Merced High softball starts CCC season as the team to beat
Barring any rainouts, the Central California Conference high school softball season will heat up this week.
One CCC game has been played so far, with Los Banos defeating Buhach Colony 11-1 on March 24.
The Tigers (7-6 overall, 1-0 CCC) will get a tougher test on Tuesday, going on the road to take on a talented Merced team at 4 p.m.
The Bears are 8-1 in nonleague play and feature senior pitcher Annalise Ramirez, who has committed to play softball at CSU Monterey Bay.
Merced is ranked 11th in the Sac-Joaquin Section, according to MaxPreps.com. The Bears are the only CCC team currently in the MaxPrep rankings.
Ramirez has six wins and a 0.42 ERA in eight appearances heading into the CCC season. She is also batting .500 with 13 RBIs.
Atwater (7-5 overall) opens the season at El Capitan, which has opened the season with an 8-2 record.
Also Tuesday, Buhach Colony (9-7 overall, 0-1 CCC) travels to Golden Valley (2-7).
Here are the current CCC softball standings:
- Los Banos 1-0
- Atwater 0-0
- El Capitan 0-0
- Golden Valley 0-0
- Merced 0-0
- Buhach Colony 0-1
El Capitan baseball on a roll
The race for the CCC baseball championship is crowded at the top of the standings.
El Capitan stands in first place at 5-1, having won two of three games against Atwater last week. Atwater and Los Banos are both a game back at 4-2.
El Capitan and Los Banos will conclude the CCC with a three-game series at the end of April.
The CCC schedule takes a break until April 13.
Here are the current CCC baseball standings:
- El Capitan 5-1
- Atwater 4-2
- Los Banos 4-2
- Buhach Colony 3-3
- Golden Valley 1-5
- Merced 1-5
