Senior quarterback makes the plays as state's No. 10 team turns back No. 4 Servite of Anaheim. Check inside here as well for writeup of No. 6 Oceanside's win over Long Beach Poly and check back later on Saturday for on-site coverage of No. 9 De La Salle's one-point overtime loss to nationally-ranked Lakeland, Fla.

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By Ronnie Flores, Managing Editor
Contributing: Steve Brand

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Going into Friday night's Orange County showdown between state No. 4 Servite of Anaheim and No. 10 Edison of Huntington Beach, we had previously observed and evaluated four outstanding teams in the state of California. Servite was one of those teams, along with Oaks Christian of Westlake Village, St. Bonaventure of Ventura  and Grant of Sacramento.

There were some media scribes and rabid message board fans who even felt the Friars deserved to hop those three teams as the state's top-rated club.
 
The reasoning behind that logic was Servite had already defeated three outstanding clubs and was set to tackle a fourth at Huntington Beach High's field. We knew the Chargers were a dangerous club coming in, but the California prep football world found out just how good head coach David White's club is courtesy of its 23-9 victory in which it held the Friars without an offensive touchdown.

"This might sound crazy, but we were pretty confident coming in," White remarked. "We felt they we're the No. 1 team (in the county), but this wasn't an upset. They never drove the ball on us."(Read full post)

Key injury could put Edison of Huntington Beach behind the 8-ball in matchup vs. Anaheim Servite. We're now up to 12-2 on the season so far and we only pick games in which both teams are ranked. Read below for the predicted scores and analysis for the top games around California coming up this weekend. Six games are forecast in this week's feature.

(Note: It is not our intention to entice gambling in any way with these predicted scores. We will only use actual scores, not point spreads. Finally, because we greatly respect all coaches and student-athletes who step onto the field to compete, the winning margin of some predicted scores could be pared down).

Servite (Anaheim) 41, Edison (Huntington Beach) 31
This is the game of the week in the state. We think there are four truly outstanding teams in the state that have proven to be on the highest level: Grant, Oaks Christian, St. Bonaventure, and the Friars. There is a group of about five or six teams that are just a notch below that top group that we're just not sure how good they are and Edison is among them. The Chargers might be as good as the top group, but top linebacker Jordan Zumwalt won't be 100 percent against Servite after breaking his hand. So what, you say, how important is a linebacker when the quarterback passes for 486 yards like Matt Viles did last week? In Zumwalt's case, very, since the Friars are so physical up front and are playing with such confidence right now. Zumwalt might be the best linebacker in the CIFSS Pac-Five, and if he's not 100 percent, Servite is going to put points on the board. The Friar defense also will slow down Edison just enough to pull out the win. Rankings: Servite is No. 4 overall in the state, Edison is No. 10. Both teams also are in the ESPN RISE West Region Top 20.(Read full post)

Stanford-bound LB Jordan Zumwalt hopes to lead Edison of Huntington Beach to a banner season. Lincoln of Stockton and Wheatland both have top linebackers as well while the other school featured today – Palmdale – will be led by one of the top defensive backs in the state.

Note: A coach or representative of the school should email or fax in a questionnaire in order for that school's team to be included in this feature. You can CLICK HERE to print out a questionnaire or make a photo copy of the one printed in the back of the seventh edition of the ESPN RISE CalHiSports.com Record Book and Almanac we sent to schools last March. If you can't print a questionnaire, review the categories below and simply fill in the blanks. We will add our own comments and analysis. Please fax completed questionnaire to (209) 463-1219 or email info to mark@studentsports.com.

Team Name: Edison (Huntington Beach)
Head Coach: Dave White (169-87-3 overall)
Last Year's Records: 7-3, 8-2 for J.V.
Returning Starters: 13 (7 offense, 6 defense)
Players Most Deserving of Preseason Honors: LB Jordan Zumwalt (League Def. POY), OL-DL Roman Sapolu, WR-DB Mike Rivera, WR-DB Luke Eddy, RB-DB Wade Houston, WR-DB Davion Orphey.
Newcomers Who Could Make An Impact: Jesse Sapolu, Dylan Leener
Coach's General Outlook: We are inexperienced along both sides of the line but will look to make up for it with our experience at the skill positions. We should have great leadership and will be quick and athletic.
Other Teams To Watch From The Area (listed by coach): Servite (Anaheim), Lutheran (Orange), Mater Dei (Santa Ana), Mission Viejo.
All-league level players with GPAs above 3.50: QB Matt Viles, WR-DB Jeff Trojan, QB Steve Andrew
CalHiSports.com Comments: We'll be stunned if the Chargers don't make the CIFSS Pac-Five Division playoffs this season and we wouldn't be surprised if they turned out to be one of the division's top teams. Viles threw for 2,009 yards last year and during the summer led Edison to team titles at the Battle of the Beach and Air Strike passing tournaments. Zumwalt is back to lead the defense as a Stanford-bound stopper who is one of the top linebackers in the state. Sapolu is headed to the Pac-10 as well with a commitment to Oregon State. The Chargers should be 3-0 heading into a showdown against Servite of Anaheim. If they get by that one, a surge of confidence could carry this group far.

