Baseball rankings April 5 | The Fresno Bee

OVERALL TOP 10

1. Buchanan 14-1

2. Frontier 9-4

3. Centennial 9-2

4. Central 11-2

5. Clovis West 11-3

6. Clovis 12-3

7. Stockdale 6-6

8. Clovis North 10-5

9. Kerman 9-3

10. Hanford West 13-4

DIVISIONAL RANKINGS

D-I: 1. Buchanan; 2. Centennial; 3. Central

D-II: 1. Frontier; 2. Clovis North; 3. Madera (10-4)

D-III: 1. Hanford West; 2. Madera South (10-4); 3. Fresno (10-3)

D-IV: 1. Kerman; 2. Bakersfield Christian (10-4); 3. Fowler (10-5)

D-V: 1. Immanuel (9-3); 2. Caruthers (6-1); 3. Exeter (7-7)

D-VI: 1. Mendota (7-4); 2. Farmersville (3-3); 3. Riverdale (6-6)

THE BUZZ

Central climbs to No. 4 after sweeping Clovis North (6-4), Clovis West (9-2) and Clovis East (5-2) in the Tri-River Athletic Conference. But some bad news: catcher Gabe Perez, batting third and having an impact season, had his nose broken by a pitch against Clovis East. His status is questionable for the Grizzlies' biggest week to date, hosting Buchanan at 3:45 p.m. today before visiting the Bears on Friday night. The TRAC, having completed the first round with the state's third-ranked Buchanan going 5-0, will now match teams twice in the same week through the end of league play. Today's game at Central offers a pitching beauty with the Grizzlies' Jordan Brink opposing unbeaten Dominic Topoozian.

A rare Division IV appearance in the top 10 has Kerman at No. 9. The Lions' résumé was polished Saturday with a 3-0 win against the Sac-Joaquin Section's Central Catholic-Modesto, which entered 12-1. Among Kerman's previous wins were 7-2 over North Yosemite League-leading Madera South, 1-0 over West Yosemite League-leading Hanford West and 13-4 over Memorial, a County/Metro Athletic Conference contender. Today, in a North Sequoia League contest, the Lions will visit Washington in a rematch of the Central Section 2010 D-IV championship won by the Panthers 8-7.

Hanford West leaps into the top 10 after defeating rival Hanford 7-6 on Northern Colorado-bound Eian Raeber's walk-off home run and pitching win. The Huskies, atop the WYL with a 3-0 record, have dependable starters in Raeber (4-1, 3.12 ERA), Sean Borboa (4-1, 2.66), Tanner Irwin (3-2, 1.29) and Michael Hostetler (2-0, 2.52). And that depth will be tested in the Fresno Easter Classic April 18-20, when they will oppose Clovis East, Frontier, Buchanan and Yosemite.

Section defending D-II champion Frontier, which opened the season with an 8-3 win at Buchanan, took command of the Southwest Yosemite League at 5-0 with a 4-3 win over Centennial. Blayne Ontiveros gave up six hits in 62/3 innings while improving to 6-0 with a 1.21 ERA.

MORE ONLINE

Check out Andy Boogaard's analysis throughout the baseball season at fresnobeehive.com/sportsbuzz