Video: Monster bomb of a walk-off grand slam
Hewitt-Trussville moved on in the Alabama playoffs with this huge hit.The first round of the state playoffs in Florida and Georgia usually present few upsets, and as a result, many of the top 25 teams stayed put in this week's MaxPreps Xcellent 50 National Baseball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard.
Twelve of the top 16 teams stayed right where they were last week, with St. Thomas Catholic (Houston) the only team to move down after suffering its first loss of the season. Three other Texas teams, Lake Travis (Austin), Deer Park and Coppell all stayed in the top three and begin postseason play this week.
Two teams dropped out of the top 25, with South Dade losing its playoff opener to defending Class 8A state champion Columbus (Miami) and Vestavia Hills (Ala.) losing its playoff opener to Oak Mountain.
A total of 10 teams joined this week's rankings, with Bryant (Ark.) the highest debuting team at No. 36.
MaxPreps Xcellent 50 National Baseball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard
Mountain Ridge can celebrate its entrance into the Xcellent 50.
Photo by Heston Quan
The Cavaliers completed the regular season with two wins, as they defeated Austin 6-4 and Akins (Austin) 13-0.
Jared Triolo went 4-for-5 with four RBIs in the win over Akins. Lake Travis opens the Class 6A state playoffs against Stony Point (Round Rock) on Friday.
2. (2) Deer Park (Texas), 28-0
The Deer ended the regular season undefeated with a 6-2 win over Kinkaid and a 4-2 win over Sterling (Baytown).
Blake Martin hit a home run and three pitchers combined for a no-hitter against Kinkaid.
Josiah Ortiz hit one out against Sterling.
3. (3) Coppell (Texas), 27-1
The Cowboys had impressive wins in their final series of the regular season, beating Haltom 10-0 and 12-1.
Myles Paschall had a double and a home run in the 10-0 win, with
Charles King going four innings with five strikeouts to get the win.
Trey Becerra hit a grand slam and
Ray Gaither hit a pair of triples and picked up the pitching win with nine strikeouts in four innings. Coppell meets Duncanville in the first round of the playoffs.
4. (4) Buchanan (Clovis, Calif.), 23-1
Grant Gambrell upped his record to 9-0 with five strikeouts in four innings pitched in a 10-0 win over Clovis West. He also had a double and an RBI.
Hunter Reinke upped his record to 8-0 with six strikeouts in six innings pitched in a 5-2 win over Clovis West.
Jordan (JT) Arruda added a 3-for-5 effort with a home run and two RBIs. Buchanan faces Clovis twice this week.
5. (5) Stoneman Douglas (Parkland, Fla.), 23-2
The Eagles opened the state playoffs with a 10-0 win over Western (Davie).
Brandon Kaminer captured his 10th win of the season, striking out five and allowing three hits. Stoneman Douglas meets West Broward in the second round.
6. (6) Rockledge (Fla.), 27-1
The Raiders opened the Class 6A state playoffs with a 4-0 win over Suncoast (Riviera Beach).
Andrew Parrish gave up just three hits in the win. Rockledge meets Port St. Lucie in the second round.
7. (7) Canterbury (Fort Myers, Fla.), 28-1
Canterbury opened the Class 3A state playoffs with a 2-0 win over Out-of-Door Academy.
Sam Keating struck out five and gave up one hit to get the shutout win. Canterbury faces Northside Christian (St. Petersburg) in the second round.
8. (8) Blessed Trinity (Roswell, Ga.), 27-1
The Titans opened the Class 3A state playoffs with a two-game sweep of Brantley County, winning 8-1 and 6-0.
Jake Bogosian went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs in the 8-1 victory, while
John Michael Bertrand gave up two hits and struck out 12 to get the shutout win.
9. (10) North Davidson (Lexington, N.C.), 22-1
The Knights concluded the regular season with three straight wins, beating West Forsyth (Clemmons) 9-5 and 15-5 and blanking Parkland (Winston-Salem) 14-0.
Michael Johnson had a home run, two doubles and six RBIs in the shutout win.
10. (11) West Orange (Winter Garden, Fla.), 25-2
The Warriors captured the district championship by beating Apopka 10-2 last week and then edged Freedom (Orlando) 3-2 in the first round of the Class 9A playoffs.
Ethan Jones had a pair of doubles and two RBIs to lead the offense against Freedom. West Orange meets Apopka in the second round.