(Read full post)

The Capistrano Valley of Mission Viejo senior homers in his last bat, then picks up the save as his team beats Edison of Huntington Beach, 1-0, in CIF Southern Section Division I final. Capo Valley will now wait to see if it will be No. 1 in the state or if Chatsworth will be selected.

	Andrew Drennen
	Josh Leyland helped guide San Dimas to its second Southern Section title.

CIFSS semis are in the books and it will be Edison of Huntington Beach going for No. 1 in baseball title game at Anaheim Stadium. The highest-ranked softball team still going after Tuesday is Norco, which is playing Corona Santiago in championship game this weekend. At least two No. 1 teams this week have already lost and both of those are in baseball. The softball races for No. 1 mythical state titles are all just about over.

Compiled by Steve Brand & Mark Tennis
Contributing: Paul Muyskens, Harold Abend

(Based on games played through Saturday, May 30)
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
*Indicates season is complete.
*Asterisk after season record indicates forfeit wins, losses not included.

BASEBALL

Division I
1.  (5)  Edison (Huntington Beach) 22-5
2.  (7)  Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 24-5
3.  (6)  *Chatsworth 29-4
4.  (8)  Capistrano Valley (Mission Viejo) 24-6
5.  (2)  *Norco 25-5
6.  (11) *Serra (San Mateo) 30-6
7.  (12) Poway 26-6
8.  (13) *Jesuit (Carmichael) 27-5
9.  (1)  *Yucaipa 27-3
10. (nr) Redlands East Valley (Redlands) 23-6
11. (3)  *El Toro (Lake Forest) 23-6
12. (nr) *Stockdale (Bakersfield) 26-5
13. (9)  *Clovis West (Fresno) 29-6
14. (4)  *Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 23-6
15. (10) *JSerra (San Juan Capistrano) 22-7
Bubble: *Buchanan (Clovis) 23-5-1, *Cleveland (Reseda) 25-8, Clovis 24-7, Crespi (Encino) 19-11, *De La Salle (Concord) 18-9, *Elk Grove 22-7, *Freedom (Oakley)* 23-4, Huntington Beach 18-12, *Marina (Huntington Beach) 22-7, *Monte Vista (Danville) 17-8, *Palos Verdes (Palos Verdes Estates) 25-5, Poly (Riverside) 20-10, Rancho Bernardo (San Diego) 23-10, Rancho Buena Vista (Vista) 23-9, *St. Mary's (Stockton) 25-8, *Temecula Valley (Temecula) 22-6, *Tesoro (Las Flores) 20-8, *Valley Christian (San Jose) 25-9, Vista 24-11.
Comments: When the top four teams lose, there is bound to be some serious movement. Edison of Huntington Beach benefited by moving right up to No. 1, but the Chargers will need to win out in the Southern Section's DI playoffs to hold the spot as Mater Dei of Santa Ana slid right in behind them.
In Tuesday's CIFSS semis at Blair Field, Edison and Mater Dei faced each other and the Chargers won the thriller, 2-1, when Kyle Jones smacked a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh with two outs. Sophomore Henry Owens again pitched well for Edison, which will start ace Kurt Heyer in Saturday's final at Anaheim Stadium.
Capistrano Valley won in the other Tuesday semifinal at Blair Field with a 1-0 triumph over Riverside Poly. The Cougars threw their ace, Tyler Matzek, who pitched a two-hitter and also drove in the game's only run with an RBI single in the first inning. Matzek will only be available for a handful of innings in the title game against Edison.
In the CIFSS Div. II semifinals on Tuesday, Redlands East Valley was eliminated after a 7-5 loss to Crespi of Encino. The Celts, who have been a staple in the CIFSS semis and finals in recent years, will play Huntington Beach in Saturday's championship. Both teams have been hot lately, but have been inconsistent throughout the season, which is why neither team is ranked above.
Like REV, state-ranked Poway also lost on Tuesday as the Titans ran out of magic in a 2-0 defeat to Rancho Bernardo in the San Diego Section Div. I playoffs. They must now play Rancho Bernardo again in a do-or-die playoff game on Thursday.

