Harvard-Westlake celebrated a Southern Section championship this past weekend, which moved the Wolverines into the No. 3 spot in the Top 50 rankings.
Photo by Heston Quan
At the beginning of the year, MaxPreps came out with a
preseason Xcellent 25 that included four Texas teams. While it has been a rather circuitous path for two of them, three of those ranked teams have reached the Texas Class 5A state tournament.
Martin (Arlington, Texas), ranked No. 4 in the preseason, swept Carroll (Southlake) in its region final to advance to the state tournament for the second year in a row. Martin lost five games in its first 14 to drop out of the Xcellent 25 rankings, but the Warriors have won 27 out of their final 30 games to move back in at No. 22.
Likewise Fort Bend Dulles (Sugar Land, Texas), ranked No. 8 in the preseason, opened the year with three losses in its first six games to drop out of the top 25. However the Vikings have lost just one game in the postseason and knocked off defending state champion Cypress Ranch (Houston), the fourth Texas team in the preseason rankings, in the region semifinals.
The Woodlands (Texas), the preseason No. 22 team, has been near the top of the Xcellent 25 all season since opening the with a 21-0 record.
Martin, Fort Bend Dulles and The Woodlands, along with O'Connor (Helotes, Texas), head to Dell Diamond in Round Rock for the state tournament starting June 7 with Martin meeting Fort Bend Dulles at noon and The Woodlands facing O'Connor at 3 p.m.
Among the other moves this week was Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.) jumping from No. 7 to No. 3 after winning the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs. Harvard-Westlake had previously defeated Venice, the previous No. 3, at the National High School Invitational.
MaxPreps Xcellent 50 National Baseball Rankings*1. (1 last week) Pensacola Catholic (Pensacola, Fla.), 30-0
Florida 4A state champions. Season over.
*2. (2) Owasso (Okla.), 36-0
Oklahoma Class 6A champion. Season over.
3. (7) Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.), 28-4
Jack Flaherty
completed a 13-0 season by throwing his sixth shutout of the season in a
1-0 win over Marina (Huntington Beach) in the Southern Section Division
I state championship game. Flaherty also struck out 112 on the season
and had a 0.63 ERA. California does not have a state championship tournament.
*4. (3) Venice (Fla.), 29-3
Florida Class 7A champion. Season over.
5. (4) The Woodlands (Texas), 36-4
Ryan Burnett, The Woodlands
Photo by Jamie Harms
The Highlanders dropped a 7-1 decision to Rockwall in the region finals, but were able to advance to the state tournament with a pair of wins, 12-5, 12-6.
Ryan Burnett struck out 10 in the 12-5 victory while the offense scored all 12 runs in one inning while sending 17 batters to the plate. In the 12-6 win, The Woodlands scored seven in the third inning and received three hits each from
Kolbi Brown,
Alex Dunlap and
Chris Andritsos.
6. (5) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 24-3
Season over.
*7. (6) Lexington (S.C.), 28-5
South Carolina Class 4A state champion. Season over.
*8. (8) Desert Mountain (Scottsdale, Ariz.), 31-4
Arizona Division I state champions. Season over.
*9. (10) Magnolia Heights (Senatobia, Miss.), 34-0
MAIS Class AAA II state champion. Season over.
10. (13) Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati), 27-2-1
The Crusaders won
the regional final with an 11-3 win over Clayton Northmont, which had
previously defeated AP No. 1 Mason in the semifinals. Archbishop Moeller
knocked off Lakota East (Liberty Township) 10-1 in the other semifinal
game.
11. (14) Tomball (Texas), 32-4
Tomball advanced to the Class 4A state
championship tournament with a 10-0 win over Foster. Tomball will face
Rider in the first round of the state tournament.
*12. (15) Lake Brantley (Altamonte Springs, Fla.), 26-5
Florida Class 8A state champion. Season over.
*13. (17) Coronado (Henderson, Nev.), 36-4
Nevada Class 4A state champions. Season over.
14. (19) St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.), 29-4
Central Coast Section Division 1 champions. Season over.
*15. (20) Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 22-5-1
Florida Class 6A state champion. Season over.
*16. (21) Flora (Columbia, S.C.), 26-6
South Carolina Class 3A state champion. Season over.
Rob Kaminsky, St. Joseph Regional
Photo by Daniel Coppola
St.
Joseph Regional defeated Pope John 3-0 and St. Peter's Prep 3-0 to
advance to the Non-Public A North championship game against Seton Hall
Prep on Tuesday.
Rob Kaminsky struck out 12 in picking up the shutout
over St. Peter's Prep.
*18. (23) Howell (St. Charles, Mo.), 33-5
Howell defeated Christian
Brothers 7-3 to capture the Division 5 state championship in Missouri.
Howell knocked off Staley 9-6 to advance to the title game.