11. (9) St. Thomas Catholic (Houston), 27-0-1
The Eagles lost their first game of the season, splitting a two-game series with Concordia Lutheran (Tomball) last week. St. Thomas Catholic lost 9-4 in the first game on Tuesday, but bounced back to win 11-5 on Thursday.
12. (12) Seven Lakes (Katy, Texas), 24-3
The Spartans had a pair of 10-run wins to complete district play, as they beat Mayde Creek (Houston) 14-4 and Morton Ranch (Katy) 15-4 last week. Seven Lakes begins the Class 6A state playoffs against Reagan (Houston).
13. (13) Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 25-2
The Mavericks will get another shot at American Heritage (Plantation) after beating Goleman (Miami) 11-1 in the first round of the playoffs. Archbishop McCarthy, the defending state champion, will play American Heritage, the team that beat the Mavericks for the district championship last week, in the second round.
14. (14) South Caldwell (Hudson, N.C.), 22-1
The Spartans ended the regular season in impressive fashion with a 10-0 win over Foard (Newton) and an 8-1 win over Watauga (Boone).
15. (15) Providence (Charlotte, N.C.), 22-2
The Panthers ended the regular season with a 10-2 win over South Mecklenburg (Charlotte) and a 6-5 win over Charlotte Catholic. Providence opens the conference tournament against Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology (Charlotte).
16. (16) University (Orange City, Fla.), 22-3-1
Mandarin was no match for University pitcher
Logan Allen, as he tossed a one-hitter with seven strikeouts in a 10-0 playoff opener. Allen is 8-0 on the season with a 0.12 ERA. University meets Spruce Creek in the second round.
17. (21) Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), 24-4
The Gaels beat Desert Oasis (Las Vegas) 11-1 on home runs by
Nick Hernandez and
Marques Paige and they beat Durango (Las Vegas) 10-1 on a home run by
Jordan Sadovia. Bishop Gorman completes the regular season against Cimarron-Memorial and Arbor View this week.
18. (22) Calallen (Corpus Christi, Texas), 23-2
The Wildcats completed district play unbeaten with a 10-0 win over Veterans Memorial (Corpus Christi) and an 11-1 win over Tuloso-Midway (Corpus Christi) while also blanking Reagan (San Antonio) 3-0 in a non-district game.
19. (23) Walton (Marietta, Ga.), 24-4
The Raiders opened the postseason with 14-3 and 5-0 wins over Archer (Lawrenceville) in the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs.
Parker McCoy,
Carter Kieboom and
Jason Rooks all hit home runs in the 5-0 win.
20. (24) Basha (Chandler, Ariz.), 23-4
The Bears downed Gilbert 11-3, with
Casey Legumina hitting a home run. He added a pair of doubles in a 9-4 win over Mountain Pointe (Phoenix). Basha opens the Division I playoffs against Brophy College Prep (Phoenix).
21. (27) Cy-Fair (Cypress, Texas), 25-3
Cy-Fair won four times last week, beating Cypress Springs twice by identical 11-1 scores and Cypress Falls by scores of 4-0 and 1-0.
22. (33) Greenup County (Greenup, Ky.), 26-0
The Musketeers remained undefeated with an 8-5 win over Russell and a 6-1 win over Boyd County (Ashland).
23. (34) Jackson (Massillon, Ohio), 15-0
Jackson claimed three more wins, beating McKinley (Canton) 8-0 and 4-0.
Kyle Nicolas threw a no-hitter in the 8-0 win. Jackson also defeated Aurora 10-0.
24. (36) Teurlings Catholic (Lafayette, La.), 30-4
Teurlings Catholic rolled in its first two playoff games, beating St. Martinville 10-0 in the first round and Livonia 14-2 in the first game of their series in the second round.
25. (38) Allatoona (Acworth, Ga.), 25-3
The Buccaneers opened the Class 5A state playoffs with a two-game sweep of Heritage (Conyers). Allatoona won 2-0 and 8-2. They will meet Columbus in the second round.
Next 25
26. (40) Staley (Kansas City, Mo.), 24-2
Staley won four times during the week, including a 6-4 win over Rock Bridge. It also defeated Liberty North 8-3, North Kansas City 14-0 and Blue Springs 7-1.
27. (17) Davis (Calif.), 18-3
The Blue Devils split their two games with Elk Grove last week, losing 14-1 and winning 2-1. Davis also beat Monterey Trail (Elk Grove) 19-1 in the first game of their two-game series.
Hunter Jury had a home run and four RBIs against Monterey Trail.
28. (18) Johnson (San Antonio), 21-4
The Jaguars lost their only game last week, falling to MacArthur (San Antonio) 4-0.
