern California Regional Championships that will cap the 2022-23 CIF sports calendar.

In their second year, the NorCal championships are eight-team, single-elimination tournaments with opening games on Tuesday and Thursday and championships on Saturday. All games are at home sites based on seeds with a scheduled 4 p.m. first pitch.

The Division I baseball field includes Sac-Joaquin Section champion and Bee-ranked No. 1 Franklin of Elk Grove, which earned the No. 3 seed and will host No. 6 Holster of the Central Coast Section. Behind ace Nic Abraham and four-year varsity starter Nolan Stevens, Franklin has won 15 consecutive games and is 29-4 overall.

Franklin’s Nic Abraham (13) and Nolan Stevens (5) celebrate after winning the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I high school baseball championship game against the Whitney Wildcats on Friday at Sacramento City College.
Franklin’s Nic Abraham (13) and Nolan Stevens (5) celebrate after winning the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I high school baseball championship game against the Whitney Wildcats on Friday at Sacramento City College.

Bee No. 2 Whitney, which lost to Franklin 6-2 in the section D-I finals, is the No. 5 seed and opens at No. 4 Cardinal Newman of the North Coast Section, a team that has the best record in the state at 27-1. Cardinal Newman had two nonleague wins earlier this season over Oak Ridge, which finished second in the Sierra Foothill League behind Whitney.

De La Lalle of Concord, winners of six consecutive North Coast Section D-I championships, is the No. 2 seed in D-I at 24-5. DLS in March defeated Sacramento-area teams Folsom (6-3), Woodcreek (8-0) and Granite Bay (7-1) and also has a 6-5 loss to Whitney. The Spartans have won 14 of 15 games. De La Salle would host Franklin on Thursday if those teams win their openers.

Section D-II winner Granite Bay (15-18) is the NorCal D-II No. 5 seed and opens at St. Ignatius of San Francisco (17-12). Rio Americano (27-6), which lost 3-0 to Granite Bay in the section finals, is the No 7 seed and opens at Northern Section power Pleasant Valley of Chico (21-3).

Rio Americano Raiders Kyle Wirtz (11) holds his glove up with a fly ball caught from Granite Bay Grizzlies batter Chase Bentley (21) to end their sixth inning at-bat with two runners on base during the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division II high school baseball championship game Thursday at Sacramento City College. The Grizzlies beat the Raiders for the title for the second year in a row.

Oakmont, coming off a section D-IV title, is the No. 5 seed in the NorCal D-III field at 19-13 and opens at No. 4 Liberty of Madera (26-6). Pioneer of Woodland (23-5) is the No. 8 seed in this bracket and opens at top-seeded Carmel (18-12).

Section D-V champion Sutter (22-5-1) was awarded the top seed in the D-IV bracket and opens against No. 8 Athenian of Danville (10-14).

Section D-VI champion Leroy Greene Academy of Natomas is the No. 4 seed in D-IV and hosts Hillsdale of San Mateo (19-9). Leroy Greene (20-1) has won 17 consecutive games.

Softball

Oak Ridge, coming off a D-I section walk-off win over Inderkum, is the No. 8 seed in the NorCal D-I bracket and opens at SBLive state No. 1 Hollister (27-3), winners of the Central Coast Section D-I bracket.

D-II section champion Whitney was placed in the NorCal D-I bracket as the No. 4 seed based on the CIF’s competitive equity model and opens against longtime state power Mitty of San Jose. Whitney (21-7) beat Oak Ridge (17-8) in two of their three Sierra Foothill League meetings in winning that race.

Inderkum (22-8) is seeded sixth in the D-II bracket and opens at Notre Dame of Salinas (19-7).

Longtime Northern Section power East Nicolaus (28-1-1) with a history of beating large-school area programs is the No. 2 seed in D-II and opens against No. 7 Vacaville (29-2).

Fresh off its first section title since 1980, Ponderosa (23-4-1) is the top seed in D-III and opens against Cardinal Newman (18-9). Ponderosa tied East Nicolaus 1-1 in 10 innings on March 23 and owns 2-1 loss to Whitney on May 11.

First-time section winner Capital Christian (16-5) is the No. 4 seed in D-IV and opens against Del Norte of Crescent City (19-7).

Capital Christian Cougars player Kelsey Joiner (6), center, is flanked by catcher Nani Lose-Mahina (21), left, and pitcher Ayla Tuua after their 4-3 win over the Dixon Rams at the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV high school softball championship game Saturday at Cosumnes River College.
Capital Christian Cougars player Kelsey Joiner (6), center, is flanked by catcher Nani Lose-Mahina (21), left, and pitcher Ayla Tuua after their 4-3 win over the Dixon Rams at the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV high school softball championship game Saturday at Cosumnes River College.

CIF Northern California Regional Championships

Baseball

Division I

No. 5 Whitney at No. 4 Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa

No. 6 Hollister at No. 3 Franklin-Elk Grove

Division II

No. 5 Granite Bay at No. 4 St. Ignatius

No. 7 Rio Americano at No. 2 Pleasant Valley-Chico

Division III

No. 8 Pioneer-Woodland at No. 1 Carmel

No. 5 Oakmont at No. 4 Liberty-Madera

Division IV

No. 8 Athenian-Danville at No. 1 Sutter

No. 5 Hillsdale-San Mateo at No. 4 Leroy Greene

Softball

Sacramento-area teams competing:

Division I

No. 8 Oak Ridge at No. 1 Hollister

No. 5 Mitty-San Jose at No. 4 Whitney

Division II

No. 7 Vacaville at No. 2 East Nicolaus

No. 6 Inderkum at No. 3 Notre Dame-Salinas

Division III

No. 8 Cardinal Newman at No. 1 Ponderosa

Division IV

No. 6 Del Norte-Crescent City at No. 3 Capital Christian

Complete brackets: cifstate.org

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