One swing of the bat prevents Clovis West from being No. 1 this week in the aftermath of another league loss suffered by Mater Dei. New No. 1 is L.A. City powerhouse Chatsworth. Poway, Clayton Valley and Capistrano Valley also on the upward track.

Compiled by Mark Tennis, Executive Editor
Writeups by Andrew Drennen, Steve Brand, Paul Muyskens and Mark Tennis

(After games of Saturday, April 25)
(Previous ranking in parentheses)

1. (4) Chatsworth 20-2
Well, the way teams in the state have been reluctant all year to hang onto the state's No. 1 ranking for more than one consecutive week, it was only a matter of time before the Chancellors got their shot. And judging by what's happened so far in the last 10 years, the Chancellors may not give it up quite so easily. Chatsworth's two wins last week were by 6-0 and 4-2 scores over Granada Hills. Michael Renner pitched a four-hit shutout and collected two hits in that first win. Andy Weissberg also shined with three hits, including a two-run homer. Later in the week, head coach Tom Muesborn's team beat the Highlanders again with Sean O'Connell getting two hits and Ryan Cooperstone pitching four-plus shutout innings. This doesn't look like a dominant team like the Chancellors have been in 2004 and 2007, but they're more than solid in all facets of their lineup and this is shaping up to be a wide-open race for the final state No. 1 ranking all the way through the section playoffs.

2. (1) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 17-3
The Monarchs had a pair with league foe Servite of Anaheim last week and split. Even with the loss, the Monarchs only drop one spot to No. 2 this week. They won the first meeting, cruising to a 13-2 win, but in game two Servite edged them, 5-4. The game was tied going into the sixth when Servite scored. For the Monarchs, this is their third loss in league, compared to being unbeaten in tournaments. They stay with a Trinity League opponent this week when they square off with Santa Margarita.

3. (2) El Toro (Lake Forest) 16-4
The Chargers also drop only one spot despite splitting with Northwood of Irvine last week. They were able to take the first game by a 4-1 count, but then dropped game two of the week, 3-2. They had a 10-game winning streak before Mater Dei snapped it in the Anderson Bat National Classic finals and now the Chargers hope they aren't starting to slide. They continue league play this week with a pair against Woodbridge of Irvine.

4. (7) Yucaipa 19-2
In a word-wow. A 35-1 win over Eisenhower of Rialto started the Thunderbirds on a high-flying week in which they outscored three Rialto schools, 55-3. The T-Bird bats were still stinging in a 13-2 win over Carter and 7-0 shutout of Rialto. Everyone knows this team can hit, as in Caleb Nazario and Matt Davidson both collected a pair of home runs against Ike, in addition to putting a 15 on the scoreboard (bet they didn't have room for that) in the third inning. But they also got excellent pitching performances from Pedro Cota (won twice) and Frank Martin. Cota is now 8-0 with a 1.56 ERA and the way the T-Birds score runs, he isn't exactly overworked. This is a big week for Yucaipa because the T-Birds have Redlands East Valley at home on Thursday in a Citrus Belt League game. REV has handed Yucaipa one of its two losses, 12-2.

5. (3) Clovis West (Fresno) 22-3
If the Golden Eagles had swept Buchanan last week instead of going 1-1 they'd be 23-2 and ahead of Chatsworth in this week's rankings. In that one loss, they were leading 3-0 in the bottom of the seventh and lost 4-3 on a walk-off grand slam. Sean Silva, who gave up that big bomb, showed character by coming back with a three-run homer later in the week when Clovis West beat Buchanan, 7-3. John Koretoff also ripped a three-run homer in that second game. With six games left in the Tri-River Athletic Conference standings, the Golden Eagles along with Buchanan and Clovis are all tied for first with 7-2 records. If you look at what those three have done against other teams outside their league and even section, ranking all of them in the top 20 is not difficult at all.

6. (5) Edison (Huntington Beach) 15-3
The Chargers were unable to sweep the two-game series last week against Fountain Valley as they won 7-0 before losing 5-4 for their first loss to a team from California since the opening game of the season. Sophomore Henry Owens moved to 6-0 on the season as he tossed a no-hitter in the 7-0 win. Tanner Phillips also gave the Chargers a nice early lead with a first inning grand slam. They led 4-0 in the second game of the week before allowing five runs in the sixth inning, including four with two outs, to lose despite their ace Kurt Heyer being on the mound. Edison will have two big games this week against Marina, which is just one spot behind them in our state rankings.

