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The week after the National High School Invitational has not been kind to the championship teams from Orange County.
In 2012, Mater Dei won the initial NHSI and then promptly lost its first game to Cypress when it arrived home.
In 2015, San Clemente lost its first game back after winning the NHSI, falling to Mission Viejo. The Tritons went on to lose four of their first seven games after the tournament.
In 2016, Huntington Beach won the NHSI and then lost to J.W. North upon its return.
The pattern continued last week when Orange Lutheran, winner of the 2017 NHSI and ranked No. 2 in the nation, lost three straight games to St. John Bosco, dropping to 12-4 on the season and No. 12 in this week's Xcellent 25 National High School Baseball Rankings.
While the tournament annually hosts some of the nation's top programs, no NHSI winner has gone on to win a section or state championship and Mater Dei is the only winner to ever finish the season ranked in the Xcellent 25.
Mater Dei finished No. 21 in 2012 and No. 6 in 2013, The First Academy finished No. 151 in the MaxPreps computer rankings in 2014, San Clemente came in at No. 29 in the computer rankings in 2015 and Huntington Beach finished No. 196 in the computer rankings last year.
Orange Lutheran can still right the ship as it has the remainder of Trinity League play and the Southern Section tournament left to play, along with the Boras Classic, which gets underway this week.
A total of five new teams entered the Xcellent 25 this week, including Riverdale Baptist, Monsignor Pace, Mosley, Walton and Colleyville Heritage.
MaxPreps 2017 Xcellent 25 National High School Baseball Rankings
1. (last week 1) Buchanan (Clovis, Calif.), 17-0
The Bears swept a pair from Central (Fresno), winning 5-1 and 10-2 to stay undefeated on the season and raise their winning streak to 30 games in a row.
Hunter Reinke ran his record to 5-0 by going five innings with no earned runs and five strikeouts in the 5-1 victory.
Miguel Ortiz and
Zach Presno each had two RBIs and a triple in the 10-2 win.
Carson Olson upped his record to 6-0 with the win, striking out five.
2. (3) Shawnee (Okla.), 24-0
Shawnee had a huge week, going 7-0 including five wins at the Bill Tipton Classic. In seven games, Shawnee outscored opponents 109 to 33.
Tanner Sparks ranks as the national leader in RBIs with 57 and he is second in home runs with 10. Teammate
Jake Taylor is third in RBIs with 45. Eli Davis is second in the nation in runs scored with 48.
3. (4) George Ranch (Richmond, Texas), 22-1
George Ranch made it 12 straight wins with a pair of district victories over Alief Taylor and Alief Hastings. The Longhorns knocked off Alief Taylor 10-0 and Alief Hastings 12-1 to raise their District 6A-23 record to 7-0.
4. (6) Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 17-1
The Mavericks defeated one of the top programs in Georgia and one of Florida's top programs in Flanagan last week in raising their record to 17-1. In a 3-0 blanking of Lambert (Suwanee, Ga.),
Andrew Fernandez had a home run.
Daniel Federman got the win in a 2-0 victory over Flanagan (Pembroke Pines) as he went five innings and struck out seven. The Mavericks also beat Stranahan 16-2 with
Alex Toral knocking in a pair of runs with a pair of doubles.
5. (7) Winder-Barrow (Winder, Ga.), 21-2
Beau Hanna of Winder-Barrow
File photo by Alyson Boyer Rode
The Bulldogs swept three region games from Habersham Central (Mt. Airy), winning 10-0, 7-0 and 7-5.
Beau Hanna hit a home run and had three RBIs in the 7-0 win, while
Will Hardigree gave up just one hit over five innings in the 10-0 win.
Pat Demarco went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs in the 7-5 victory.
6. (10) Lake Travis (Austin, Texas), 18-1-1
The Cavaliers stayed undefeated in District 6A-25 play with three wins over Leander. Lake Travis won 65-2, 5-0 and 12-2.
7. (11) Rancho Bernardo (San Diego), 14-1
The Broncos head into the San Diego Lions Tournament on a roll after taking three Palomar League games from Del Norte (San Diego) last week. Rancho Bernardo won 4-0, 3-0 and 6-0 to run its win streak to nine.
Jamison Hill allowed five hits and struck out nine in the 4-0 win, while
Mason Pelio struck out 12 and gave up six hits in the 3-0 shutout.
Brian Marquez struck out nine and gave up just two hits in the 6-0 win.
8. (5) Owasso (Okla.), 21-1
The Rams played two of the top small school programs in the state and split the two games. Owasso beat Oktaha 5-2, but lost to Blanchard 7-1. Earlier in the week, Owasso defeated Edison 10-2.
Caleb Denny went 3-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs in the win over Edison.
9. (8) Huntington Beach (Calif.), 13-3
The Oilers split a pair with Los Alamitos, winning 10-3 but losing 3-2.
Hagen Danner had a home run and picked up the pitching win in the 10-3 victory.
