BASEBALL RANKINGS: Several Local Teams Still Standing After First Two Rounds of Playoffs

Patch unveiled its Silicon Valley high school baseball rankings last month. 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.

Records are based on reported games played through Sunday, May 15.

BASEBALL

1. Palo Alto 26-9, 15-5 De Anza (2) – The St. Francis loss opened the door for Paly to move into top spot. Vikings score 19 runs in first two games of playoffs, including a convincing 9-2 win over Homestead on Saturday.

2. St. Francis 25-6, 12-2 WCAL (1) – A stunning first round exit to No. 16 seed Carlmont ends 2011 season in abrupt fashion for the WCAL champs.

3. Los Altos 21-11, 11-6 De Anza (3) – Eagles survive two squeakers to advance to semis. A pair of 2-1 victories,the first coming in extra innings over Burlingame, showcase the strength of the Eagles team—it’s starting pitching.

4. Homestead 18-14-1, 10-4 De Anza (4) – Chuck Blair’s bunch handle Serra in playoff opener before running into a buzz saw against red-hot Palo Alto on Saturday.

5. Los Gatos 21-10-2, 7-7 De Anza (5) – ‘Cats end up on the wrong side of a 2-1 nail biter against rival Los Altos in quarters. Los Gatos defeated El Camino 9-1 in round one on Wednesday.

6.  Leigh 20-8-1, 18-3 Santa Teresa (6) – Late inning rally gets Leigh past Branham in round one, but can’t find magic in extra inning affair against No. 2 seed Willow Glen on Saturday. Rams end Longhorns 20-win season with a 3-2 victory in nine innings.

7.  Aptos 18-11, 10-2 SCCAL (7) – Mariners get gem from lefty Koenig in round one shutout over Del Mar; fall 5-3 to Monterey Bay League champion Monterey in quarters.

8. Soquel 17-9-1, 9-3 SCCAL (8) – Knights club their way past No. Monterey County in round one before bowing out to streaking Half Moon Bay in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

9. Westmont 14-13, 11-10 Mt. Hamilton (11) – Westmont rallies to stun Gilroy 9-8 in wacky round one affair. Warriors came back from 8-5 hole after five to win contest. No. 1 seed Pioneer bounced Westmont 4-2 on Saturday.

10. Santa Cruz 14-14, 6-6 SCCAL (15)- No one outside of Palo Alto is hotter in the section than the Cardinals. Winners of five straight after a pair of playoffs wins last week over Stevenson Prep and Palma, Santa Cruz squares off with Half Moon Bay tonight in the Division III semifinals.

11. Del Mar 18-9-1, 14-6-1 Santa Teresa (9) – Dons had no answer for Aptos starting pitcher Jared Koenig in first round of Division II playoffs. Young Del Mar groups returns a wealth of talent for 2012.

12. Gilroy 15-13, 10-8 TCAL (13) – Mustangs treat home crowd to a wild season finale, highlighted by monster blast from senior Eric Vegas.

13. Milpitas 17-8-1, 11-4 El Camino (10) – Milpitas fell 8-1 to Archbishop Mitty in first round of playoffs. A 17-win campaign is nice feather in cap of manager Chuy Zamudio.

14.  Monta Vista 15-12, 11-4 El Camino (12) – Offensive juggernaut Palo Alto steams past Monta Vista in round one of Division I draw. Matadors tally a pair of runs late before ending year with 10-2 defeat.

15. Monte Vista Christian 16-12, 14-4 MBL (14)- MVC edged by eventual D-III semifinalist in round one, 5-3. Mustangs couldn’t muster timely hit needed to escape round one with road victory.