Spring signals the time to play some ball

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With the baseball season in full swing -- no pun intended -- figured it was time to take a good look at the best teams in the SF Valley/North region and rank them accordingly. And let me tell you one thing: It was no easy task, considering the parity that exists.

It will be interesting to see how much this list changes over the next couple of weeks, which is bound to happen, in a drastic way. And now without further delay, here’s a look at the best of the best from my neck of the woods:

1. Notre Dame (10-0): Tough to argue with the unblemished record.

2. Hart (8-3): If not for Simi Valley, the Indians would have only one loss.

3. Westlake (7-2): First to knock off Thousand Oaks. Feeding off momentum since.

4. Simi Valley (10-2): Pioneers have beaten the top programs around. Should be higher.

5. Thousand Oaks (6-4): Not sure how, but Lancers have lost four consecutive games.

6. Quartz Hill (7-4-2): Played a tough schedule, one of the toughest, thus far.

7. Oxnard (9-2): Gave Westlake all it could handle before losing, 5-4.

8. Newbury Park (6-4): Yes, another representative from the Marmonte League.

9. St. Bonaventure (8-1): Is there a sport, any sport, these guys aren’t good at?

10. Santa Barbara (7-0): Soft opponents could be result of fast start. We’ll see...

-- Sean Ceglinsky

-- Image from thisoldhouse.com