SBLive's California Softball Top 25: Regional champs Saint Francis & Oaks Christian finish on top

Another great season of California high school softball came and went. With the 2021-22 sports year officially over, our final softball rankings of the season follow the CIF Regional Championships. 

Here are SBLive's weekly California high school softball rankings for the last week of the 2022 season. Note that our last rankings came out two weeks ago, the week of May 24.

1. Saint Francis Mountain View (31-2 – 1st)

After only losing twice all season and finishing the year on an 18-game winning streak, the Lancers ran away with the season-end top spot in the state. After winning a CIFCCS Open Division title with only one close game, they rolled over the best competition in NorCal – St. Francis (Sacramento), Sheldon, and Clovis – en-route to a Division I Regional title.

Additionally, star shortstop and Minnesota signee Jess Oakland was recently named SBLive's California co-Player of the Year.

2. Oaks Christian (34-1 – 5th)

SBLive California's other co-Player of the Year, Notre Dame-bound Micaela Kastor, helped lead CIFSS D1 semifinalist Oaks Christian to a Southern Region Division I title last week. She hit two home runs while throwing a no-hitter against San Marcos before the Lions outlasted Mission Viejo in the semifinals and Roosevelt (Eastvale) in the title game.

MORE: PHOTO GALLERY FROM OAKS CHRISTIAN'S REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP VICTORY

3. Roosevelt Eastvale (28-4 – 2nd)

After winning the Southern Section Division 1 championship against Los Alamitos, Roosevelt beat Camarillo in the semifinals and nearly completed the rally against Oaks Christian in a 6-5 loss. Even though they lose numerous key pieces, the Mustangs will return enough to be in the mix for a preseason No. 1 statewide ranking.

4. Clovis (27-7 – 15th)

Despite coming up short against Saint Francis in the Regional title game, Clovis finishes the season at its 2022 peak. It won a Central Section Division 1 title before knocking off Heritage (Brentwood) and Del Oro to reach the NorCal Division I finals. 

5. Los Alamitos (24-8 – 4th)

Los Al opted out of Regionals, but with Clovis and Oaks leaping and Archbishop Mitty falling, it stays top-five to end the season.

6. Sheldon (28-6 – 18th)

Despite the fact that they were 18th last time, nobody should be shocked to hear that the Huskies won the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 title and upset a top-five team in the state (Archbishop Mitty) in Regionals to finish near the top five.

7. Archbishop Mitty (26-5 – 3rd)

There was no hardware this season for the Monarchs despite them being one of the best teams in California all season. Sharing a league with Saint Francis will do that to you. But they still had a tremendous season.

8. Murrieta Mesa (25-6 – 7th)

It seems strange that Mesa is still sitting here in the 7-8 range despite falling in the Southern Section quarterfinals some three weeks before many other teams ended their seasons. But it was Oaks Christian that the Rams lost to in the CIFSS D1 playoffs, and they were easily a top-10 team before that.

9. Camarillo (24-4 – 10th)

Camarillo's season ended a while ago in the CIFSS Division 1 quarterfinals against Los Al, but the Scorpions were still a top-10 in the state in 2022.

10. Mission Viejo (27-6 – 24th)

Mission Viejo started rising a few weeks ago and just never stopped. After beating Torrance and Millikan to win a Southern Section Division 2 title, the Diablos blew out Gahr in the SoCal Division I Regional quarterfinals before nearly knocking off Oaks Christian in the semis.

11. Gahr (23-10 – 11th)

The wheels came off against Mission Viejo in Gahr's season-ending Regional loss, but it likely did not detract from the air of an outstanding postseason run.

12. Orange Lutheran (21-9 – 12th)

OLu's season ended in the Southern Section D1 quarterfinals.

13. Villa Park (24-5 – 13th)

Villa Park last played on May 10 against Orange Lutheran.

14. Norco (20-9 – 14th)

The Cougars lost against Murrieta Mesa in the second round of the sectional playoffs to end their season, but will open next season as one of the top-ranked teams in the Southern Section.

15. Heritage Brentwood (24-4-1 – 23rd)

The Patriots cruised past Granada (Livermore) 8-0 to win the CIFNCS Division 1 championship before losing against Clovis in Regionals.

16. Del Oro (27-5 – Unranked)

After the Golden Eagles were ranked as high as fifth earlier in the season, it wasn't too surprising that they put it all together for a big postseason run. They beat Notre Dame (Salinas) for a Sac-Joaquin Section D2 title and upset Granada (Livermore) in Regionals before falling to Clovis.

17. Granada Livermore (26-5 – 8th)

Getting rolled in the Division 1 title game and losing in the first round of Regionals is a tough way to end a great season. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a great season for the Matadors. 

18. Buchanan (21-8 – 16th)

Buchanan made the Central Section Division 1 playoffs before losing soundly to Clovis.

19. Sutter (28-1 – 20th)

After cruising to a Northern Section Division 4 title, the Huskies went two for two on championships by beating San Rafael, Bullard, and Central to win NorCal Division III.

20. Westlake (20-6 – 21st)

Despite having not played for over a month, Westlake finishes a clear top-20 team in the state.

21. St. Francis Sacramento (26-5 – 20th)

The Troubadors made the D2 finals in the Sac-Joaquin Section and were invited up to play in the Open Division for Regionals. There, they fell to the other Saint Francis.

22. Lincoln Stockton (27-5-1 – Unranked)

Lincoln came into the playoffs with a headful of steam and shut out Stagg, Whitney (Rocklin), and Folsom to make the CIFSJS Division 1 finals. Despite a convincing loss to Sheldon, the Trojans retained momentum and went on to beat Pleasant Valley (Chico), Central Catholic, and Benicia for a NorCal Division II title.

23. Benicia (24-7 – Unranked)

The newly-crowned CIFNCS D3 champion had a phenomenal playoff run before falling to Lincoln in the Regional finals, beating the likes of American Canyon, Marin Catholic, Vista Del Lago, and Notre Dame (Salinas). 

24. Vista Del Lago (24-5-1 – Unranked)

Previously unranked Vista Del Lago exploded on to the season by knocking off Vanden and Central Catholic for a Sac-Joaquin Section Division 3 title.

25. Vanden (20-1 – 9th)

Vanden's undefeated bid got spoiled in upset fashion by VDL, but not before the Vikings had an unbeaten regular season and made the CIFSJS D3 semifinals.

ALSO IN CONSIDERATION:

Esperanza, Central (Fresno), Folsom, Canyon (Anaheim), Millikan, Oakdale, Marin Catholic, Livermore, Central Catholic