19. (24) Rancho Bernardo (San Diego), 30-5
The
Broncos captured the San Diego Section Open Division championship with a
4-2 win over Granite Hills.
Alex Jackson had a home run and two RBIs in
the finals and had two home runs in an 8-2 semifinal win over Rancho
Buena Vista.
*20. (25) Milton (Ga.), 31-9-1
Milton captured the
6A state championship with a 0-1, 5-3, 2-1 series win over Roswell,
and also defeated defending state champion Parkview 0-4, 10-1, 10-0 to
advance to the championship game.
21. (26) Fort Bend Dulles (Sugar Land, Texas), 31-7
Fort Bend Dulles
advanced to the Texas Class 5A state championship tournament with a 5-2
win over Jersey Village.
Darryn Sheppard had a home run for the Vikings.
22. (37) Martin (Arlington, Texas), 36-7-1
Defeated Carroll (Southlake) 4-1 and 2-1 to advance to the Texas Class 5A state tournament for the second straight season.
23. (29) Indianapolis Cathedral (Ind.), 25-0
Cathedral advanced to the Class 4A state tournament after defeating Lawrence Central (Indianapolis) 6-5 in the sectional final.
24. (31) Bay City Western (Auburn, Mich.), 36-2
Defeated Bay City Central 3-1 for district championship. Advances to Division I state tournament.
*25. (34) ThunderRidge (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), 21-5
Colorado 5A state champion. Season over.
The Next 25*26. (35) Christian Brothers (Memphis, Tenn.), 35-7
Daniel Nordwall, Christian Brothers
Photo by Alyson Boyer Rode
Tennessee Division II AA state champion. Season over.
27. (9) Carroll (Southlake, Texas), 34-6-1
The Dragons lost in the region final to Martin (Arlington), 4-1, 2-1. Season over.
28. (36) Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village, Colo.), 21-4
Season over.
29. (32) Mosley (Lynn Haven, Fla.), 28-4
Season over.
*30. (39) Atlantic Shores Christian (Chesapeake, Va.), 33-2
VISAA Division II state champion.
*31. (40) Southaven (Miss.), 25-8
Mississippi Class 6A state champion.
*32. (41) Pope (Marietta, Ga.), 28-10
Georgia Class 5A state champion.
33. (42) Harrison Central (Gulfport, Miss.), 28-5
Season over.
34. (49) Seton Hall Prep (West Orange, N.J.), 28-2
Advanced to the Non-Public A North final with a 6-0 win over Don Bosco Prep and a 9-3 win over Delbarton.
*35. (44) Ponte Vedra (Fla.), 21-11
Florida Class 5A state champion. Season over.
36. (45) Estero (Fla.), 22-10
Season over.
37. (46) Durant (Plant City, Fla.), 25-6
Season over.
38. (47) Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.), 27-3
Season over.
39. (48) American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.), 25-3
Season over.
*40. (50) Fayetteville (Ark.), 27-2
Arkansas Class 7A state champion. Season over.
*41. (NR) Seaman (Topeka, Kan.), 23-2
Kansas Class 5A state champion. Season over.
*42. (NR) Pelham (Ala.), 31-11
Alabama Class 6A state champion. Season over.
43. (NR) Marina (Huntington Beach, Calif.), 22-9
Lost to Harvard-Westlake 1-0 in Southern Section Division I championship game.
Tyler Alamo, Cypress
Photo by Heston Quan
Southern Section Division II champion. Season over.
45. (NR) Mount Carmel (Chicago), 31-8
Took over No. 1 ranking in the state by the Chicago Sun Times.
46. (NR) Elkhart Central (Ind.), 30-1
Advanced to the Class 4A state semifinals with a 4-2 win over Lake Central (St. John) and a 5-4 win over Clay (South Bend).
47. (NR) O'Connor (Helotes, Texas), 33-7-2
Advanced to Texas Class 5A state tournament with a 3-2 win over Eagle Pass.
*48. (NR) Westminster Christian (St. Louis), 33-3
Missouri Class 4A state champion. Season over.
*49. (NR) Charlotte Christian (Charlotte, N.C.), 30-4
NCISAA 3A state champion. Season over.
50. (NR) St. Francis de Sales (Toledo, Ohio), 28-1
Defeated Perrysburg 10-5 in the region three playoffs. Plays St. Ignatius (Cleveland) on Monday.
Dropped Out: No. 11 Lincoln-Way North (Frankfort, Ill.); No. 12 Mason (Ohio); No. 16 Granada (Livermore, Calif.); No. 18 Madison (Vienna, Va.); No. 27 Tottenville (Staten Island, N.Y.); No. 28 Floyd Central (Floyds Knobs, Ind.); No. 30 Monroe Campus (Bronx, N.Y.); No. 33 Fuquay-Varina (N.C.); No. 38 Richmond (Rockingham, N.C.); No. 43 Great Bridge (Chesapeake, Va.)
*State champion