29. (42) JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.), 19-6
The Lions were impressive in their three wins this week, blanking Orange Lutheran 1-0 and 7-0 and also winning 5-2 over the Lancers.
30. (43) American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.), 19-4
American Heritage knocked off Miami Springs 10-0 in the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs and will face Archbishop McCarthy in the second round.
31. (45) Bolles (Jacksonville, Fla.), 24-3
Bolles opened the Class 5A state playoffs with an 11-1 win over Yulee. The Bulldogs meet Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) in the second round.
32. (47) Brother Rice (Chicago), 20-2
Brother Rice won three times last week, beating Loyola Academy 22-4, St. Francis 6-4 and St. Rita 6-2.
33. (48) Westside (Houston), 26-2
The Wolves had a previous loss to Katy turn into a forfeit win. They also defeated Milby (Houston) 7-0, Lamar (Houston) 7-2 and Bellaire (Houston) 9-1.
34. (49) Sparkman (Harvest, Ala.), 35-7
Sparkman advanced into the second round of the Class 7A state playoffs with a 2-0, 11-0 sweep of Grissom.
35. (50) Buford (Ga.), 23-3
The Wolves downed Whitewater (Fayetteville) 5-4 and 9-5 in the first round of the Georgia Class 4A state playoffs.
36, (NR) Bryant (Ark.), 22-2
The Hornets avenged an earlier loss to Conway with a 2-1 victory.
37. (NR) Barbe (Lake Charles, La.), 31-6
The returning state champions began the defense of their crown with three playoff wins.
38. (25) Catholic-B.R. (Baton Rouge, La.), 28-6
The Bears opened the Class 5A state playoffs with an 8-1 win over East Ascension (Gonzales) and split the first two games of the second round series with Hahnville, losing 4-1 before winning the second game 4-2 in eight innings.
39. (28) Orange Lutheran (Calif.), 16-6
The Lancers lost all three of their games with JSerra Catholic, falling 5-2, 1-0 and 7-0. Orange Lutheran plays three games with Mater Dei (Santa Ana) this week.
40. (30) Butler (Vandalia, Ohio), 17-1
Butler dropped its first game of the season, falling to Springboro 1-0. It rebounded to beat Piqua 8-4 and 4-1.
41. (29) Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.), 23-1
The Sea Hawks lost their first game of the season, falling to Los Alamitos 8-3 in a tournament game. Redondo added three straight wins, beating Peninsula (Rolling Hills Estates) 2-1 and 8-0 and Bishop Amat (La Puente) 4-0.
42. (41) Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), 20-5
The Mustangs suffered a 7-6 loss to Chatsworth at the Chatsworth tournament, but they picked up a pair of forfeit wins over Inglewood and defeated Calabasas 1-0.
43. (NR) Mountain Ridge (Glendale, Ariz.), 23-5
Mountain Ridge has wins over O'Connor (Phoenix), Corona del Sol (Tempe), El Toro (Lake Forest, Calif.) and De La Salle (Concord, Calif.).
44. (NR) Clovis North (Fresno, Calif.), 20-4-1
Clovis North has recent wins over Buchanan (Clovis) and Clovis.
45. (NR) O'Fallon (Ill.), 20-3
O'Fallon is ranked No. 1 in the St. Louis area by the Post Dispatch.
46. (NR) Plainfield North (Plainfield, Ill.), 15-2
The Tigers have won 10 in a row since they last lost to Minooka.
47. (NR) St. Joseph Regional (Montvale, N.J.), 14-2
SJR is ranked No. 1 in the New York City area by MSG Varsity.
48. (NR) De La Salle (Concord, Calif.), 15-3
The Spartans have wins over Elk Grove, Bellarmine College Prep (San Jose) and Serra (San Mateo).
49. (NR) Farragut (Knoxville, Tenn.), 29-4
The Admirals have won 15 in a row.
50. (NR) Owasso (Okla.), 25-6
The Rams are 13-1 over the last month of the season.
Dropped out: No. 19 South Dade (Homestead, Fla.), No. 20 Vestavia Hills (Ala.), No. 26 Klein (Texas), No. 31 St. Rita (Chicago), No. 32 Malvern Prep (Pa.), No. 35 Strake Jesuit (Houston), No. 37 Westerville Central (Ohio), No. 39 East (Shawnee Mission, Kan.), No. 44 Providence Catholic (New Lenox, Ill.), No. 46 Stillwater (Okla.).
