ESPNHS California

Pacifica’s Kyle Davis shows there more to the Mariners than nationally-ranked softball team. This week’s honor roll also includes Theron Kay from San Jose Valley Christian and Cody Snider of Dougherty Valley.

Note: We’re proud once again to collect weekly writeups of the most significant individual high school baseball totals in California. We use these as the basis for updating the state record book, which has been published seven times, most recently in the spring of 2009. To report a state stat star of your own, please email highlights to Mark.Tennis@espn.com.

(After games of Saturday, May 19; includes some games as of Wednesday, May 23; Contributing: Bob Barnett, Mark Tennis)

Donovan Bertonchini (Madera South)
He went 3-for-5 at the plate with a home run, double and a career high seven RBIs in a 15-2 win over Porterville in a CIF Central Section D3 playoff game.

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It could be a record number of changes in Division I as seven new teams have forced their way into the Cal-Hi Sports rankings with playoff wins. There is a new No. 1 in Division II as well with Campolindo taking over for upset-bitten Harvard-Westlake.

On Tuesday, Harvard-Westlake of North Hollywood joined the club of top-ranked teams done for the season when the Wolverines (who have been as high as No. 2 in the nation this season) were sent packing in the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs by Valencia of Placentia.

On Wednesday, another team that has been in the top 10 in the nation, St. Francis of Mountain View, was knocked out of the CIF Central Coast Section Division I playoffs by San Benito of Hollister.

Last Friday, the upset bug began biting when it struck Clovis West of Fresno. Defending CIFSS Division I champ J.W. North of Riverside also has been knocked out of the playoffs as well.

Here are the third divisional state rankings for the 2012 season (thanks to Paul Muyskens for contributions; previous rank in parentheses; through games of Wednesday, May 23):

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Clovis West is highest-ranked team to get stunned and eliminated in early-round game of section playoffs. That helps St. Francis of Mountain View to move back up to No. 4.

Other highlights from this week’s baseball rankings include:

No. 1 Orange Lutheran and No. 2 Mater Dei in the CIF Southern Section plus No. 6 El Capitan and No. 7 Cathedral Catholic in the CIF San Diego Section staying on track for title-game showdowns.

Highest-ranked newcomer El Toro returning to the top 20 and looking like a darkhorse in CIFSS Div. I playoffs.

Click here to see the complete list within the ESPNHS rankings tool.

Freshman throws a one-hitter to lead his varsity team to a league championship. This week’s best also includes J.D. Cisneros of Bakersfield Ridgeview (6-for-6) and Dalton Smith of San Diego University City.

Note: We’re proud once again to collect weekly writeups of the most significant individual high school baseball totals in California. We use these as the basis for updating the state record book, which has been published seven times, most recently in the spring of 2009. To report a state stat star of your own, please email highlights to Mark.Tennis@espn.com.

(After games of Saturday, May 12; includes some games as of Wednesday, May 16; Contributing: Bob Barnett, Mark Tennis)

Brady Aiken (Cathedral Catholic, San Diego)
The promising sophomore shut out Coronado in the Dons’ 5-0 Western League with 13 strikeouts in six innings. He has helped Cathedral Catholic to the No. 2 state ranking in Division III so far this season.

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Biggest changes in the second week of these compilations are in Division II where three new teams, led by Los Altos of the CIF Central Coast Section, get to go in as newcomers. Click here for this week’s top 20 overall baseball rankings.

Section playoffs are yet to start in San Diego and the North Coast, but they are about to end in the Northern Section.

No. 1 teams this week in the Cal-Hi Sports divisional baseball rankings are Lutheran of Orange (D1), Harvard-Westlake of North Hollywood (D2), El Capitan of Lakeside (D3), Escalon (D4) and Desert Christian of Lancaster (D5).

Here are the second divisional state rankings for the 2012 season (contributions by Paul Muyskens; previous rank in parentheses; through games of Tuesday, May 7):

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Orange Lutheran starts the post-season as the state’s No. 1 team with Mater Dei and Clovis West right behind. Loss by Harvard-Westlake to Loyola drops the Wolverines to No. 4.

Other highlights from this week’s baseball rankings include:

Vista continuing to climb in all of the rankings and is up to No. 5 in the state and No. 16 in the nation.

Campolindo avenging one of its losses and going back up almost to the top 10.

L.A. City powerhouse Chatsworth going in as a top 20 newcomer along with Pacifica of Garden Grove and Long Beach Poly.

Click here to see the complete list within the ESPNHS rankings tool.

Blackburn no-hits team in the state rankings and shows he’s ready to raise his profile as a top prospect before next month’s MLB draft.

The pitching abilities demonstrated by Paul Blackburn from Heritage of Brentwood earned him a spot last summer on the Oakland Athletics Area Code team that competed in Long Beach.

It wasn’t until last week, however, that he finally achieved a feat every pitcher dreams of accomplishing.

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Being a stat star is one thing, but S.F. Washington’s Christopher Hau put together his big game at AT&T Park. Also among this week’s best is pitcher Cody Valdez, who threw an eight-inning no-hitter and lost.

Note: We’re proud once again to collect weekly writeups of the most significant individual high school baseball totals in California. We use these as the basis for updating the state record book, which has been published seven times, most recently in the spring of 2009. To report a state stat star of your own, please email highlights to Mark.Tennis@espn.com.

