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At the beginning of the East Bay Athletic League spring season, I wrote about how deep and talented the league was when it came to boys’ volleyball.
Now as we wind down to the final two weeks of the season, the EBAL is every bit as contentious as I forecasted it to be. De La Salle and Foothill are 8-2 and tied for first place.
San Ramon Valley and Amador Valley are 7-3, and Dublin sits at 6-4.
Let’s go through the top five teams in the league and what lies ahead for them in the final two weeks of the regular season.
Foothill (21-8, 8-2): The Falcons sat at 8-5 at one point this season and have gotten 16-3 since then. Two of those losses came in a recent tournament to Campolindo and Lincoln. Last week they beat De La Salle 3-0 to move into the tie. They face Livermore and California on the road before ending the regular season with a massive home game against Amador Valley.
De La Salle (17-6, 8-2): The Spartans left for a tournament in Hawaii and were 12-1 overall and 6-0 in the league. They went 3-3 in the tournament, then came back and have gone 2-2 here. They have three games left and have the easiest road, facing Dougherty Valley, Monte Vista and California.
Amador Valley (17-5, 7-3): Since losing 3-1 to Foothill on March 25, the Dons have not lost, winning 10 straight contests. In their last match, they dropped San Ramon Valley by a 3-0 final. They have a match with Monte Vista, then a sneaky tough one with Granada, although the Dons did beat the Mats 3-0 the first time they played. A pair of wins would set up a regular season finale with a 10-2 Foothill team and a 9-3 Amador side.
San Ramon Valley (18-7, 7-3): On April 1, the Wolves dumped De La Salle from the unbeaten ranks in league and seemed to be the team to beat. Since then, they have gone 1-2, losing to Dublin and Amador Valley. Like DLS, the Wolves don’t have the toughest road home, getting California, Dougherty Valley and Monte Vista. Should finish 10-3.
Dublin (15-5, 6-4): The Gaels were 14-1 at one point but have struggled going 1-5, losing to DLS, Amador Valley, Foothill and Granada. Obviously needs the most help and all the teams in front of them need to lose multiple games between them. They have a quick rematch with Granada, then a tricky Livermore match, and finally close out with Dougherty Valley.
EBAL softball
There are still three weeks left in the season, so there is plenty of time for things to happen.
As we enter EBAL play this week, California and Carondelet both sit at 6-1 in the league, with Foothill one back at 5-2. Granada, San Ramon Valley and Livermore are 4-3, with Amador Valley and Dougherty Valley at 3-4.
It is at least another week until we start sorting out the games left with what the standings are at that point.
The most perplexing team thus far is the Cougars of Carondelet. The team does sit at 6-1 in EBAL action but is 8-10 overall, and despite being tied for first, I can’t find them a place in the top five in the Power Rankings. The most worrisome aspect of that record is how strong the league is in a relative way to the rest of the North Coast Section.
Overall, California is 11-5, Foothill is 10-4-1, Granada is 9-7, San Ramon Valley is 10-6-2, Livermore is 12-6, Amador Valley is 8-9 and Dougherty Valley is 8-5.
What it all says to me is that no team is unbeatable and on any given day, anyone can win. With at least six EBAL games to play, it is a wide-open league.
EBAL baseball
There are six teams that have winning records in the league — and like softball, there are three weeks left so there are a lot of teams in contention.
The way the league is structured with home-and-home series each week, things have the potential to change quickly.
Right now, Granada — the defending NorCal champs — sits on top at 7-0. De La Salle is 4-1 with Dublin at 5-3. Livermore, San Ramon Valley and Foothill sit at 4-3.
Granada is 15-3 overall and the league seems to sit in their control, but the Mats have a home-and-home with Foothill this week. If the Falcons can win both, the league will be a crapshoot but by the same token, the Mats sweep the series, and the Falcons are done.
The same could be said about the De La Salle-San Ramon Valley home-and-home this week. Finally, Dublin and Amador Valley also face each other twice this week.
By the end of this week, the league can be streamlined or a total mess. It figures to be a great week of baseball!
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. This column originally appeared in Tri-Valley Preps Playbook, a weekly sports e-newsletter published by Embarcadero Media Foundation.