Division II
1.  (1) *Yuba City 27-3
2.  (2) *Clayton Valley (Concord) 24-3
3.  (3)  Beckman (Irvine) 25-4
4.  (7) *Los Gatos 27-5
5.  (4) *Alameda 22-5
6.  (nr) South Hills (Covina) 22-8
7.  (5) *Bonita (La Verne) 21-6
8.  (6) *Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 22-6
9.  (9) *Rocklin 23-8
10. (nr) Grossmont (La Mesa) 23-9
Bubble:  *Charter Oak (Covina) 17-10, *Edison (Fresno) 22-11, El Capitan (Lakeside) 18-13, *El Diamante (Visalia) 22-9, *Gahr (Cerritos) 19-9, *Granite Bay 22-11, *Irvington (Fremont) 19-7, *Paramount 19-10, *Pleasant Valley (Chico) 27-5, *Scotts Valley 23-5, Steele Canyon (Spring Valley) 23-7, *Wilcox (Santa Clara) 26-8.
Comments: Clayton Valley nailed down the No. 2 spot with its 3-0 victory over Alameda in the North Coast Section championships and now it's up to Beckman to win out to hold the No. 3 spot. The Patriots  beat Lancaster, 15-3, in their CIFSS Div. III semifinal game on Tuesday behind Edgar Zamora, who pitched five innings for the win and drove in six runs at the plate.
Beckman's opponent in its title game is tradition-rich South Hills, which counts Jason Giambi among its many baseball graduates. The Huskies won their semifinal game, 9-3, over Corona del Mar of Newport Beach.
Also on Tuesday, in the San Diego Section, Grossmont advanced to the title game with an 8-7 win over Bonita Vista of Chula Vista. The Foothillers will meet El Capitan of Lakeside in the final.

(Read full post)

The craziest two weeks of the season for the rankings begin as usual with lots of playoff upsets. That's single-elimination playoff baseball. Chatsworth's win in the L.A. City finals on Saturday, however, does lock out a number of teams from perhaps being No. 1 in the state for the season. Edison and Mater Dei, who play each other on Tuesday, start out this week in the No. 1 and No. 2 positions.

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

(After games of Saturday, May 30)
(Previous ranking in parentheses)

1. (5) Edison (Huntington Beach) 22-5
With the No. 1 through No. 4 teams from last week all losing in the CIF Southern Section playoffs, it's natural to move up the No. 5 Chargers into the No. 1 slot to start this week. Of course, they have to play No. 2 Mater Dei in the Division I semifinals on Tuesday at Blair Field and if they win would then have to earn the championship on Saturday at Anaheim Stadium. Edison won its quarterfinal game last Friday, 3-2, over Dana Hills of Dana Point. Arizona State-bound Kurt Heyer tossed three-hitter with Eric Snyder topping the offense with a pair of doubles. In its other game last week, the Chargers clubbed West Ranch of Valencia, 13-1. Sophomore Henry Owens pitched a five-hitter in that one while Chris Czernachowski led the offense with a home run and a double. The Heyer-Owens pitching combo has been outstanding all season and one more strong outing from each could result in a State Team of the Year honor.

2. (7) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 24-5
After the Monarchs took down Matt Hobgood and the previous No. 2 Norco Cougars with their 7-4 win last Friday in the CIFSS Div. I quarterfinals, we almost moved them back up to No. 1 for the third time this season. While we did hop them in front of Chatsworth, we left Edison higher since the two teams are going to face off against each other on Tuesday anyway. Coach Burt Call's team also won its earlier playoff game last week by the same 7-4 score against Tesoro of Las Flores. Aaron Northcraft pitched the game against Norco and is as good a No. 1 as you'll find. Mater Dei's offense, which was shut down in its five league losses, has been potent when it has counted the most, especially Cory Hahn, who homered against Tesoro before he hit the two off Hobgood. If Mater Dei wins the CIFSS Division I title to go along with the Anderson Bat National Classic crown it won in April, that's going to be enough as well for the team to be the 2009 State Team of the Year.

3. (6) Chatsworth 29-4
Heading into the L.A. City Section Div. I finals, the Chancellors met up with a Cleveland of Reseda team they saw three previous times. They went 2-1 against the Cavaliers, winning their meeting in early May, 4-3. This time at Dodger Stadium last Saturday, it wasn't close. Carlos Escobar Jr., led the way for the Chancellors, who busted the 9-0 game wide open in the fourth. Escobar led off the fourth with a ground rule double and in his second at bat in the inning he blasted a three-run homer. It is the third straight section title for Chatsworth and the eighth in the last 11 years. Cleveland did win the league title this year, though, so that's what costs Chatsworth in a comparison to Edison and Mater Dei if either of those two win the CIFSS Div. I title. Mater Dei didn't win its league title, either, but winning the National Classic and beating Norco and then potentially Edison and Capistrano Valley would be too much. If you are a Chatsworth fan, clearly the team to root for this week in the CIFSS Div. I playoffs is Riverside Poly. There would be no doubt about the Chancellors finishing No. 1 in the final state rankings if that were to happen.

