Baseball
CCL 2025 Week #2 Roundup & Power Rankings

| June 16, 2025

By CCL & WCC Reporter Ethan Ignatovsky

With the second weekend of the CCL’s 2025 season wrapped up and in the rear view mirror, the league is starting to take shape. 

The Walnut Creek Crawdads and the Santa Barbara Foresters both enter the league-wide Monday, June 16, off day, leading their respective North and South division with a 6-1 record. The reigning CCL Champions, the Conejo Oaks, are right behind the Foresters after splitting the two games that the teams have played so far. 

On the other side of the coin, some teams are still trying to find their groove. The San Francisco Seagulls, Menlo Park Legends and MLB Youth Academy Barons will all be trying to dig themselves out of early-season holes when action resumes on Tuesday. 

Until then, check out the first power rankings of the year. 

1. Walnut Creek Crawdads (6-1)

The Crawdads lost their first game of the CCL season to the CCL affiliate Alameda Merchants, falling 9-3. It seems Walnut Creek didn’t like the taste of losing. Since that loss, the Crawdads have won six straight games, scoring 11 or more runs in five of those wins and a low of eight. 

Walnut Creek took two from Alameda after its opening day defeat and then went on to sweep two-game sets against both the Seagulls and the San Luis Obispo Blues. On June 10, in San Bruno, against the Seagulls, the Crawdads played their best game of the season. The ‘Dads scored a mind-boggling 24 runs while holding the San Francisco scoreless. 

For Walnut Creek, the win was a convergence of great pitching and great hitting. However, for most of the young season, the offense has had to do some heavy lifting due to pitching staff inconsistencies. Players like utility man Joey Donnelly (who’s hitting .714 in his last seven games) and the first base duo of John Youens and Kam Taylor (who both have two home runs) have helped the lineup to overcome anything that’s been thrown at them and score a league-leading 81 runs. 

2. Santa Barbara Foresters (6-1)

The Foresters’ three-game winning streak isn’t quite the six straight wins that the Crawdads have, but it’s nothing to scoff at. Santa Barbara has done well against high competition in the CCL and finished its week going 3-0 with a +24 run differential against CCL affiliates, the Philippines Baseball Group and San Diego Bombers. 

The Foresters' only loss of the young summer came against the Oaks on June 11. Santa Barbara gave up two runs in the seventh and eighth innings, losing 9-5. It was a disappointing loss as the Foresters led 4-0 at one point, but they can hang their hat on the fact that they’ve already beaten the Oaks once this year, winning 14-5 in their previous matchup. 

Santa Barbara is scoring plenty of runs -- the 70 Foresters that have crossed the plate put the team fourth in the CCL -- but is winning due to its pitching. The staff’s 2.61 ERA is the best in the CCL and is led by UC Santa Barbara right-handers Frank Camarillo and AJ Krodel, who combined for 8.1 innings of scoreless baseball this past week. 

3. Conejo Oaks (6-2) 

The reigning champions haven’t had the strongest start to the season, but it’s been far from weak. The Oaks are hot on the tails of the Foresters, and are playing good baseball after a week where they beat them for the first time this summer. Conejo lost to the Barons once in a tight 2-4 game, but beat them twice and the Saints once. 

The Oaks' 4.21 ERA is over 1.5 runs allowed per game higher than Santa Barbara's ERA, but is still a solid mark in the high-scoring environment of the CCL. With Conejo’s lineup not producing the same high-scoring totals as some of the other teams near the top end of the CCL, Oaks fans have seen a handful of close games that their team has had to navigate. 

Conejo will hope to capitalize on the momentum created by its 11-2 victory over the Saints and keep the offense hot. Incoming Oregon freshman and Oaks shortstop Brady Hewitt, alongside left-handed starting pitcher Daniel Morge, were spectacular in the win. Hewitt went 3-4 with a double, a triple and four RBIs while his starter went four scoreless innings, extending a 7.1 scoreless inning streak to start the year.

Photo by Alex Romero, @alex.vromero

4. Sonoma Stompers (7-5)

The Stompers have had somewhat of a rollercoaster start to their summer. They haven’t been anywhere near as dominant as the teams ahead of them, but they’re still winning series. 

Sonoma is coming off of winning a four-game set against the Legends, and prior to that, won a three-game series against the Seagulls. The Stompers have also managed to sprinkle in wins against the Blues and Merchants; however, they’ve also lost to both teams, with the Merchants getting them twice.

Sonoma is playing even closer games than the Oaks. Its last six affairs have all been decided by two runs or less. The Stompers' 3.51 ERA has managed to keep the team in most games this season, and the offense, while not elite, has done the job on a regular basis. 

5. San Luis Obispo Blues (4-5) 

The Blues had the unfortunate task of facing the Crawdads right when the team was coming off a 3-1 stretch. The Blues took two from the Legends before pummelling the Seagulls 13-1 in a one-off game. Then came the two games at Monte Vista High School against Walnut Creek.

San Luis Obispo made the Crawdads work hard for their win in the first game of a two-game set. Walnut Creek had to come from behind and won in walk-off fashion. The Blues' second game against the Crawdads wasn’t nearly as close, falling 8-2. Still, the Blues held their own better than other CCL teams have against Walnut Creek. 

