MaxPreps Top 50 national high school baseball rankings

Video: Pitcher makes insane catch
Austin Trace of Canal Winchester (Ohio) made a jaw-dropping play last week.

Upset losses for four of the top five teams have positioned three Texas teams at the top of this week's MaxPreps Xcellent 50 National Baseball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard.

Coppell remained in the top spot after staying undefeated with a pair of wins over Richland. Lake Travis has suffered just one loss this season and moves up to No. 2 while unbeaten Deer Park takes over the No. 3 spot.

Archbishop McCarthy suffered its first loss of the season and dropped from No. 2 to No. 4. Meanwhile, previous No. 3 Buchanan fell to No. 7, No. 4 Bishop Gorman fell to No. 9 and South Dade dropped to No. 8.

Eight new teams entered this week's rankings with Teurlings Catholic (Lafayette, La.) having the highest debut at No. 28 after handing previously unbeaten Blessed Trinity its first loss of the season.


1. (last week 1) Coppell (Texas), 20-0
The Cowboys got a close call from Richland on Tuesday before scoring in the eighth inning for a 5-4 win. Marco Navarro had a home run in the win. Friday's game wasn't nearly as close, as Coppell scored six runs in the second inning and Ray Gaither, Ben Kelly and Cody Masters all hit home runs. Charles King got the win, striking out seven in five innings of the 10-3 win.

2. (6) Lake Travis (Austin, Texas), 20-1-1
The Cavaliers stayed undefeated in district play, beating Buda Hays 2-0 and Del Valle 15-0. Tate Sandford gave up one hit against Buda Hays, striking out eight. Five Lake Travis pitchers combined for a no-hitter against Del Valle.

3. (7) Deer Park (Texas), 22-0
The Deer held off Sterling (Baytown) 2-1 to stay undefeated. Cameron Thompson struck out 11 for the win. Deer Park also edged La Porte 6-2 later in the week.

4. (2) Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 21-1
The Mavericks had a forfeit loss to Monsignor Pace reversed by the FHSAA, but Flanagan was able to pull off a 4-2 win on Friday for Archbishop McCarthy's first loss of the season. The Mavericks defeated St. Brendan 12-0 earlier in the week.

5. (9) Davis (Calif.), 12-0
The Blue Devils won their only game of the week, beating Bear Creek (Stockton) 9-8. Solomon Biers-Ariel went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs in the win.

6. (10) Providence (Charlotte, N.C.), 15-1
The Panthers collected three wins last week, beating Charlotte Catholic 12-1 and Olympic (Charlotte) 4-2 to go with a previously unreported 14-6 win over Butler (Matthews).

7. (3) Buchanan (Clovis, Calif.), 17-1
The Bears knocked off Clovis 2-1 in Tri-River Athletic Conference play. Grant Gambrell went the distance for the win, striking out six. He also had an RBI. However, Clovis North handed Buchanan its first loss of the season on Friday with a 12-5 defeat.

8. (5) South Dade (Homestead, Fla.), 20-2
The Buccaneers won a pair of games by a score of 12-1, beating Homestead (Fla.) on Tuesday and Ferguson (Miami) on Thursday. Columbus (Miami), last year's Class 8A state champ, handed South Dade its second loss of the season with a 2-1 victory on Friday.

9. (4) Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), 17-2
The Gaels suffered a rare in-state loss with an 11-7 defeat by Shadow Ridge (Las Vegas). Bishop Gorman bounced back to beat Cimarron-Memorial (Las Vegas) 3-2, Durango (Las Vegas) 5-3 and Desert Oasis (Las Vegas) 9-0. Jack Little went the distance for the shutout against Desert Oasis, striking out six without a walk.

10. (13) Johnson (San Antonio), 18-2
The Jaguars rebounded well from their first district loss of the season to easily defeat Lee (San Antonio) 15-1 and edge Reagan (San Antonio) 6-5. Richard Gilbert and Derek Martinez each homered against Lee with Martinez also belting a pair of doubles.

11. (16) Stoneman Douglas (Parkland, Fla.), 18-2
The Eagles downed Lemont (Ill.) 3-2 and Highlands Christian (Pompano Beach) 5-1 in their only games last week. John McKenna drove in all three runs with a home run against Lemont. He also had a two-run homer and Brandon Kaminer fanned 12 against Highlands Christian.

12. (17) Rockledge (Fla.), 21-1
The Raiders won three times last week, beating Barren County (Glasgow, Ky.) 11-1 and 13-1 and Merritt Island 3-1.