(After games of Saturday, May 5; includes some games as of Wednesday, May 9; Contributing: Bob Barnett, Mark Tennis)

T.J. Briggs (Freedom, Oakley)
He pitched six innings of two-hit ball and also drove in four runs in a 7-1 win over Antioch.

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Monday games are counted this week, which sure helps newcomer Pleasant Grove and hurts previous No. 2 J.W. North.

Other highlights from this week’s baseball rankings include:

New No. 4 Clovis West venturing to the Oakland Coliseum and picking up a win over state-ranked Campolindo.

Orange Lutheran staying in position to probably earn top seed in CIF Southern Section Div. I playoffs.

Agoura and Tracy making top 20 debuts for the first time this season while Long Beach Wilson goes back in.

Click here to see the complete list within the ESPNHS rankings tool.

Fresno’s Hawkins sets section homer record in same game his coach gets win No. 600. Week’s best also includes another coach winning 800th game plus second no-hitter for Beckman’s Kaprielian and perfect games for Pleasant Grove’s Stilwell, East Union's Swift.

Note: We’re proud once again to collect weekly writeups of the most significant individual high school baseball totals in California. We use these as the basis for updating the state record book, which has been published seven times, most recently in the spring of 2009. To report a state stat star of your own, please email highlights to Mark.Tennis@espn.com.

(After games of Saturday, April 28; includes some games as of Wednesday, May 2; Contributing: Bob Barnett, Mark Tennis)

Paul Blackburn (Heritage, Brentwood)
With the Cal-Hi Sports caravan there to see his match-up with Cal-Hi Sports No. 9 state-ranked Deer Valley of Antioch and its Cal State Fullerton-bound ace Ricky Delgado, it was Blackburn that did the roasting and toasting. Despite an illustrious career that earned him a spot on the Oakland Athletics Area Code Games roster last summer, he had never pitched a no-hitter in high school. That is until he only needed 72 pitches and faced the minimum 21 batters, in a 6-0 no-no that included eight strikeouts and two double-play grounders that erased his two walks.

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Harvard-Westlake takes over the No. 1 ranking as the end of the regular season draws near.

Other highlights from this week’s baseball rankings include:

J.W. North jumping back up to No. 2 thanks in part to Mater Dei and Orange Lutheran splitting a two-game series.

Clovis West winning two one-run games over 2011 State Team of the Year Buchanan.

Newcomers include De La Salle and Long Beach Poly (yes, this is baseball and not football we’re ranking).

Click here to see the complete list within the ESPNHS rankings tool.

Gabrielino’s Acosta getting accustomed to throwing no-hitters. He threw his third of the season last week and is close to tying a state record.

Batters in the Mission Valley League of Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley are sure going to be glad when Angel Acosta from Gabrielino of San Gabriel has finally graduated.

Since his days as a freshman playing on the varsity, the 5-foot-11 right-handed pitcher has been mowing down batters with regularity.

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It's back-to-back no-hitters for duo from St. Bernard of Eureka. This week's best also includes a six-hit game by San Diego Clairemont's Luke Jarvis in which he also hit for the cycle plus a clutch homer by Jack Stinn of S.F. St. Ignatius that will shake up the next state rankings.

Note: We’re proud once again to collect weekly writeups of the most significant individual high school baseball totals in California. We use these as the basis for updating the state record book, which has been published seven times, most recently in the spring of 2009. To report a state stat star of your own, please email highlights to Mark.Tennis@espn.com.

(After games of Saturday, April 21; includes some games as of Wednesday, April 25; Contributing: Bob Barnett, Mark Tennis)

Josh Allen (Firebaugh)
It wasn’t a typo that Firebaugh defeated Avenal 42-0 in a baseball game last week. Allen went 5-for-6 at the plate in that game with five RBIs and also pitched a five-inning no-hitter with 12 strikeouts. Teammate Juan Garcia also had a career day at the plate as he scored six times and had eight RBIs.

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After first four teams from last week, it’s the usual chaos as many top squads split a pair or lost in league matchups. Lakewood, J.W. North move back up into the top five.

Other highlights from this week’s baseball rankings include:

Deer Valley of Antioch rocketing to No. 11 from unranked after series of S.F. Bay Area upsets.

Jesuit of Carmichael beats St. Mary’s of Stockton to earn its way back into the top 20.

Other newcomers are Bonita of La Verne and El Capitan of Lakeside.

Click here to see the complete list within the ESPNHS rankings tool.

Scoring decision is the difference in Rodriguez of Fairfield pitcher not getting credit for sixth career no-hitter. Area Code standout Freddy Avis of Menlo School also is among this week’s best.

Note: We’re proud once again to collect weekly writeups of the most significant individual high school baseball totals in California. We use these as the basis for updating the state record book, which has been published seven times, most recently in the spring of 2009. To report a state stat star of your own, please email highlights to Mark.Tennis@espn.com.

(After games of Saturday, April 14; includes some games as of Wednesday, April 18; Contributing: Bob Barnett, Mark Tennis)

Angel Acosta (Gabrielino, San Gabriel)
Make it three no-hitters for the season for Acosta, who notched No. 3 on Wednesday of this week in a 8-0 win over South El Monte. Acosta, who also drove in a pair of runs with his bat, struck out 10 batters and raised his career strikeout total to more than 400.

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