Power 25: Week Ahead

Southern California Power 25 Action takes a break this week. An action-packed Friday in the Bay Area features some of the best teams and talent Northern California has to offer. Newcomers to the Power 25 include both No. 18 Bellarmine and No. 24 St. Ignatius

No. 4 Valley Christian (San Jose) vs No. 24 St. Ignatius

3/24

Valley Christian hasn’t lost a game since the first week of March, showing dominant hitting and pitching as they have blown out opponents while giving up low runs. In the entire year, Valley Christian has only given up 14 runs en route to their 8-1 record with an outstanding ERA of 0.56. ‘23 RHP/INF Michael Castaneda (Northern Kentucky) continues to show out giving up only one run in 21 innings. ‘23 RHP Alec Belardes (Arizona State) has notched 24 strikeouts in 17 innings of work while allowing one earned run. The bats of Valley Christian haven’t disappointed, six starters in the lineup are hitting over .300. Headlined by ‘24 OF Tatum Marsh (Stanford), hitting .458 with 12 RBIs and six XBH. 

St. Ignatius has also been off to a good start this year, sitting at 7-1, grabbing wins against the likes of Serra and Bishop O’Dowd. Almost all of St. Ignatius’ bats are hitting over .300 with the team average at .312. ‘24 MIF/OF Evann Smith (Uncommitted) is hitting .375 with three home runs. ‘23 MIF Leonard Beatie (Uncommitted) has a team leading nine RBIs and ‘23 OF Gus Parker (Uncommitted) is hitting a team leading .421. The pitching has been good, and when it has been spotty the offense has picked up the slack.

No. 7 Foothill (Pleasanton) vs No. 13 De La Salle

3/24

Foothill enters this week with a 6-1 record, moving up to No. 7 on the Power 25 Rankings from 11. They’re coming off two wins, with convincing scores of 6-4 and 11-5. The hitting for Foothill has been great, the team average is .274 with ‘24 INF Nate Novitske (Arizona) hitting .435 with two home runs and ‘24 INF/OF Austin Harris (Uncommitted) hitting .400. The pitching staff has been led by ‘23 RHP Tyler Gebb (UC Riverside) and ‘23 RHP Jackson Flora (LMU) with 1.33 and 2.14 ERAs respectively.

De La Salle has fallen from rank No. 4 to 13 after being upset by No. 12 Whitney in a close 6-5 loss. The De La Salle hitting ensemble has been unbelievable, a team average of .349 with ‘23 OF Tanner Griffith (St. Mary’s College), ‘23 OF Kai Smith (Uncommitted), and ‘23 C/1B Connor Harrison (Uncommitted) all hitting .500 on the dot. De La Salle’s pitching staff is sitting at a combined 2.05 ERA led by ‘23 RHP Cal Randall (UCLA) and ‘24 RHP Jack Hershey (UC Santa Barbara).

This matchup proves to be crucial for both team’s seasons and has potential to be a shootout.

No. 14 Archbishop Mitty vs No. 18 Bellarmine

3/24

Both of these two teams moved up in the past week, Archbishop Mitty from No. 19 to No. 14 and Bellarmine from unranked to No. 18.

Archbishop Mitty is entering the new week with an 8-1 record. The team average sits at .313 with ‘23 OF Danny Scudero (Sac State Football) hitting .429, ‘23 SS Alijah Ramos (CSU Fullerton) hitting .423, and ‘23 1B/RHP Luka Brocilo (Uncommitted) hitting .407. The pitching has been good this year with a cumulative ERA of 2.25. They have been headlined by ‘24 LHP Luka Pintar (SDSU) who leads the staff with a 1.75 ERA.

Bellarmine enters this week red hot following an upset win over formerly ranked St. Francis. They enter with a record of 7-1-1 with a four game winning streak. ‘23 SS Chase Knight (Fresno State) is leading the team with a .444 average followed by ‘23 C Trent Malik (Uncommitted), hitting .389. The pitching has been led by ‘23 RHP Paul Montgomery (Uncommitted) with a 0.75 ERA over 18.2 innings.