It was another terrific year for the Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area show on YourTV, Channel 20, San Francisco. Here's the final top 20s for the 2008-09 school year in support of that program, topped by Serra of San Mateo for baseball and Archbishop Mitty for softball.

By Harold Abend, Special to CalHiSports.com

The CalHiSports.com caravan was in full throttle over the final weekend of the Bay Area prep baseball and softball seasons, catching games on both sides of the bay and making the FasTrak people real happy.

On Tuesday, May 26, we were at historic Dick Bartell Field at Lincoln Park in Alameda where we saw the host Hornets take an eight-inning 10-6 slugfest from Cardinal Newman in the NCS Div. II semis.

On Wednesday, May 27, we were in Santa Rosa to witness Montgomery earn a 2-0 decision from Las Lomas to earn a spot in the NCS Division II softball title game.

Saturday's first stop on May 30 in what the Contra Costa Times' Ben Enos called a trifecta, was with Enos at the 1 p.m. NCS Division I championship game that saw the Cowgirls of Livermore win 2-0 at Freedom in Oakley.

After interviews and a few snapshots, we hot-footed it back to Novato's San Marin High and by the time we got there it was the second inning of Pinole Valley's 1-0 victory over Montgomery in the D2 softball title tilt.

Following that was Branson, winning a second consecutive NCS softball crown, dedicating the win to its former coach Bruce Hildreth, who passed away in March.

The Bulls took a 4-2 decision from St. Vincent of Petaluma to win the NCS Division V title.

We had wanted to go to the CCS softball triple-header in San Jose, but the boss CalHiSports.com, Executive Editor Mark Tennis, made the trip from Stockton to coronate the nation's new softball queens.

Besides Branson, one other team won a game for the Gipper, so to speak, and that was the Serra Padres.

The boys from San Mateo sent retiring Coach Pete Jensen out with his fourth CCS title and 564th career victory in a nail-biting 5-4 victory over Mitty in the CCS Division I title game.

Final Baseball Top 20 Teams
(previous ranking in parentheses)

1. (1) Serra (San Mateo) 30-6
It wasn't pretty but a win is a win, especially in a section title game. In the bottom of the seventh, Luca Ponti scored the winning run after reaching on a single, then going to second on a balk by the Mitty pitcher and third on a passed ball. He scored on a chopper that went over the drawn in infield in the 5-4 Padre victory.

2. (3) Clayton Valley (Concord) 24-3
The Eagles have been hanging around the top of the heap for a few weeks and nearly grabbed the top spot after a 3-0 victory over Alameda in the NCS Division II title game at the Oakland Coliseum. Sophomore Chaz Williams fired a four-hitter and Darrel Matthews went 3-for-3 with a triple and scored twice.

3. (6) Freedom (Oakley) 23-4
If you haven't read the amazing story of last week's CalHiSports.com State Boys Athlete of the Week, UNLV-bound southpaw Billy Wardell, you should immediately scroll down and check it out. The wounded warrior threw a three-hitter against De La Salle in a 3-0 NCS Division I title game victory at the Oakland Coliseum. For their efforts, the Falcons landed the No. 20 spot in this week's overall top 20.

4. (2) De La Salle (Concord) 18-9
The boys from Sparta just couldn't get the bat on the ball but it was still a great season for first-year veteran Coach Rick Steen and the Spartans, who played arguably the toughest schedule of any team in the Bay Area.

5. (4) Valley Christian (San Jose) 22-7
The Warriors own a 2-1 win over De La Salle but the Spartans have a 2-0 win against Serra so VC could go either behind or ahead of De La Salle in what is almost a coin-flip. Coach John Diatte's boys gave Serra all it could handle in a 2-1 CCS D1 quarterfinal loss.

