SBLive's California Softball Top 25: Hollister wins regional title, finishes No. 1

This season will be looked back on as, among other things, the year of the Hollister Haybalers

2023 was another thrilling and unpredictable season in California high school softball. At the end of the day, it was proven once again that the Golden State is as good as it gets when it comes to producing the best high school softball teams and players. 

Here are SBLive's season-end California softball rankings for the 2023 season. Our end-of-season rankings placed an extra emphasis on postseason success.

MORE: LAST WEEK'S RANKINGS

1. Hollister (30-3 – 1st)

When it was all said and done, the Haybalers were the clear No. 1 team in California this season. Just a few weeks prior to their Northern Region Division 1 championship – which came a week after their CIFCCS Open Division title – they hadn't yet cracked the top ten. But that's what makes the playoffs great. With consecutive finals victories over Saint Francis, Hollister only needed to be ranked on top for two weeks of the season to prove itself as the best.

2. Saint Francis-Mountain View (28-4 – 2nd)

Before falling to Hollister for the second Saturday in a row, the Lancers picked up two more of their best wins of the season – 10-0 over San Ramon Valley and 1-0 over Central (Fresno). That brought their total number of shutouts to an unbelievable 22 on the season.

3. Pacifica-Garden Grove (23-8 – 3rd)

The CIFSS Division 1 champs finish the season as the No. 1 team in Southern California.

4. Norco (28-4 – 4th)

2023 didn't bring the Cougars another CIF championship, but it still goes down as yet another year of utter dominance for Norco softball. 

5. Los Alamitos (24-4 – 5th)

The same of Norco can be said for Los Al, which spent ample time at the top spot in California and won what was probably the toughest league in the state this year.

6. Murrieta Mesa (24-4-1 – 6th)

With the season officially over, it's safe to call the 2023 Rams one of the best teams in school history.

7. Huntington Beach (24-6 – 7th)

Look for the Oilers to be back in the hunt for Division 1 section and regional titles next season, as they return much of their core.

8. Poway (29-3 – 21st)

The Southern Region Division 1 champion and San Diego Section champion finished the season on an incendiary 17-game winning streak. After a first round bye, the top-seeded Titans rolled past Torrance 10-2 before upsetting Oaks Christian 1-0.

9. Oaks Christian (30-3-1 – 8th)

No CIF hardware for the Lions this season, but it was a successful season nonetheless. Many people counted them out after they graduated a tremendous senior class, but they remained a top-ten team in the state all season long and nearly repeated as SoCal champs. 

10. Orange Lutheran (22-6 – 9th)

From fairly early in the season onwards, Orange Lutheran was a consistent top ten team in the state. And there wasn't much separating it from the teams at the very top. Next season, OLu will be in the top echelon as usual with all sorts of young talent returning.

11. Whitney-Rocklin (22-8 – 12th)

After beating higher-ranked Vacaville by six runs for a Sac-Joaquin Section title the week before last, Whitney had one more six-run upset left in the tank before going down. It opened regionals with a 9-3 victory over Archbishop Mitty, and played eventual champion Hollister down to one run in the semifinals.

12. Archbishop Mitty (21-5 – 10th)

The Monarchs didn't make a CIF title game this season, but they were consistently in the mix without many upperclassmen, and they did win a WCAL co-title. Look for them to contend for the top spot in the years to come.

13. Central-Fresno (27-6 – 11th)

Technically Central dropped a couple spots as a result of a couple other teams taking leaps, but the Grizzlies did rack up one last big victory last week after winning the Central Section. They defeated North Coast Section champ California (San Ramon) 2-1 before falling 1-0 to Saint Francis in extra innings. 

14. California-San Ramon (21-9 – 14th)

Regionals didn't prove to be fruitful for the Grizzlies, but they still ride off into the sunset with the NCS crown.

15. San Ramon Valley (23-7 – 15th)

Like California, SRV couldn't pull out a victory in Northern Region Division 1, but the EBAL champs still had a season to remember.

16. Riverside Poly (23-2-1 – 16th)

The Bears have been inactive for nearly a month with the season officially over.

17. Granada-Livermore (21-6 – 17th)

It wasn't a banner year for the Matadors by their lofty standards, but they were a force to be reckoned with as usual.

18. Willow Glen (23-7 – Unranked)

Willow Glen is back in a big way after outdueling Casa Grande, Bullard, and Notre Dame (Salinas) for a Northern Region D2 title.

19. Notre Dame-Salinas (22-8 – Unranked)

Debuting on the last week of the season. Most of Notre Dame's losses this season came against top-notch competition, and the Spirits took down Inderkum and East Nicolaus to make the regional finals after winning CIFCCS Division 1.

20. East Nicolaus (29-2-1 – 24th)

East Nic fell to surging Notre Dame in the Division 2 regionals, but not before picking up a marquee 6-4 win over Vacaville.

21. Vacaville (29-3 – 13th)

Despite going from 29-1 to 29-3 at the tail end, it was an incredible season for Vacaville, which earned all 29 of its wins consecutively.

22. Bullard (27-6 – 18th)

After making the Central Section D1 title game, Bullard took down Monterey in regionals before narrowly falling to Willow Glen.

23. Stockdale (21-8-2 – 19th)

2023 was another strong year for Mustangs softball, and don't be surprised to see them reach another gear in 2024 with a lot of talent returning.

24. Clovis North (24-2-1 – 20th)

As our end-of-season rankings placed a great weight on postseason performance, the Broncos slid quite a bit over the last few weeks as a result of not winning a playoff game. But they'll still be accurately remembered as one of the top teams in the state for just about the whole season. 

25. Great Oak (20-8-1 – 25th)

Great Oak opted out of regionals, which means it went out on top after winning a Southern Section Division 2 title.

ON THE BUBBLE:

Sutter, Ponderosa, Grand Terrace, Esperanza, Rancho Bernardo, Valley View, La Mirada, Torrance, Kennedy (La Palma), South Hills, Vista del Lago (Folsom), Marina, Moorpark, Cypress, Central Catholic, Chino Hills, Santiago (Corona), Capistrano Valley, El Capitan, Oak Ridge, Orestimba