Dominican University’s Keyonee Neal, left, blocks a shot against Point Loma during a Jan. 1 game in San Rafael. (Dominican Athletics)
The Santa Rosa Junior College baseball begins its 2026 campaign as a top-10 team in the state.
The Bear Cubs ranked No. 7 in the year’s first California Community College Athletic Association poll, released Tuesday.
SRJC split its first series of the year last weekend with No. 22 Chabot, losing 3-1 and then rallying for a stunning 9-8 win. The Bear Cubs scored six runs over the final three innings in their comeback win on Saturday, including three in the bottom of the ninth. RJ Johnson had the game-winner, a two-run single with two outs. Brett Neidlinger contributed offensively with a double, a triple and two runs scored, while Evan Sandoval, Kessler Koch and Aaron Davainis combined for four scoreless innings in relief with nine strikeouts and a hit.
Then, on Tuesday, the Bear Cubs nearly knocked off No. 1 West Valley, last year’s CCCAA state runner-up, but succumbed to a late rally in a 6-4 loss. Anane Wilson and Caze Derammelaere each hit home runs and Zach Fiene went four shutout innings in the start.
The Bear Cubs (1-2) are back in action this weekend with a two-game series against Marin on Friday and Saturday.
SRJC basketball
The SRJC women’s basketball team fell to No. 7 San Joaquin Delta 75-48 in a top-10 CCCAA showdown last week. The loss ended a five-game winning streak for the No. 6 Bear Cubs (17-4, 7-2) and dropped them a game-and-a-half back of the top spot in the Big 8 conference.
San Joaquin Delta is currently tied with No. 2 Folsom Lake for first place in the standings.
The SRJC men, meanwhile, bounced back from their loss to Modesto with two comfortable wins last week.
They defeated American River 100-62 on Tuesday and then dispatched San Joaquin Delta 8-66 on Friday to improve to 17-4 on the year and 7-2 in the Big 8.
Travis Hightower scored 24 points with nine rebounds and three blocks against SJD, while Gavin Early added 17 points off the bench and Spencer Langowski chipped in 14 points.
The SRJC men are only a game back of conference-leading Sierra and a half-game back of Modesto and Cosumnes River.
Alumni check-in
Keyonee Neal, Dominican University women’s basketball: The Rancho Cotate grad helped the Penguins extend their winning streak to five games with strong showings in two more wins last week. She led posted a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds in a 69-5 0 win over Jessup last Saturday. Dominican is now 15-3 on the year and 9-3 in the PacWest.
Kylin DeVries, The Master’s University women’s basketball: The Montgomery grad had a couple solid games to help the Mustangs to two more wins last week. She scored a career-high 11 points with five rebounds in a 68-43 win over Park-Gilbert on Thursday and then grabbed 10 rebounds in a 67-53 win over Benedictine Mesa on Saturday.
Meredith Gilbertson, CSU East Bay women’s basketball: The former Windsor, SRJC and SSU standout scored seven points with a team-high 10 rebounds in a 74-52 win over CSU San Marcos last week.
SRJC schedule
Friday
SRJC men’s and women’s swimming and diving, intersquad scrimmage, 9 a.m.
SRJC baseball at Marin, 1:30 p.m.
SRJC men’s basketball vs. Diablo Valley, 5:30 p.m.
SRJC women’s basketball vs. Diablo Valley, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
SRJC men’s and women’s swimming and diving at NorCal Relays, 11 a.m.
SRJC baseball vs. Marin, 1 p.m.
Tuesday
SRJC softball at Butte (doubleheader), 1 p.m., 3 p.m.
SRJC baseball at Cosumnes River, 2 p.m.
SRJC men’s basketball at Folsom Lake, 5:30 p.m.
SRJC women’s basketball at Folsom Lake, 7:30 p.m.