Nick Pratto and
Cory Moore also hit home runs. In a 5-2 win over Marina (Huntington Beach), Kenny Kim had a grand slam.
10. (9) North Gwinnett (Suwanee, Ga.), 22-2
North Gwinnett lost for the second time this year, falling to Loganville 5-1. Earlier in the week, the Bulldogs edged Duluth 7-6 and also won by shutout 8-0.
Michael Borah and
LJ Fisher had home runs in the 7-6 victory.
Cade Heil had a pair of doubles in the shutout.
11. (12) Allatoona (Acworth, Ga.), 22-2
The Buccaneers won three games at the Perfect Game Spring Fling, beating Stockbridge 10-0, Grayson County (Leitchfield, Ky.) 9-1 and North Atlanta (Atlanta) 7-0.
Kyle Jacobsen went 3-for-4 with a double and four RBIs in the win over Grayson County. He also hit a home run against North Atlanta.
12. (2) Orange Lutheran (Orange), 12-4
The National High School Invitational champions had a rough week, losing all three games they played. Orange Lutheran lost to St. John Bosco (Bellflower) three times by scores of 6-0, 8-3 and 3-1. The Lancers are off until April 18 when they play Gahr (Cerritos) in the first round of the Boras Classic.
13. (13) South Hills (West Covina, Calif.), 13-3
The Huskies bounced back from two straight losses with two straight wins. They beat Charter Oak (Covina) 3-2 with
John Dearth and
Zack Bromstead each going 2-for-3. In a 2-1 win over Ayla (Chino Hills),
Brandon Dieter struck out eight and gave up one run on four hits for the win. South Hills takes on Mater Dei (Santa Ana) this week.
14. (14) Columbus (Miami), 17-1
The Explorers picked up three more wins, beating Terra Environmental (Miami) 4-1, Braddock (Miami) 11-1 and Westland Hialeah (Hialeah) 9-2.
15. (16) Oxford (Miss.), 21-2
The Chargers had a pair of big region wins over West Point, winning 19-2 and 14-2 last week.
Drew Bianco and
Ben Bianco both hit home runs in the first win, while Ben Bianco and
Carson Stinnett had three RBIs each in the second game.
16. (17) New Hanover (Wilmington, N.C.), 14-0
The Wildcats stayed undefeated with an 8-2 win over South Brunswick and a 6-4 win over E.A. Laney (Wilmington).
Troy McCaskill and
Jac Croom each went 3-for-4 in the win over E.A. Laney.
17. (20) Tate (Cantonment, Fla.), 16-1
The Aggies took a pair from Booker T. Washington (Pensacola), 13-2 and 4-3.
Logan McGuffey went 4-for-4 in the first game,
Reid Halfacre was 3-for-5 and
Kyler Hultgren went 4-for-5.
18. (22) Canterbury (Fort Myers, Fla.), 15-4
The Cougars got back on the winning track with a pair of blowouts. Canterbury shut out First Baptist Academy (Naples) 14-0 and beat Moore Haven 19-1.
Levi Shuck homered in the shutout, while
Danny Cunningham had a home run against Moore Haven.
19. (25) West Monroe (La.), 26-2
The Rebels won five games last week, beating West Ouachita (West Monroe) 11-6 and 11-1 and dropping Ouachita Parish (Monroe) 9-3, 6-2 and 17-1. After hitting just one home run through the first 23 games,
Jacob Pearson hit five home runs in four games, including two against West Ouachita in the 11-6 win and two more against Oucahita Parish in the 9-3 win. He's batting .547 on the season.
20. (NR) Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.), 15-0
The Crusaders are off to a strong start and a No.1 ranking in the Washington, D.C., area by the Washington Post.
Harold Cortijo is batting .545 with 19 RBIs and three home runs and has a 5-0 pitching record with 36 strikeouts.
21. (15) Prosper (Texas), 22-3-1
The Eagles split their two district games with McKinney North, winning 5-0 before falling 7-5 to
end a 10-game win streak.
22. (NR) Monsignor Pace (Miami), 17-1
The Spartans have won 17 in a row since starting the season with a loss to Westminster Christian (Miami).
23. (NR) Mosley (Lynn Haven, Fla.), 15-1
Nicky Agosto has been strong on the mound for Mosley, going 4-0 with a 0.64 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 24 innings pitched.
24. (NR) Walton (Marietta, Ga.), 20-4
The Raiders took two out of three from Etowah two weeks ago and defeated rival Pope (Marietta), a team that was ranked No. 1 in the Class 6A rankings.
25. (NR) Colleyville Heritage (Texas), 24-1-1
The Panthers moved up to No. 2 in the Class 5A state coaches association rankings. They have won five of their past eight games by shutout.
Dropped out: No. 18 Oak Grove (Hattiesburg, Miss.), No. 19 Palmetto (Miami), No. 21 Dana Hills (Dana Point, Calif.), No. 23 Horizon (Scottsdale, Ariz.), No. 24 Barbe (Lake Charles, La.).