13. (18) Canterbury (Fort Myers, Fla.), 22-1
Canterbury headed into the final week of the regular season with three more wins, all by shutout. The Cougars blanked Southwest Florida Christian (Fort Myers) 1-0, Evangelical Christian (Fort Myers) 10-0 and Estero 2-0. Canterbury has five straight shutout wins and also began the season with six straight shutouts.

14. (8) Blessed Trinity (Roswell, Ga.), 18-1
The Titans had a good week in Louisiana, topping Parkview Baptist (Baton Rouge) 16-6 and defending Class 4A state champion St. Thomas More (Lafayette) 4-1. Teurlings Catholic (Lafayette) handed the Titans their first loss of the season with a 6-5 defeat.

15. (21) St. Thomas Catholic (Houston), 23-0-1
The Eagles won three times last week, beating Beaumont Kelly 15-5, Concordia Lutheran (Tomball) 5-1 and John Cooper (The Woodlands) 10-7. Nolan Ludholm had a home run and a double against Concordia Lutheran.

16. (22) University (Orange City, Fla.), 19-2-1
The Titans won twice, beating Father Lopez (Daytona Beach) 7-1 and Flagler Palm Coast 3-0. Dylan Stevens went four innings and struck out eight against Father Lopez for the win. Logan Allen struck out 12 in five innings in the shutout victory.

17. (12) Katy (Texas), 20-2
The Tigers split their two district games last week, falling to Cinco Ranch (Katy) 4-2 and beating Katy Taylor 2-0.

18. (19) North Davidson (Lexington, N.C.), 16-1
The Knights lost to Davie (Mocksville) 4-3 on Tuesday, but then defeated the War Eagles 8-1 on Friday. In between, North Davidson sandwiched a 10-0 win over Northwest Guilford.

19. (14) Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), 13-2
The Mustangs fell to Westlake (Westlake Village) 3-1 at the Chatsworth Tournament. Earlier in the week, Mira Costa took two from El Segundo, 7-4 and 8-6.

20. (24) West Orange (Winter Garden, Fla.), 20-2
The Warriors won both of their games against perennial state powerhouse Olympia, winning 8-1 on Wednesday and 6-1 on Friday. Roberto Guillen had a home run in the first game while Guillen, Kole Enright and Chris Seise all hit one out in the second game.

21. (25) Strake Jesuit (Houston), 17-2-2
The Crusaders won both of their district games last week, beating Mayde Creek (Katy) 6-0 and Morton Ranch (Katy) 7-1. Jack Eumont struck out nine in the win over Mayde Creek while Zach Zubia hit a home run and had five RBIs against Morton Ranch.

22. (26) Orange Lutheran (Calif.), 11-2
The Lancers were idle last week, but will be back in action this week with three Trinity League games against St. John Bosco (Bellflower).

23. (27) Huntington Beach (Calif.), 13-5
The Oilers won four times last week, beating Newport Harbor 4-2, Los Alamitos 4-2, Fountain Valley 5-1 and Edison (Huntington Beach) 3-1. Recently eligible Nick Pratto showed his worth by hitting a home run against Newport Harbor and Fountain Valley and picking up the pitching win against Los Alamitos. Pratto had been ineligible the first month of the season after transferring from Mater Dei (Santa Ana).

24. (15) JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.), 12-4
The Lions played a pair of doubleheaders and split both of them last week. JSerra Catholic beat Valencia 6-3 and then lost 8-6 on Tuesday. The Lions opened with a 7-0 win against Los Alamitos on Friday, but then they lost the nightcap 9-4. Royce Lewis homered in the win over Los Alamitos. Lewis hit a home run and a triple in the loss to Valencia while Chase Strumpf hit a home run and a double.

25. (46) Flanagan (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), 18-4
The Falcons knocked off previous No. 2 Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale) 4-2, but lost earlier in the week to Dwyer 4-2.

Next 25

26. (30) Stillwater (Okla.), 18-1
The Pioneers had a huge week, winning six games, including the championship of the Gladys Winters Tournament. Stillwater took two from Edmond North early in the week, 4-1 and 10-9, and then defeated Edmond North 8-2 to win the tournament. Stillwater also beat Yukon 4-2, Union (Tulsa) 7-5 and Enid 5-3.

27. (28) South Caldwell (Hudson, N.C.), 14-1
The Spartans bounced back from their lone loss of the season to blank Watauga (Boone) 6-0 and Hibriten (Lenoir) 6-0. Rian Haire struck out 10 in the win over Watauga.

28. (NR) Teurlings Catholic (Lafayette, La.), 24-3
Teurlings Catholic handed Blessed Trinity (Roswell, Ga.) its first loss and also has wins over Lafayette, Catholic (Baton Rouge) and St. Thomas More (Lafayette).

