Rain puts kibosh on weekend fun but the wetness held out just enough on Monday. Watch Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area for highlights on many of these teams each week on Sunday at 7 p.m. on YourTV 20, San Francisco. Replays during the week on Comcast SportsNet.

By Harold Abend, Special to CalHiSports.com

We desperately need rain in Northern California so last weekend's downpour was a double-edged sword for prep baseball and softball fans like yours truly.

What a weekend we had planned. First it would be a Friday afternoon trip to San Mateo to see Serra host a hot Bellarmine nine.

Then, it was to be the 3rd Annual three-game Oakland A's/Dave Stewart Showdown at the Coliseum on Saturday.

Instead we found ourselves singing a song from our distant youth. "Rain, rain go away, come again another day.”

Well, the ducks and the various water districts were happy at least.

But don't fret. Around 3 o'clock on Saturday we got a call from Showdown host school's Leo Lopoz, the athletic director at De La Salle. The Showdown has been rescheduled in as much of its present form as possible with all the same teams in action but against different opponents.

Skyline (Oakland) will play Jesuit (Carmichael) on May 9 at St. Mary's College.

On May 16 there will be two games at the Coliseum. Berkeley will face Monte Vista at 10 am and the host Spartans now get a shot at Clovis West (Fresno) in the afternoon 1 pm contest.

As for the Padres, they got in a Saturday game against Mitty and remain in the catbird's seat in these rankings while also moving up to No. 14 in the overall state top 20. 
The Bellarmine game was rescheduled for Monday and although it's not reflected in the records or the rankings for this week's CalHiSports.com Bay Area Top 20, the Padres had a day to remember for a lot more than the 9-3 victory that solidifies their position atop the WCAL.

We confirmed with Serra AD Kevin Donahue the game was on early Monday afternoon, so the caravan headed south from Sonoma County, and despite rain to almost the front gate of the ballfield, the game was played in its entirety with a few drizzles and a lot of humidity, but also with sun peeking through above in the only place within sight for miles.

It was the Padres' bats, though, that were hot and humid and in particular one young man who had two of the 11 hits and one of the four doubles Serra swatted against four Bellarmine pitchers.

"The first time I saw him I knew he was my favorite player. Tony Renda is my favorite player,” said 90-year-old Dorothy Chavez, grandmother of USF-bound Padre pitcher Danny Chavez, who went seven innings and threw a five-hitter with three strikeouts to earn the win in the 7-4 victory on Saturday over Mitty.

"Stop worrying, it's not going to rain,” said Grandma Chavez, who sat alongside yours truly behind the backstop of the rustic Serra ballpark.

The Padre faithful are certainly glad the rain held out because they were able to see school history.

When the Cal-bound Renda hit a double off the top of the 30-foot left field screen at the 290-foot sign to lead off the bottom of the first inning, he passed former major-leaguer Gregg Jefferies for the school's all-time hits record with No. 127. Jefferies' dad, Rich, the Padres third-base coach, turned to watch the ball and when it didn't hook foul, he pumped his fist in the air.

Last week Renda passed Chuck Lofgren for the school's runs scored record when he scored No. 106.

After Monday, when he was 2-for-4 with a run scored, Renda now has 128 hits and 109 runs scored in his four years at Serra. On the season he's batting .419 with 30 runs scored, 12 RBIs, two homers, 10 doubles and two triples.

"He's 12-of-13 on steals,” added Padres Coach Pete Jensen, who coached Jefferies, Lofgren and a fellow named Bonds (as an assistant) during his tenure at Serra.

"Tony isn't only a great hitter,” continued Jensen. "Defensively, he's unbelievable. He's one of the best I've ever had.”

Shortstop Renda was involved in three double-plays in the game, including one in the fourth inning where he corralled a ball from his knees and literally crawled to the bag himself before throwing to first from a half-standing position.

His third DP finished the ballgame when he snared a hard shot and started a 6-4-3 that sent the Bells packing.