7. (6) Marina (Huntington Beach) 18-2
With the Vikings still having a head-to-head loss to Edison and playing that team twice this week, we decided just to leave the two teams right next to each other in this week's rankings. In last week's games, coach Paul Renfrow's team had little problems in defeating Newport Harbor twice to move up to a tie for first in league play with Edison. J.J. Baccari hit his seventh homer of the season as the Vikings won game one by a 11-3 score with Race Parmenter picking up the victory. Paul Strong picked up his fifth win of the season in the 10-4 week-ending victory.

8. (13) Poway 18-3
Don't you just love it when two really good teams collide and one emerges unscathed? The defending Division I champions from San Diego did just that against Vista, a team that went unbeaten in preleague but now trails Poway by four games after getting swept, 6-5 and 18-2. Joe Connor played a major role in the victories as he went 3-for-3 with his third homer of the season and three RBI in the second game after going 1-for-3 in the opener. Vista led that first game, 5-4, heading into the top of the seventh but could not hold the advantage and clearly that hung around in the second game after Poway scored eight in the first inning. Earlier in the week, the Titans beat the frustrated Panthers, 4-1. Poway faces El Camino (Oceanside) twice this week before a three-game showdown with Rancho Buena Vista (Vista) next week.

9. (9) Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 15-4
The Knights took both games against Harvard-Westlake of North Hollywood and remain in this week's top 10. Sophomore righty Matt Latherus tossed five strong innings for one of the wins. The Knights continue Mission League play this week as they battle Chaminade of West Hills.

10. (11) Buchanan (Clovis) 17-4-1
For beating No. 5 Clovis West in dramatic fashion, the Bears get to move up one spot in this week's rankings. Seth Batty was the hero in the 4-3 win early last week with a bases-loaded homer that erased a 3-0 lead for the Golden Eagles in the bottom of the seventh inning. Let's just say moments like that one provided by Batty can show how even doing baseball rankings can drive someone batty. Buchanan, which has gone 2-1 vs. Clovis West and 1-1 so far vs. Clovis, takes on the Cougars in a pair of games this week.

11. (14) Norco 16-4
It's a nice move up for the Cougars, who ran their winning streak to six games behind the hitting and pitching of Matt Hobgood. Hobgood contributed with his bat against Centennial (Corona) when he crushed his 11th and 12th home runs of the season in a 13-3 victory. Then he took the mound and was equally effective in turning back upset-minded Poly (Riverside) as this time it was catcher Jake Romanski who supplied the power with a solo homer in the second and a two-run shot in the third, accounting for all the runs in a 5-3 triumph. Hobgood homered again in support of Wes Hatton who, although he allowed six runs to M.L. King (Riverside), struck out 14 to collect the 8-6 Big VIII win. Norco plays three times this week, the most interesting of which is Saturday's game at Santiago, which trails the Cougars by just one game in league.

12. (19) JSerra (SJ Capistrano) 16-5
Although Mater Dei (Santa Ana) is No. 2 in the state, look who is No. 1 in the Trinity League. That would be the Lions, who swept Lutheran (Orange) last week in a pair of close contests, 3-2 and 2-0. Coach Brett Kay's team rallied after getting tied at 2-2, pushing across a run in the sixth to win it. Then they handed the ball to Joe Kurrasch and as he has done all year, he delivered by hurling 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball, fanning six for his sixth victory without a loss. Yes, JSerra lost two of three games to the Monarchs but they hold a one-game lead over Mater Dei and Santa Margarita (RSM), which they play at the end of the season. This week, the Lions need to stay focused against St. John Bosco in an away-home series Wednesday and Saturday.

13. (17) Clovis 20-4
While Clovis West and Buchanan were battling each other last week, the Cougars needed to take care of business in a pair of games against Madera and they did just that with wins of 3-2 and 7-2. In the 3-2 win, Cody White went 2-for-3 with a double while Bryce Vidmar drove in two runs. Dusty Valero, meanwhile, went 2-for-4 with two RBI in the 7-2 triumph. This week, it's Clovis's turn to play Buchanan as the two league rivals will meet twice.

14. (nr) Capistrano Valley (Mission Viejo) 16-5
It has been a roller coaster ride for the Cougars within the state rankings. They fell out of the rankings last week, but after a two game sweep of Dana Hills, the Cougars are back in, this time at the No. 14 spot. In the 1-0 shutout win over Dana Hills, Tyler Matzek threw a gem. He went the distance, surrendered two hits and fanned 12. Coach Bob Zamora's team has two games this week with Tesoro of Las Flores.