4. (8) Capistrano Valley (Mission Viejo) 24-6
The Cougars will take on Riverside Poly in the CIFSS Div. I semifinal on Tuesday at Blair Field, in Long Beach. That's because they dispatched Orange Lutheran and Marina of Huntington Beach last week. Probable top 10 MLB draft pick Tyler Matzek was lights out against the Lancers in their 4-0 second round win and the bats came alive for the Cougars, who topped Marina 11-0. Rumor has it that recently the Capo Valley lefty, in the playoffs, has hit 99 mph on the gun. Even if the Cougars win out this week, they may not jump Chatsworth in the final rankings. Having a sixth loss, compared to five for Edison and Mater Dei, is the difference there.

(Read full post)

A 35-1 week pushes Yucaipa to No. 1 for the second time this season. Norco moves up to No. 2 and also earns top seed for CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs. Buchanan of Clovis is up to No. 4 while Huntington Beach Edison charges up to No. 6.

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

(After games of Saturday, May 16)
(Previous ranking in parentheses)

1. (2) Yucaipa 25-2
After a week in which four of last week's top five teams took losses (some of which admittedly were in meaningless games), it is the T-Birds going up to snag he No. 1 ranking. It is the second time this year that Yucaipa has been No. 1 in the state and comes after a week in which they crushed Fontana, 12-1, and Eisenhower of Rialto, 23-0, to wrap up the Citrus Belt League title. Taijuan Walker got the offense rolling against the Steelers by going 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI. In the matchup vs. the Eagles, All-American candidate Matt Davidson cranked out a pair of homers while pitcher Pedro Cota tossed zeroes and improved to 10-0 for the season. Yucaipa took the No. 2 seed in the CIF Southern Section Div. II playoffs and will play either Crescenta Valley of La Crescenta or Righetti of Santa Maria in its first playoff game. While the team's strong finish wasn't enough to wrest the No. 1 seed from El Toro (last week's No. 1 team in the state), the L.A. Times did move up Yucaipa to No. 1 in its rankings as well.

2. (6) Norco 23-4
Two weeks ago the Cougars weren't even in the Top 10. But this week it's another significant move for Gary Parcell's nine after they dusted off M.L. King 8-0 and Centennial (Corona) 8-2 to enter the Southern Section playoffs on a 13-game roll. One week after David Jones hurled a no-hitter, Wes Hatton did the same to MLK, striking out five and walking just one. Add in Matt Hobgood and there are few pitching staffs in the state – maybe none – as good as Norco's, which has a gaudy 1.70 team ERA. Hatton got all the support he needed when Hobgood powered out a home run. Jones came back to beat Centennial and while he wasn't perfect, the Cougars collected another nine runs with Joseph Lavalle and Jake Clark sending the ball over the fence and out of the park. If the Cougars were trying to show they're peaking at the right time, outscoring their final two opponents in the regular season 17-2 sent a very clear message. Norco's strong showing of late, plus the fact the team was a semifinalist last year, no doubt contributed to the team earning the No. 1 seed for the CIF Southern Section Div. I playoffs. The Cougars open against the winner of the Moorpark-Brea Olinda game at home on Friday.

3. (1) El Toro (Lake Forest) 21-5
The Chargers split their final two games of the year against Foothill of Santa Ana. With the split, the Chargers ended up with a 13-2 league record, which was good enough for the Sea View League crown. Because of its loss, El Toro dropped two spots in this week's rankings but still was handed the No. 1 seed for the CIF Southern Section Div. II playoffs. As the defending champion of those playoffs, getting the No. 1 seed is certainly justified. It's also justified to move up Yucaipa in the state rankings as well. The Chargers will play host to the winner of the Rancho Cucomonga vs. Valley View wild card game on Thursday.

4. (8) Buchanan (Clovis) 23-4-1
This is the same spot in the rankings last week that was occupied by Clovis West. This week, the Bears move up and take it after a pair of wins against Central of Fresno while Clovis West went 1-2. Buchanan also has a 2-1 record against the Golden Eagles and on Sunday was selected to be the No. 1 seed for the CIF Central Section playoffs. In the team's regular season finale, a 14-4 victory over Central of Fresno was paced by the long ball with six different Bears who connected for round-trippers. According to the Fresno Bee, ripping home runs were Bryce Berger, Brett Bishop, Brent Etiz, Matt Millar and Chris Rodgers. Buchanan will be seeded No. 1 for the CIF Central Section Div. I playoffs and because of that has a first-round bye.

(Read full post)