"So many great players have gone to this school. It's an honor to be in the record book with someone like Gregg Jefferies. I only hope to have half the career he had,” said Renda, who added his goal is to play in college and then follow in Jefferies' footsteps.

"Play at Cal and go to the bigs. That's been my dream since I was a baby.”

Baseball Top 20 Teams
(Records through May 2)

1. (1) Serra (San Mateo) 21-5
The win Monday and a Tuesday postponement of their game at Sacred Heart Cathedral in the City will be part of next week's rankings but what the Padres did last week was just fine. It was road wins against Riordan (13-3) and Archbishop Mitty (7-4) that now has Serra with control of a WCAL championship in its own hands. Besides the game with the Irish, they have Valley Christian at home on Friday. In the 7-4 win over Mitty previously mentioned Danny Chavez provided the pitching and Justin Maffei had three hits and knocked in two runs, including the game-winner.

2. (6) Bellarmine (San Jose) 19-6
First year Coach Mike Rodriguez had the Bells playing well coming into the week after they shut out St. Francis 7-0 last week in Mountain View and then took out St. Ignatius, 8-1, at home. The two wins made it six straight. So far, this week has not been so kind to Rodriguez and his charges and that will be reflected in next week's rankings.

3. (5) Valley Christian (San Jose) 20-7
For Coach John Diatte's boys it was solid victories against Mitty, 8-2 on the road, 10-1 at home versus Riordan and 18-1 in the City over Sacred Heart Cathedral. There's a good chance at this point of the week that VC could be in the catbird's seat in next week's rankings.

4. (2) Clayton Valley (Concord) 19-3
The Eagles have to fly a little lower this week after dropping a non-league game, 7-5, at home against Alameda. They then took it out on their Diablo Valley League opponents with 19-0 and 21-2 wins over Ygnacio Valley (Concord) and Berean Christian of Walnut Creek, respectively. With two more weeks of league play left before the NCS playoffs, Coach Bob Ralston's boys have College Park and Concord on tap this week.

5. (3) St. Francis (Mountain View) 20-7
Yes, they dropped one last week, 7-0 at Bellarmine, but in the wacky WCAL they also have wins over Serra, Valley Christian, Mitty and they won the first meeting with the Bells. They also have a win over Los Gatos.

6. (7) Los Gatos 20-3
7. (4) Monte Vista (Danville) 13-6
8. (9) Irvington (Fremont) 16-4
9. (8) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 18-9
10. (10) Wilcox (Santa Clara) 21-5
11. (12) De La Salle (Concord) 10-8
12. (13) Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) 17-3
13. (14) San Benito (Hollister) 16-4-1
14. (11) Foothill (Pleasanton) 11-8
15. (15) Casa Grande (Petaluma) 16-4
16. (16) Freedom (Oakley) 16-4
17. (17) California (San Ramon) 13-6
18. (19) Deer Valley (Antioch) 16-3
19. (nr) Alameda 15-4
20. (nr) Newark Memorial (Newark) 17-5

Baseball Teams On the Bubble
Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 12-7, Aragon (San Mateo) 21-5, Campolindo (Moraga) 17-4, Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 15-5, Concord 13-7, Drake (San Anselmo) 16-5, Dublin 12-8, Head-Royce (Oakland) 18-1, Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 15-5, Miramonte (Orinda) 16-3-1, Monterey 15-9, Montgomery (Santa Rosa) 16-4, Oak Grove (San Jose) 19-3, Oakland Tech (Oakland) 15-8, Palma (Salinas) 20-5, San Ramon Valley (Danville) 12-8, Santa Teresa (San Jose) 19-4, Scotts Valley 18-4, Skyline (Oakland) 9-3, Stevenson (Pebble Beach) 16-4.

