SIA Baseball Regular Season Top 20 Leans Big 8, OEC Way

PASADENA - San Joaquin Delta College is on a quest to win back-to-back state titles, and earned the No. 1 ranking in the final regular season 2019 California Community College Sports Information Association (CCCSIA) State Top 20 Baseball Rankings. The Mustangs were one of four Big 8 Conference teams that made the top 10.

The Big 8 champions at 33-7, Delta picked up the North No. 1 seed for the regional playoffs. The last repeat champion happens to be #2-ranked and top South seed Orange Coast (29-8-1) in 2014-15. The North region's last back-to-back state champ was Sacramento City, which climbed five spots into the top 10 at #7, back in 1998-1999.

The other Big 8 teams ranked high were Santa Rosa Junior College at #6 (won the state title in 2016) and Sierra, a team that dropped seven spots to #9 after losing its final three games of the regular season. 

At #3, Feather River (34-6) has the most wins in the state and earned the North #2 seed while #4 El Camino (32-6) is the South's #2 seed. The Warriors won their finale while #14 Long Beach City got upset by Compton to allow for a co-South Coast Conference South Division title. 

The Orange Empire produced five teams in the rankings with champion OCC followed by #5 Riverside City, #11 Cypress, #15 Santa Ana and #16 Golden West. Orange Coast needed a walk-off, 9th-inning single by Jacob Gentry in a 3-run rally to beat Santa Ana, 7-6, and clinch the title for the Pirates. 

The North region kept the tilt of power in the top 10 with seven teams, including #8 Ohlone and #10 Fresno City.

Another North squad College of San Mateo climbed six spots to #12 and swept #17 Mission in a 2-game series last week to win the Coast Golden Gate title. At #14, Butte (30-9) is one of the state's best second place teams after winning seven of its final eight games, including a pair of victories over Golden Valley champ Feather River. 

Ventura made it on to the rankings at #18 after sharing the Western State North title with unranked Santa Barbara City. #19 Glendale captured the WSC East crown, but there was no more bizarre rush for a playoff spot than the one made by second place and unranked Citrus. The Owls had to win their final five games in a row last week to finish at .500 (19-19-1) that allowed them an automatic bid. One loss would have prevented them from the postseason due to the rule that prevents under-.500 teams from advancing.

Southwestern didn't get a ranking, but its remarkable 13-game conference win streak to end the regular season and a stumble by #T20 San Diego Mesa in losing its final two games gave the Jaguars a share of the PCAC title with the Olympians. 

Unranked Mt. San Antonio used a 3-run homer by Michael Sandoval in the 8th inning to beat East Los Angeles, 4-2, in its conference final and that allowed the Mounties to tie #T20 Pasadena City for the SCC North championship.

Southern California Regional Seedings/Matchups

Northern California Regional Seedings/Matchups

Current State Longest Win Streaks: 13 by Southwestern; 11 by San Mateo

Regular Season State Team Batting Average Leaders: Mission .333, Ohlone .327, Glendale .326

Regular Season State Batting Average Individual Leaders: Trent MacKinney, Glendale, .442, Chet Allison, Fresno City, .439

Regular Season State State Team Earned Run Average Leaders: El Camino 2.11, Fresno City 2.43, Cuesta, 2.71

Regular Season State Top Pitching ERA Individual Leaders: Clayton Hall, Merced, 0.21 (42.2 IP, 21 appearances), Devin Kirby, Santa Rosa, 1.03 (43.2 IP, 25 appearances) Jacob Miller, Feather River, 1.08 (50 IP)

State Baseball Standings

Conference Champions
Bay Valley: unranked Los Medanos wins the title at 16-5. 
Big 8: #1 San Joaquin Delta wins title at 19-5
Central Valley: #10 Fresno City wins title at 17-4
Coast Golden Gate: #12 San Mateo wins title at 16-4
Coast Pacific: #8 Ohlone wins title at 15-3
Golden Valley: #3 Feather River wins title at 23-2
Orange Empire: #2 Orange Coast wins title at 16-5
Pacific Coast Athletic: #T20 San Diego Mesa and unranked Southwestern co-winners at 19-5
South Coast North: Unranked Mt. San Antonio and #T20 Pasadena City co-winners at 14-8
South Coast South: #4 El Camino and #13 Long Beach City co-winners at 17-5
Western State East: #19 Glendale wins title at 15-5
Western State North: #18 Ventura and unranked Santa Barbara City co-winners at 13-7
Western State South: unranked Bakersfieid wins title at 15-5