The offense and pitching have both been up and down for San Luis Obispo, but they’ve shown signs that they can be a strong team when they are firing on all cylinders. 

6. Arroyo Seco Saints (4-3) 

The Saints were on a good run, winning four straight games, before two bad losses to the Orange County Riptide, 9-4, and the Oaks, 11-2. Arroyo Seco went from a team that looked like it could be positioned much higher to the sixth-ranked team in the CCL. 

While the Saints were rolling before the two losses, they hadn’t yet played teams of the Riptide and Oaks caliber. Three of the teams' wins came against the affiliated San Diego Bombers, the affiliated Philippines Baseball group and the Barons. Arroyo Seco did win its first game against the Riptide 11-4, but the two losses, along with its first loss of the summer against the affiliated San Diego Waves, did their damage.

The team was strong last season and can be strong again, but they’ll need to get going and prove themselves against an upcoming schedule that features the Oaks, Blues, Stompers and Crawdads. 

7. Orange County Riptide (5-4)

The Riptide are in a similar position to the Saints. While they have a winning record, they’ve not done anything too special against a weak schedule. While they understandably lost to a good team in the Foresters, they have two losses to affiliate teams. Orange County’s only other win against a non-affiliated team besides the Saints is against the Barons.

The Riptide has shown solid offensive production (61 runs) and a solid pitching staff (4.14 ERA) in their nine games, but haven’t proven they can beat high-level competition. While you can only try to win against the opponents on your schedule, the fact of the matter remains that the Riptide need to show more to move up the power rankings in the coming weeks. 

 Photo by: Joey Gray, @jgray.media

8. Menlo Park Legends (3-6)

The Legends have been able to split four games with the Blues this season, but have struggled to find wins elsewhere. The team is coming off a tough four-game series loss, albeit to a strong team in the Stompers, and also lost a game to the Merchants, giving them their 3-6 record. 

Menlo Park has simply struggled against teams that have proven themselves to be better this season. Its pitching staff has a 6.19 ERA and the offense hasn’t been able to keep up. 

Despite the struggles, the team does have spots that the Legends hope can provide the spark needed to get the rest of the team going. Dane Most, who hit .303 with Iowa Western Community College in 2025, has been a standout for Menlo Park. He’s coming off a week where he hit .350 with one home run. Right-hander Ray Hernandez had a standout start on the mound, pitching seven innings of one-run ball against the Blues.

9. MLB Youth Academy Barons (2-5)

Simply put, the Barons have struggled in 2025. So far, the highlight of the season has been a one-off win against the Oaks, with their other victory coming against the affiliated San Diego Bombers. 

The Barons have lost to the Oaks, Riptide, Foresters and Saints, and while some games have been close, the Barons haven’t been able to get over the hump. The Barons have only scored 31 runs and their 6.90 ERA leaves much to be desired. 

10. San Francisco Seagulls (1-9) 

The Seagulls have had an extremely rough start to their first season as a full CCL member. After hovering around .500 in their last season as an affiliate team, they’ve only picked up one win through their first nine games and are on an eight-game skid. 

San Francisco’s one win was an impressive one, scoring nine runs and shutting out the Stompers. Sonoma would get its revenge and shut out the Seagulls 14-0 two days later, one of the Seagulls' two shutout losses. 

San Francisco’s stats don’t get much better beyond the win-loss record. Its 8.38 ERA and 3.2 runs per game are the second-lowest, only to the affiliated Philippines Baseball Group. The Seagulls will need a big-time turnaround if they want to climb up these rankings. 

Affiliate Team Roundup

The CCL features four affiliate teams: the Alameda Merchants, San Diego Bombers, San Diego Waves and the Philippines Baseball Group. The four teams have had a wide array of starts to the season. 

The Merchants, as previously mentioned, are the only team to beat No. 1 Walnut Creek this year, and they have an 8-3 record in CCL play. The Bombers and the Philippines Baseball group are both 1-5, with both teams picking up their one victory against the Riptide. The Waves have only played two CCL games, one against the Saints, which they won, and one against the Riptide, which they lost.

Full Standings

  1. Walnut Creek Crawdads: (League Record: 6-1, League Record This Week: 4-0)
  2. Santa Barbara Foresters: (League Record: 6-1, League Record This Week: 3-1)
  3. Conejo Oaks: (League Record: 6-2, League Record This Week: 4-1)
  4. Sonoma Stompers: (League Record 7-5; League Record This Week: 4-2)
  5. San Luis Obispo Blues: (League Record: 4-5, League Record This Week: 1-3)
  6. Arroyo Seco Saints: (League Record: 4-3, League Record This Week: 2-2)
  7. Orange County Riptide: League Record: 5-4, League Record This Week: 4-1)
  8. Menlo Park Legends: (League Record: 3-6, League Record This Week: 2-4)
  9. Academy Barons: (League Record: 2-5, League Record This Week: 1-3)
  10. San Francisco Seagulls: (League Record: 1-9, League Record This Week: 0-6)

Tune in next week to see how our Power Rankings change after Week 3!

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