Tribune Top Ten Baseball Poll
1. South Hills (7-2) –– The nightmare of being swept by Charter Oak is yesterday’s news after beating Damien and crushing Ayala to get back in the Sierra title picture. We’ll try this again, South Hills is No. 1, let’s see if they act like it.
2. Bonita (9-1) — The Bearcats took one on the chin against South Hills with their Golden Boy Garza taking the defeat and everyone talking (including me) that they couldn’t hit. All they’ve done since is keep on winning. It’s weird writing this, but they’re undefeated without Garza and we know how great they’re with him. Maybe we overreacted on one defeat.
3. Damien (5-3) –– They dismantled Chino Hills like it was a football game, 21-7. My concern with the Spartans is they have given up five runs or more in four of eight games. Pitching needs to be more consistent to win consistently.
4. Charter Oak (6-3) — How do you go from sweeping South Hills to not even being competitive in 6-1 losses to Ayala and Claremont? It’s one thing to sneak up on teams, but it’s different with the bulls-eye on your chest. Let’s see how the Chargers bounce back after this.
5. Diamond Bar (7-1) — You have to give the Brahmas their respect. They’re pitching well, hitting well and have just one loss. They have surprisingly climbed to No. 1 in Division 3. But I’ve seen this song and dance before. When they beat Bonita and Los Altos I’ll believe they’re the real deal.
6. Northview (6-1-1) — What impressed me about watching Northview’s sweep over Baldwin Park last week is there was not one senior in the starting lineup. They have solid pitching and good enough hitting to make a run at the Valle Vista.
7. San Dimas (7-3) — The Saints are 2-0 in league after sweeping Wilson, who they won’t play again. The Valle Vista league schedule is whack. Instead of playing each team once then playing them again in the second half of the season (which almost every league has done for decades) you play the same team twice in the same week and are finished with them the rest of the year. Coaches set this up because they’re soooooo afraid of pitching match-ups. Weak. Takes the drama out of the league races unless the two best teams meet in the final week.
8. Bishop Amat (5-5) — After a 1-5 start they’re back to .500 after beating Loyola in the RJ Foundation game on Saturday. They will miss Rio Ruiz’s services the next few weeks, but they’re still No. 2 in Division 4.
9. Los Altos (6-4) –– Winners of five straight and only have allowed six runs during that stretch. And they have allowed just two runs in their last three wins. This is the Los Altos I expected at the beginning of the season. But can they do it at Bonita and Garza on Thursday?
10. Covina (4-3)— The Colts will play Wilson, Nogales and Baldwin Park twice each before finally finishing with San Dimas and Northview. If they want to win the league title, they better take care of business early.