6. (10) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 23-12
7. (5) St. Francis (Mountain View) 26-8
8. (8) Los Gatos 27-5
9. (9) Bellarmine (San Jose) 23-10
10. (11) Deer Valley (Antioch) 20-7
11. (7) Alameda 23-6
12. (12) Monte Vista (Danville) 17-9
13. (13) San Benito (Hollister) 26-5-1
14. (14) Wilcox (Santa Clara) 26-8
15. (15) Newark Memorial (Newark) 22-6
16. (17) Miramonte (Orinda) 23-3-1
17. (16) Palma (Salinas) 27-5
18. (18) Casa Grande (Petaluma) 19-7
19. (19) Drake (San Anselmo) 23-6
20. (20) California (San Ramon) 16-9

Special Mention
Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) 20-6, Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 22-6, Head-Royce (Oakland) 24-2, Irvington (Fremont) 19-6, Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 20-6, Novato 17-11, Sobrato (Morgan Hill) 19-14, St. Mary's (Berkeley) 21-6, Skyline (Oakland) 18-3.

Final Softball Top 20 Teams
(Previous ranking in parentheses)

1. (1) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 32-0
"She's the best who has ever come through Mitty,” Monarchs Coach Sarah Thomas told the San Francisco Chronicle after Oklahoma-bound Keilani Ricketts hurled a two-hitter in a 3-0 CCS Division II championship victory over WCAL cross-town rival Presentation at the San Jose PAL Stadium. "A national title and 32-0. It doesn't get any better than that,” continued Thomas, whose team sits atop the ESPN RISE FAB 50 as well as the USA Today rankings. Ricketts is now 3-0 in section title games and Thomas is 5-0.

2. (3) Livermore 25-2
The young Cowgirls jumped on Freedom's Hannah Williams early as Coach Bill Keller's daughter, Louisville-committed Katie Keller, led off the game with a single and came around on Kaitlyn Taylor's two-run homer for the game's only runs in a 2-0 Livermore victory in the NCS Division I title game. Since then, Livermore has moved up in all rankings and it was learned earlier this week that the team will be no lower than No. 10 nationally in the final ESPN RISE FAB 50.

3. (2) Freedom (Oakley) 23-4
One bad pitch, a hanging changeup, was the difference in the Falcons' 2-0 title game loss to Livermore. After giving up the first inning single and home run, Fresno State-bound Hannah Williams only allowed three more hits and struck out nine.

4. (5) San Benito (Hollister) 25-4
Trailing Tri-County League rival Gilroy 3-1 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Haybalers bounced back for three runs in the bottom of the inning and held on for the win. Jessica Steegleman had the big hit of the inning for San Benito with a bases-loaded, three-run triple. San Francisco State-bound Marissa Ibarra pitched a complete game victory, just like she did in CCS title games as a freshman, sophomore and junior. The triumph was the fourth CCS Division I championship in a row for Coach Scott Smith and the Balers.

5. (7) Notre Dame (Belmont) 27-8
The Tigers may only have been the third seed in the CCS Division III playoffs but they still won their second championship in the last three years with a 4-1 victory over upstart Stevenson of Pebble Beach. Stephanie Menzel had a solid outing from the circle and timely hitting by Maia Manchek and Ali Palermo got the job done for first-year Coach George Silvey's squad.

6. (8) Presentation (San Jose) 26-6-1
7. (4) Notre Dame (Salinas) 26-6-1
8. (11) Pinole Valley (Pinole) 24-3
9. (6) Foothill (Pleasanton) 18-8     
10. (9) Montgomery (Santa Rosa) 24-2*     
11. (12) Concord 20-6
12. (10) Antioch 19-7
13. (13) James Logan (Union City) 23-3-1
14. (16) Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) 24-3
15. (14) Rancho Cotate 21-3-1*
16. (20) Gilroy 16-13-1
17. (18) Wilcox (Santa Clara) 21-6
18. (17) Castro Valley 18-6
19. (nr) Stevenson (Pebble Beach) 21-5
20. (15) Albany 21-3

Special Mention
Carlmont (Belmont) 22-5-1, Clayton Valley (Concord) 16-10, Deer Valley (Antioch) 13-11, Las Lomas (Walnut Creek) 20-6, North Salinas (Salinas) 18-7, Piedmont Hills (San Jose) 21-9, Redwood (Larkspur) 22-5*, San Marin (Novato) 18-5, San Ramon Valley (Danville) 16-10, St. Patrick St. Vincent (Vallejo) 25-2, Westmont (Campbell) 22-6-1,

*Not including wins by forfeit

Corrections or comments? Email mark@studentsports.com and be sure to leave a comment so others can check out what you have to say. To contact writer Harold Abend, email marketingharold@yahoo.com.