North Coast Section Top 15 baseball preseason high school rankings (2/13/2025)

Granada, Cardinal Newman, San Marin and Justin-Siena among the defending section champions

Granada High baseball team storms the mound in celebration after winning the CIF Northern California Division 1 title game held at Granada High School in Livermore, CA on June 1st, 2024. / Dan Rogers/Special to the Stockton Record / USA TODAY NETWORK

As the basketball league seasons wind down, the beat of the high school baseball season pounds louder and louder.

Around the North Coast Section, it would be hard to top the 2024 season as some of the most breathtaking playoff games took place in recent memory.

Defending champions: Granada (Division 1), Cardinal Newman (D2), San Marin (D3), Justin-Siena (D4), Branson (D5) and Ferndale (D6).

NCS PRESEASON 2025 BASEBALL RANKINGS

1. Granada

Ended last season as the No. 5 ranked team in the nation. Won NorCals and finished the campaign with a 32-1 record, losing its lone game in the regular season to Amador Valley (5-2). Will get a handful of key players back such as Tyler Kardy, Mikey Boyd and Jake Sekany.

2. Cardinal Newman

Won the Division II NorCal title, beating Redwood 10-3 in the championship. Ended last season with an overall record of 28-5. Will get a lot of players back from last season's team, including pitcher Josh Jannicelli and pitcher/OF Jack Pezzolo among others.

3. Redwood

NorCal Division II runner-ups, losing to Cardinal Newman 10-3 in the championship game. Finished the season with a 28-5 overall record, with one of those losses being a 1-0 defeat to Cardinal Newman in the NCS finals. A young team, with players such as Theo Trono, Sam Gersch and Lucas Ghio returning.

4. De La Salle

Finished 21-8 last season, making it to both the NCS Division I championship and the NorCal Division I championship. In the NCS finals, the Spartans lost 1-0 to Granada in a 14 inning thriller. In the NorCal finals, the Spartans once again faced Granada, this time losing 5-0. A deep team, the Spartans will get back a lot of key pieces for 2025, including OF/LHP Alec Blair, INF Tyler Spangler and RHP/OF Graham Schlicht among a few others.

5. College Park

Finished 19-8 last year and made it all the way to the NCS Division I semifinals, losing 7-3 to De La Salle. Despite players such as Nathan Leffel and Hunter Pelayo graduating, the Falcons will see a lot of players return, such as outfielder Connor Berkowitz, second baseman Riley Meadows and 3B/SS Desmond Cobb among others.

6. Acalanes

Finished 23-4 last season, and came in tied for second place in the Diablo-Foothill league with a 7-3 conference record. Made it all the way to the NCS Division I semifinals, losing 6-0 to Granada. Could come back and be even more of a force in the East Bay this season.

7. San Ramon Valley

Finished 16-11 last year, seeing its season end in the first round of the NCS Division I playoffs, losing 5-3 to Castro Valley. A lot of its core has graduated, most notably shortstop Luke Baker, oufielder Max Ellis and pitcher Charles Reiland, but with the power bat of guys such as Marco Jones returning, it will be interesting to see how the Wolves do this season.

8. San Marin

Won the NCS Division III bracket, beating Campolindo 6-0 before losing in the first round of Division II NorCals, losing 6-0 to St. Ignatius. Overall, the Mustangs went 22-9, their first 20 plus win season since 2010-11. Lost star catcher Cole Chamberlain, but could see others step up and make up for his lost production.

9. Heritage

Finished 20-6-1 last season and made it to the second round of the NCS Division I playoffs before losing 13-3 to De La Salle. However, the Patriots could see more success this spring, with a handful of key players such as C/SS Tyler Williams, UTIL Jett Guevara, OF/RHP JJ Kinnaird and UTIL Jace Bernard all slated to be back.

10. Casa Grande

Finished 19-9 overall, making it all the way to the second round of the NCS Division I playoff bracket after beating Foothill 3-2 in the opening game but losing 1-0 to Acalanes in game two. Core players such as INF/RHP Danny Mercado and RHP/INF Brady Laubscher are expected to return.

11. James Logan

Ended last season at 22-4, winning its first NCS Division I playoff game by beating Monte Vista 5-3, but losing to Granada 11-1 in the second round. Players returning this season include 1B Cristian Padilla, P/OF/C Westley Vega and 2B/OF DJ Mandigal.

12. Benicia

Finished 18-9 last season and made it all the way to the NCS Division II semifinals, losing 7-1 to Cardinal Newman. Will get a lot of players back from last season, including 2B/3B/P Myles Cooper, OF/P Nash Rubins and 2B/SS/P Peyton Rowles among others

13. Ukiah

Finished 17-8 last season, making it all the way to NCS Division II semifinals before losing 9-2 to Redwood. Players expected to return for this year include INF/RHP Brayden Beebe, OF/RHP George Gibbs and catcher Dylan McGehee among others.

14. Vintage

Finished 17-11 last season, beating De Anza 5-3 in the opening round of the NCS Division II playoffs before losing 4-3 to Benicia in round two. Players expected to return this season include SS Dario Freschi, INF Blake Porter, and OF Riley Marek.

15. Petaluma

Finished 17-10 last season, making it all the way to the NCS Division II quarterfinals, losing 3-2 to Redwood. Among the players expected to return are Ryan Landry, Aiden Jones and Rowan Ball.