Spencer Trayner has been stellar on the mound for No. 1 Jesuit, racking up 11 strikeouts in a win over Regis Jesuit last week.
File photo by Marc Estrada
Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.) and Pensacola Catholic (Fla.) continue to occupy the top two spots in the Xcellent 25 National Baseball Rankings, but Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) is charging hard after two strong weeks of tournament play.
Jesuit has won 20 straight games and has big matchups next week against Sarasota and Venice and a tough weekend game against Seminole. Pensacola Catholic, meanwhile, has six games left before the postseason begins, including a rematch with Pace, which the Crusaders won the first time around 4-1.
Mater Dei, meanwhile, has won the National High School Invitational and the Boras Classic south regional in back-to-back weeks and moves up from No. 4 to No. 3 after Tomball lost a non-district game last week. Mater Dei completes the Boras Classic this weekend with a championship game against north regional winner Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove).
New teams entering the Xcellent 25 include American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.), which is actually returning to the rankings after a short absence, Lincoln-Way North (Frankfort, Ill.), Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati) and Fountain Valley (Calif.). Exiting are Gloucester Catholic (Gloucester City, N.J.), Buchanan (Clovis, Calif.), Kentwood (Covington, Wash.) and Woodford County (Versailles, Ky.).
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Baseball Rankings1. (1 last week) Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.), 20-0
The Tigers had little trouble winning their own Easter tournament, beating St. Francis (Athol Springs, N.Y.) 4-1, All Hallows (Bronx, N.Y.) 8-0, Regis Jesuit (Aurora, Colo.) 5-1 and Knoxville Catholic (Tenn.) 13-0.
Jordan Parnell threw a two-hitter against Knoxville Catholic with 10 strikeouts while
Spencer Trayner struck 11 against Regis Jesuit.
2. (2) Pensacola Catholic (Fla.), 19-0
The Crusaders went 4-0 at the Bishop Moore Catholic Challenge, including a pair of close games, to stay undefeated. Pensacola Catholic defeated Marian Catholic (Chicago Heights, Ill.) 8-4, Calvary Christian Academy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) 2-1, Father Lopez (Dayton Beach, Fla.) 6-2 and Tampa Catholic (Tampa, Fla.) 3-1.
Cooper Jones struck out 11 in the win over Tampa Catholic.
3. (4) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 14-1
The Monarchs claimed their second major tournament championship in a row with a 6-0 win over Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.) in the finals of the Boras Classic south regional. Mater Dei was barely challenged in the tournament, defeating Hart (Newhall, Calif.) 6-5, Santiago (Corona, Calif.) 8-2, and Lakewood (Calif.) 6-1. The Monarchs play Servite (Anaheim) twice this week before traveling to Stockton to take on Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove, Calif.) in the finals of the Boras Classic.
4. (5) Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.), 13-3
Ezra Steinberg, Harvard-Westlake
Photo by Alyson Boyer Rode
The Wolverines defeated Simi Valley 3-1 in their only outing of the week. They take on South (Torrance, Calif.) twice next week.
5. (6) Venice (Fla.), 18-2
The Indians went 4-0 at the Perfect Game High School Showdown with four shutouts. Venice blanked Blessed Trinity 9-0, Cartersville (Ga.) 2-0, Savannah Christian (Ga.) 5-0 and Parkview (Lilburn, Ga.) 3-0.
Michael Rivera batted .600 in the tournament with three doubles and seven RBI.
6. (7) The Woodlands (Texas), 23-2
The Highlanders resumed district play with a 7-0 win over Lufkin (Texas) and a 4-3 victory over A&M Consolidated (College Station, Texas).
Alex Dunlap,
Chris Andritsos and
Kolbi Brown each had home runs against Lufkin with
Ryan Burnett striking out 14 for the win. The Woodlands scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh against A&M Consolidated on a bases-loaded walk to Andritsos.
7. (8) Owasso (Okla.), 18-0
The Rams won twice last week, defeating Bartlesville 10-1 and Broken Arrow 3-2.
Jeb Bargfeldt struck out 10 against Broken Arrow while raising his record to 5-0.
Trae Bobo had his seventh home run of the season in the win over Batlesville.
8. (3) Tomball (Texas), 22-1
The Cougars saw their 22-game win
streak come to an end with a 5-2 loss to Lamar on Saturday. Tomball had
defeated Fort Bend Willowridge 15-0 on a perfect game by
Bryce Welborn. He
finished with seven strikeouts. Tomball also knocked off Northbrook
18-0.