Softball Top 20 Teams

1. (1) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 25-0
Someone finally scored on current FAB 50 No. 2 and state overall No. 1 Mitty and Keilani Ricketts in WCAL play when Valley Christian got a run in a 3-1 victory. It must have made Ricketts mad because she knocked in all three runs with her seventh and eighth home runs of the season. Earlier in the week she no hit Notre Dame of Salinas with 16 Ks and was 2-for-4 at the plate in a 1-0 win. Coach Sarah Thomas's girls wrap up league play with home games against St. Ignatius (San Francisco) and Notre Dame of Belmont, then it's on to the playoffs.

2. (2) Freedom (Oakley) 17-3
Hannah Williams now has five consecutive shutouts after 11-0 and 2-0 blankings of Brentwood's Liberty and Heritage, respectively last week. Against Liberty, Williams had two three-run home runs (five homers on season) and knocked in six runners. The Falcons have two road games this week. First they've got Pittsburg and then it's a rematch with Emily Allard and Deer Valley of Antioch.

3. (3) Livermore 16-2
Coach Bill Keller's young Cowgirls continue to make a name for themselves after landing the No. 41 spot in last week's FAB 50 and moving up to No. 9 in the state in the rankings released yesterday. In this group, despite 4-0 and 2-0 victories over Carondelet (Concord) and Amador Valley of Pleasanton, respectively, that gets the team to 10-0 in the East Bay Athletic League, there's no place to move up. This week, it's Monte Vista at home and California on the road. Then there's one more week of league play before the NCS playoffs where Livermore would appear to be on a possible collision course with Freedom.

4. (5) San Benito (Hollister) 22-3
Despite a head-to-head loss from earlier in the season, the Haybaler girls get to go ahead of Tri-County League arch-rival Notre Dame (Salinas) after a win over the Gilroy team that beat ND earlier in the week. They also got a nice bump of three spots up to No. 16 overall in the state. Besides the 5-2 win over Gilroy, Coach Scott Smith's girls posted two shutouts last week with 7-0 and 9-0 victories over Salinas' Alvarez and Alisal, respectively. This week the girls host Notre Dame, then travel to Gilroy.

5. (4) Notre Dame (Salinas) 21-6-1
What might have been three wins last week turned into two losses and one victory, as the Spirits suffered 1-0 setbacks to Gilroy and Mitty of San Jose sandwiched around a 13-1 pounding of visiting cross-town Alvarez. Coach Joe Given's girls only drop a notch here and in the state overall as well due to the closeness of the Mitty loss. On tap this week is the rematch with San Benito where a win would re-jump the Spirits back in front of the Balers next week both here and in the state.

6. (6) Foothill (Pleasanton) 15-5
7. (8) Montgomery (Santa Rosa) 20-0*
8. (13) James Logan (Union City) 17-2-1
9. (16) Notre Dame (Belmont) 20-6
10. (7) Presentation (San Jose) 22-4-1
11. (15) Carlmont (Belmont) 16-4-1
12. (9) Deer Valley (Antioch) 9-7
13. (17) Pinole Valley (Pinole) 15-2
14. (10) Concord 15-4
15. (11) Antioch 15-5
16. (18) Albany 16-2
17. (12) Liberty (Brentwood) 13-5
18. (19) Castro Valley 15-5
19. (20) Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) 18-2
20. (14) San Marin (Novato) 16-2*

Softball Teams On the Bubble
Acalanes (Lafayette) 12-5, Castilleja (Palo Alto) 14-0, Clayton Valley (Concord) 12-8, Drake (San Anselmo) 15-7, Las Lomas (Walnut Creek) 17-3, Mt. Pleasant (San Jose) 17-6, Overfelt (San Jose) 13-3, Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) 17-2-1, Redwood (Larkspur) 16-4*, San Ramon Valley (Danville) 12-8, St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 13-8-1, St. Patrick St. Vincent (Vallejo) 18-2, Stevenson (Pebble Beach) 16-5, Ukiah 14-4, Wilcox (Santa Clara) 17-5.

*Not including wins by forfeit

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