Auburn-area baseball roundup: Placer is rolling through league

High school baseball has reached its halfway point of the regular season, and as April arrives, local teams are in the heat of league play. Historically, the foothills have been no stranger to talented teams and that is the case again this year. Placer is as hot of a team as anyone right now, while Colfax and Bear River find themselves in the thick of the Pioneer Valley League race. Let's take a look at some of the teams in the area: Placer stays hot against West Park Very few teams are as hot as the Hillmen right now. Since losing 6-0 in its Foothill Valley League opener, Placer has won seven straight to move comfortably into second place. Leading the way for the Hillmen have been the bats, with John Handy, Daniel Corkery, JP Suter and Nic Shafer being key contributors. Placer started the week strong with 13-4 and 6-1 wins over West Park. The Hillmen wrapped up the series against West Park at home Friday night. One of the biggest tests of the season begins next week for the Hillmen, who will face the league's top-ranked team in Oakmont for a three-game series, starting Monday at Oakmont. Souza stays dominant for Colfax After a seesaw start to the season, things have settled down for Colfax in Pioneer Valley League play. The Falcons have won four of their last five, with the lone loss coming at the hands of Marysville 2-1 in extra innings. Senior pitcher Noah Souza has been dominant for Colfax. The southpaw has a 4-0 record and has surrendered just four runs and 13 hits in six appearances. In Thursday's 8-5 victory over Valley Christian, Souza went 6 1/3 innings and sent 12 hitters packing on strikes. At the plate, he was 4 for 4 with a homer, two doubles and a single. "I was just trying to use my legs more today because I was a little tired and it has been a long week, but just trying to use more of my body and less of my arm," Souza said. "We've been starting out slow, and all five of our home runs this year have come in the sixth inning. I guess we're a sixth- and seventh-inning team." Colfax wrapped up its series with Foothill on Friday and will play two against rival Bear River next week. Bear River looking to right the ship Speaking of Bear River, the Bruins have had a tough time stringing wins together since their thrilling PVL win over Colfax on March 16. The Bruins took double-digit wins over Foothill and Lindhurst but fell to Center and Marysville to sit at an even 3-3 in the PVL. Bear River has a crucial series ahead with rival Colfax after wrapping up with Center on Friday. Daniel Bamburg extended his hitting streak to four games with two hits in Wednesday's 6-4 loss at home against Center. Bamburg batted in two runs in the contest as well.