9. (11) Klein (Texas), 21-1
Klein only got in one game last week,
but it was a good one as Andrew Kelley no-hit Westfield 14-0. Ryan Jackson also had a home run in the win.
10. (9) O'Connor (Phoenix), 23-1
O'Connor suffered its first loss of the season, falling to Pinnacle 16-6 on Wednesday. The Eagles also defeated Mountain Ridge (Glendale, Ariz.) 6-3 and North Canyon (Phoenix) 3-2 in league play.
Cameron Ming struck out seven to get the win over Mountain Ridge.
11. (13) St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.), 17-1
The Lancers won
the Elite 8 Classic with a 1-0 win over Amador Valley (Pleasanton,
Calif.).
Michael Strem threw a four-hitter with 10 strikeouts and also
brought home the winning run. St. Francis also defeated Dublin 13-4 and
Palma (Salinas, Calif.) 11-1.
12. (15) Sharyland (Mission, Texas), 22-1
Sharyland easily won its
two district games last week, romping past Economedes (Edinburg, Texas)
20-3 and topping Juarez-Lincoln (La Joya, Texas) 13-2.
Sixto Torres
struck out six in the win over Economedes.
13. (10) Loganville (Ga.), 16-2
After an 11-1 win over Apalachee and a 7-3 win over Winder-Barrow last week, Loganville fell to Winder-Barrow 2-1 on Friday.
Clint Frazier had two home runs in the win over Apalachee and one in the loss to Winder-Barrow to give him 10 on the season.
Zach Strand, Hamilton
Photo by Alyson Boyer Rode
The Huskies had a strong
week, downing Corona del Sol (Tempe, Ariz.) 11-6, Salpointe Catholic
(Tucson, Ariz.) 5-4 and Chandler (Ariz.) 8-4.
Zach Strand was 2-for-3
with a double and a home run against Salpointe Catholic.
Kyle Pechloff
had two home runs against Chandler.
15. (18) Lexington (S.C.), 14-3
The Wildcats won twice in region play, beating South Aiken (Aiken, S.C.) 6-2 and Aiken (S.C.) 12-2.
16. (19) Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village, Colo.), 4-1
Cherry Creek did not play last week but is back in action at Overland (Aurora, Colo.) today.
17. (NR) American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.), 18-2
The Patriots have returned to the No. 1 spot in the South Florida rankings after a 6-1 win over Douglas (Parkland, Fla.) and a 3-1 win over Doral Academy (Doral, Fla.).
18. (20) Calallen (Corpus Christi, Texas), 22-2
The
Wildcats played just once last week, defeating Calhoun (Port Lavaca,
Texas) 11-1. Calallen has a big matchup this week against Carroll
(Corpus Christi, Texas) on Saturday.
19. (14) Jupiter (Fla.), 16-2
Jupiter split its two games last week, falling to Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) 12-6 in district play and defeating Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) 4-2.
20. (22) Tullahoma (Tenn.), 19-3
Tullahoma went 3-0 at the Rebel
Classic, defeating Covenant Christian (Ala.) 5-1, Grundy County 11-2 and
Upperman 9-5. Tullahoma also took two from Lincoln County 8-2 and 6-3.
The Wildcats are getting it done despite playing most of the season
without any innings on the mound from
Jordan Sheffield, who has been
unable to throw due to an arm injury. Offensively, he is hitting .483
with four home runs.
21. (23) Carroll (Southlake, Texas), 21-3-1
The
Dragons won both their games last week by 2-0 scores, defeating Keller
and Keller Timber Creek.
Barry Casey and
Zach Hernandez each had a
double against Keller while
Joe Heineman and
Chris Altimont did the same
against Keller Timber Creek.
22. (NR) Lincoln-Way North (Frankfort, Ill.), 7-0
Lincoln-Way North has been ranked No. 1 in the Chicago Sun Times state rankings for the past two weeks.
23. (NR) Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati), 6-0
Dan Rosica, Fountain Valley
Photo by Terry Jack
The defending Division I state champions are off to a 6-0 start.
24. (NR) Fountain Valley (Calif.), 16-1
The Barons captured the Anaheim Lions Tournament and are ranked among the top four teams in Division I in the Southern Section.
25. (16) Puyallup (Wash.), 10-1
Puyallup dropped its first game of the season 6-2 to rival Rogers (Puyallup, Wash.). However
Ryan Harris threw a one-hitter to blank Emeral Ridge (South Hill, Wash.).
Dropped out: No. 12 Gloucester Catholic (Gloucester City, N.J.), No. 21 Buchanan (Clovis, Calif.), No. 24 Woodford County (Versailles, Ky.), No. 25 Kentwood (Covington, Wash.).