29. (20) Westerville Central (Ohio), 7-1
The Warhawks split their two games with Dublin Scioto last week, losing 6-3 on Tuesday and winning 13-2 on Wednesday.

30. (23) Klein (Texas), 17-2-1
The Bearkats fell to Klein Oak 8-1 in district play and edged Klein Forest 7-3.

31. (29) Vestavia Hills (Ala.), 24-4
The Rebels split two games with Hewitt-Trussville last week, losing 2-1 before bouncing back to win 3-1. Vestavia Hills also took two from Pelham, 4-3 and 13-9. Caden Lemons struck out 15 in the win over Hewitt-Trussville.

32. (33) Tate (Cantonment, Fla.), 19-2
The Aggies won their only game last week, beating West Florida (Pensacola) 3-1.

33. (34) Cy-Fair (Cypress, Texas), 19-3
Cy-Fair won all three district games last week, beating Langham Creek twice, 3-1 and 5-4, and Jersey Village 2-0.

34. (11) Clovis (Calif.), 17-3
The Cougars were dealt two losses last week, falling to Buchanan (Clovis) 2-1 on Tuesday and Clovis West (Fresno) 6-1 on Friday.

35. (36) Allatoona (Acworth, Ga.), 17-2
The Buccaneers won their only game of the week, beating South Paulding (Douglasville) 9-0 with Kyle Jacobsen going 2-for-2 with a home run and three RBIs.

36. (39) Sparkman (Harvest, Ala.), 28-5
Sparkman topped St. John Paul II 22-1 and Madison Academy 5-3 before taking three from James Clemens, 6-0, 6-5 and 11-2.

37. (42) Calallen (Corpus Christi, Texas), 16-2
The Wildcats won four times, beating Tuloso-Midway (Corpus Christi) 9-1, Alice 5-1, Moody (Corpus Christi) 6-4 and Victoria West 12-3.

38. (35) Walton (Marietta, Ga.), 18-4
The Raiders avenged a loss to Pope (Marietta) with a 10-5 win, but then fell to Etowah (Woodstock), 2-1.

39. (31) Basha (Chandler, Ariz.), 16-3
The Bears split their two games last week, falling to Queen Creek 6-3 and beating Chandler 14-2.

40. (NR) Corona del Sol (Tempe, Ariz.), 18-3
The Aztecs have wins over O'Connor, Hamilton and Horizon. Corona del Sol plays Basha and Mesquite this week.

41. (32) Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.), 18-4
The Huskies split their two games last week, beating defending state champion Mesquite (Gilbert) 6-1 and losing to Perry (Gilbert) 13-11.

42. (47) Kennewick (Wash.), 8-0
The Lions were idle last week, but play Chiawana (Pasco) twice this week.

43. (40) Catholic-B.R. (Baton Rouge, La.), 19-4
The Bears took two from Broardmoor (Baton Rouge), 19-0 and 7-0 by forfeit, but lost to St. Amant 8-5.

44. (41) Seven Lakes (Katy, Texas), 17-4
The Spartans won three times, beating Morton Ranch (Katy) 6-0, Tompkins (Katy) 4-1 and Fort Bend Travis (Richmond), 12-2.

45. (NR) St. Rita (Chicago), 8-1
St. Rita's only loss is to Independence (Charlotte, N.C.) at a South Carolina tournament.

46. (NR) Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.), 15-0
The defending Southern Section Division 3 champions have won 20 in a row since a loss to Mira Costa on May 14 of last season.

47. (NR) East (Shawnee Mission, Kan.), 6-0
The Lancers have four shutouts in their first six wins.

48. (NR) Malvern Prep (Pa.), 11-1
The Friars handed the top team in New Jersey, Christian Brothers Academy, a loss.

49. (NR) Staley (Kansas City, Mo.), 11-1
Staley is ranked No. 1 in the state by the coaches association.

50. (NR) Grassfield (Chesapeake, Va.), 8-0
Grizzlies have wins over Hickory (Chesapeake), Western Branch (Chesapeake) and Great Bridge (Chesapeake).

Dropped out: No. 37 Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville, Fla.), No. 38 Providence (Jacksonville, Fla.), No. 43 McCallie (Chattanooga, Tenn.), No. 44 Regis Jesuit (Aurora, Colo.), No. 45 Bryant (Ark.), No. 48 Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.), No. 49 Carolina Forest (Myrtle Beach, S.C.), No. 50 Hardin Valley Academy (Knoxville, Tenn.).