15. (10) Temecula Valley (Temecula) 16-4
Although the Bears lost their second Southwestern League game of the season when they dropped a 3-2 pitcher's duel to Murrieta Valley (Murrieta), there is still plenty of good news. Temecula Valley remains two games ahead in the league race and they came back to rock Murrieta Valley, 13-9. Sophomore Taylor Turski pitched well against MV but the Bears' bats were a little too cold in the one-run setback. Temecula Valley started the week on a high note when it topped Temescal Canyon (Lake Elsinore), 6-4, as 6-foot-2, 195-pound Matt Dougherty overpowered the Titans from the mound in addition to collecting a triple at the plate. Temecula Valley has an away-home series with Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) this week as Anthony Mendez' Bears attempt to zero in on the league title.

16. (nr) Serra (San Mateo) 19-5
On the road and in a must win situation, the Padres staged a dramatic final inning comeback to keep their hopes alive for a fourth straight West Catholic Athletic League championship. Trailing St. Francis of Mountain View by 5-3 going into the final inning, Serra scored three seventh inning runs for the 6-5 win to move into a tie for first place. Since St. Francis is the other team the Padres are tied with, the 6-5 win also provides the impetus for sticking Serra at No. 1 for the Bay Area this week and into the state top 20. The Padres opened the week with a 9-1 win over St. Ignatius as Julian Merryweather picked up the win. Keven McEntee led the way with three RBI as the Padres combined for 17 hits. In the WCAL, Serra will be lucky to go 2-1 this week with games against Riordan (on the road), Bellarmine (at home) and then Archbishop Mitty (on the road).

17. (nr) Clayton Valley (Concord) 16-2
We debated it long and hard about whether Clayton Valley or Serra should be higher in this week's rankings and in the end a WCAL team being in front of a team from a weaker league and eventually a weaker playoff division was the difference. The Eagles scored 11 runs in both wins last week, including one over an Irvington of Fremont squad that recently beat Bay Area power Monte Vista. The other 11-run win was by 11-0 over Mt. Diablo of Concord in a game in which Brandon Weller struck out six and threw a mercy-rule shortened no-hitter. Assuming that Serra will probably collect a sixth loss at some point, which would give every WCAL team at least six losses, Clayton Valley does have a good chance to move up to No. 1 in our Bay Area rankings as soon as next week.

18. (12) Elk Grove 15-4
Fresh off a record setting performance the week before, the Thundering Herd looked poised for a move into the top 10 before a shocking loss to Laguna Creek last week sent them sliding back down the rankings six spots. Elk Grove defeated Franklin of Elk Grove, 6-3, to open the week before playing at Laguna Creek and easily defeating the Cardinals by a 13-0 final led by Justin Charles and Jared Deacon each driving in three runs. The Herd returned home to face the Cardinals once again in what figured to be another convincing win but after taking a 5-1 lead they allowed five runs in the fourth inning and seven runs in the fifth inning with six errors playing a huge factor in the 14-8 loss. The team picked up a non league 8-4 win over Santa Cruz in Stockton to end the week and will resume league play with two games against Davis and a single game against Kennedy this week.

19. (nr) Northview (Covina) 13-4
The Vikings enter the rankings this week for the first time this year, coming in at No. 19. They went 2-2 in the National Classic with their final game a win over Jesuit of Carmichael. Since then they took both meetings with Baldwin Park last week and ran their league record to 7-1. Their only league loss came early in the season to San Dimas, the same San Dimas team the Vikings play twice this week. This Northview team also was a CIFSS divisional champion last year with several solid returnees.

20. (nr) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 13-4
They're baaaack. With Poway making a big move, one has to remember that the Dons, who are batting .391 as a team, led by Mr. California for football, Tyler Gaffney (.458, three home runs), crushed the Titans, 14-6, earlier this season. Gary Remiker's club pounded Madison (San Diego), 12-3, last week after piling up 19 and 13 runs from the week before and while that's not Yucaipa territory, it's not bad. Ryan Wilkins collected his third win of the season as Casey Husband provided the punch, going 3-for-3 with a triple and two RBI. It'll be a little busier for Cathedral this week as it plays Western League games against Madison and dangerous Point Loma (16-3) on Thursday and a non-league game against always tough Grossmont on Saturday.

Dropped Out:
Previous No. 8 Vista; No. 15 Jesuit (Carmichael); No. 16 Monte Vista (Danville); No. 18 Valley Christian (San Jose); No. 20 Archbishop Mitty (San Jose).

On The Bubble:
Beckman (Irvine) 17-3, Bishop Amat (La Puente) 16-5, Bonita (La Verne) 14-4, Cleveland (Reseda) 17-5, Jesuit (Carmichael) 15-5, La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 16-4, Monte Vista (Danville) 15-5, Oakdale 21-2, Rancho Buena Vista (Vista) 16-5, St. Francis (Mountain View) 19-6, St. Mary's (Stockton) 16-7, Stockdale (Bakersfield) 19-4, Torrey Pines (San Diego) 14-5, Vista 15-5, Yuba City 19-2.

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