Great pitching and a potent offense have pushed Jesuit out to an 11-0 start, good enough to move them into the No. 1 spot in this week's rankings.
File photo by Marc Estrada
Six teams tumbled out of the Xcellent 25 National Baseball Rankings this week and No. 1 Cathedral Catholic dropped from its top spot as well after a rough week for nationally-ranked teams.
The Dons fell 4-0 to Granite Hills (El Cajon, Calif.) for its first loss of the season. The loss dropped Cathedral Catholic down to the No. 9 spot in the Xcellent 25 and it allowed Granite Hills to join this week's rankings at No. 25.
Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.) moved into the No. 1 spot as it knocked off defending Florida Class 3A champion Providence (Jacksonville, Fla.) 4-1 in its only game of the week.
Six teams that fell out this week include Oak Grove (Hattiesburg, Miss.), Elk Grove (Calif.), Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), Farragut (Knoxville, Tenn.), American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) and Lake Braddock (Burke, Va.).
New teams this week include two from Texas, Klein and Marcus (Flower Mound), Jupiter (Fla.), Gainesville (Ga.), Tullahoma (Tenn.) and Granite Hills.
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Baseball Rankings
1. (2 last week) Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.), 11-0
The Tigers had just one win last week, but it helped them move into the No. 1 ranking in the nation. Jesuit edged Providence (Jacksonville, Fla.), last year's Class 3A state champion, 4-1 on the arm of
Spencer Trayner. The senior went five innings and allowed just one run on one hit. On offense,
Adrian Chacon knocked in three runs with a home run in the bottom of the fourth that gave the Tigers a 3-1 lead.
2. (3) Pensacola Catholic (Fla.), 10-0
The Crusaders rolled to two more wins with a 6-0 victory over New Hope (Columbus, Miss.) and Davidson (Mobile, Ala.), 12-1.
Avery Geyer had a double, a home run and three RBI in the win over New Hope. He also picked up the shutout win, going seven innings and giving up no runs on two hits with 12 strikeouts. Against Davidson,
Drew LaBounty,
Bronson Chancellor,
Tanner Halstead and Geyer all hit home runs.
Cooper Jones allowed one run on one hit with nine strikeouts for the win.
3. (4) The Woodlands (Texas), 16-0
The Highlanders won three times last week in District 14-5A play, shutting out Lufkin 7-0 and Bryan 9-0, and downing A&M Consolidated (College Station, Texas), 13-2.
Carter Hope had a big day at the plate in the win over A&M Consolidated, belting a double and a grand slam.
Chris Andritsos and
Alex Dunlap also homered in the win. Andritsos also hit two home runs in the win over Bryan while Hope won his fourth game of the season (4-0). Andritsos has nine home runs on the season.
4. (5) Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village, Colo.), 2-0
Griffin Jax, Cherry Creek
Photo by Paul DiSalvo
The Bruins got their season off the ground with a pair of convincing wings. They defeated Arvada West 15-0 on Friday and Dakota Ridge (Littleton, Colo.) 12-2 on Saturday.
Griffin Jax had a home run and got the win on the mound against Dakota Ridge.
5. (9) Tomball (Texas), 15-0
The Cougars continue to impress, concluding the week with a combined perfect game in a 13-0 win over Fort Bend Willowridge.
Braedan Holub,
Nick Bankes and
Eric Dunbar combined to strike out all 15 batters in the five-inning contest. Tomball also defeated Northbrook 8-0 to raise its district record to 3-0.
6. (11) St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.), 11-0
The Lancers' first week of play in the West Catholic Athletic League has been impressive with a 7-0 win over Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco), a 3-0 victory over Archbishop Mitty (San Jose), and a 6-1 victory over Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco).
Kort Peterson and
Austin Guibor both homered against Riordan while
John Gavin pitched seven shutout innings with one hit allowed and four strikeouts against Mitty.
7. (15) Woodford County (Versailles, Ky.), 1-0
The Yellowjackets blanked Grant County 10-0 in their opener Thursday.
Logan Parrett picked up the win while
Eli Bogges and
Christopher Powers each had two RBIs.
8. (16) Gloucester Catholic (Gloucester City, N.J.), 0-0
Season begins April 1 vs. Deptford.
9. (1) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego), 4-1
It was an up-and-down week
for the Dons, who fended off two strong opponents in El Capitan
(Lakeside, Calif.) and Poway (Calif.), but lost in a shutout to Granite
Hills (El Cajon), 4-0. In a 3-0 win over El Capitan,
Michael Martin and
Andrew Wright combined for the victory with Wright getting the win. Both
finished with six strikeouts and allowed one hit apiece. Cathedral held
off a five-run rally by Poway in the seventh for an 8-6 win over the
Titans.
Stephen Gonsalves went five innings and struck out seven for the
win. He also helped his own cause with a home run. The Dons had just
four hits in the loss to Granite Hills.
Casey Rosenfeld, Harvard-Westlake
Photo by Vince Pugliese
The Wolverines
split two games with Loyola (Los Angeles) last week, winning 5-0 and
losing 6-3. Harvard-Westlake bounced back on Saturday to defeat Buckley
(Sherman Oaks, Calif.), 4-0. The shutout of Buckley was the sixth of the
season for the Wolverine pitching staff.
11. (17) Venice (Fla.), 9-1
No shutouts last week for Venice, but impressive wins nonetheless as the Indians downed Sarasota 6-2 and Manatee (Bradenton, Fla.) 5-2. The Indians have a district game with Port Charlotte this week before taking on Christian Brothers (Memphis, Tenn.) in the first round of the National High School Invitational on March 27.
12. (19) Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 10-0-1
The Mavericks had a tough week, tying Pembroke Pines 7-7 and holding off Summit Christian 9-8.
Alex Guzman got the win against Summit Christian.
13. (20) Calallen (Corpus Christi, Texas), 18-1
The Wildcats opened district play last week with a 13-3 win over Smithson Valley (Spring Branch) and a 5-4 victory over Tuloso-Midway (Corpus Christi).
Preston Dorsey had two home runs and five RBI among his three hits in the win over Smithson Valley. Sophomore
Dylan Duarte went the distance for the win, striking out six.
14. (21) Owasso (Okla.), 7-0
The Rams won their only game last week, handing Jenks its first loss of the season, 4-2.
Trae Bobo had three base-hits in the win. The Rams make their annual trip to Florida this week and will play Winter Haven on Friday.
15. (10) Jenks (Okla.), 7-1
After losing to Owasso 4-2 on March 11,
Jenks routed its next three opponents, topping Bixby 9-1, and Ponca City
in a doubleheader, 15-1 and 13-6.
16. (22) Buchanan (Clovis, Calif.), 11-0-1
The Bears got a complete game victory from
Jack Wheeless, who struck out seven in the 1-0 win over Central (Fresno).
Trenton Kemp scored the only run in the game with a second-inning home run.
17. (23) Lexington (S.C.), 8-1
The Wildcats have won six in a row since a loss to Conway on March 8. Lexington dropped Aiken 9-2 in conference play and added an 11-2 district win over Dutch Fork (Irmo, S.C.) on Friday. Lexington swept Dorman (Roebuck, S.C.) 5-4 and 8-3 on Saturday.
Dalton Addy went 3-for-4 in the 5-4 win for Lexington while
Ryan Brown was 2-for-4 in the second game.
18. (24) Loganville (Ga.), 7-1
Clint Frazier, Loganville
Photo by Dennis Carter
blasted two home runs in a
14-4 win over Grayson last week. Loganville followed that win with an 11-0 victory over Cedar Shoals.
19. (25) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 3-1
The Monarchs opened Trinity League play with a pair of wins, defeating Servite (Anaheim) 2-1 and Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita) 4-2. The Monarchs have two more tough league outings this week against Orange Lutheran and JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano) before heading to North Carolina for a matchup with Tullahoma (Tenn.) in the first round of the National High School Invitational. Mater Dei is the defending champion in the event.
20. (NR) Klein (Texas), 16-1
Klein was actually ranked No. 1 in the state Class 5A rankings by the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association, but the Bearkats suffered a 3-2 loss to Klein Collins on Friday.
21. (NR) Gainesville (Ga.), 9-0
The Red Elephants started last season with 32 straight wins. Some ranking services in Georgia have Gainesville ranked No. 1 in Class 5A ahead of Loganville.
22. (NR) Jupiter (Fla.), 11-0
The Warriors have the best record in Class 8A in Florida and are ranked first in Palm Beach County by Palm Beach High School Baseball.com and first in South Florida by the High School Baseball Network.com.
23. (NR) Tullahoma (Tenn.), 7-0
Jordan Sheffield earned MVP honors in leading Tullahoma to a first-place finish at the Wildcat Classic Tournament in Chattanooga. Tullahoma needed 10 innings to defeat Gwinnett County 6-4 in the championship game.
24. (NR) Marcus (Flower Mound, Texas), 16-1
Marcus has won 16 straight games since starting the season with a loss to Plano East. Marcus is currently ranked No. 3 in the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association poll.
25. (NR) Granite Hills (El Cajon, Calif.), 5-1
The Eagles have put together an impressive run since losing their season opener to Rancho Bernardo. Granite Hills has four straight shutout wins over Poway (9-0), Cathedral Catholic (4-0), Bonita Vista (16-0) and Rancho Bernardo (1-0).
Dropped out: No. 6 Oak Grove (Hattiesburg, Miss.); No. 7 Elk Grove (Calif.); No. 12 Lake Braddock (Burke, Va.), No. 13 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas); No. 14 Farragut (Knoxville, Tenn.); No. 18 American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.);
