MaxPreps Top 50 national high school baseball rankings

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The No. 1 team in the country lost its first game of the season, but Deer Park will not fall out of the top spot in the MaxPreps Xcellent 50 National Baseball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard.

The Deer lost to Strake Jesuit (Houston), a team that had been ranked in the Xcellent 50 at times during the season, but they rebounded to win the series and advance to the regional final this week.

The temptation would be to move the Deer down a spot and replace them in the top spot with Buchanan, a team that has also lost just once this year. However, there are two factors at work here keeping Deer Park in the top spot: First, the Deer advanced to the next round and are still alive for a possible state championship in, quite possibly, the most difficult postseason tournament in the country, the Texas Class 6A state playoffs. And second, Buchanan plays Clovis North, the only team to beat the Bears this year, in the Central Section Division I final in California this week.



Buchanan could very well beat Clovis North for the championship and thus solidify its spot as a potential No. 1 team. However, with Deer Park still in the running for the Texas Class 6A state title, it makes more sense to keep Deer Park in the top spot until it is eliminated or loses more games than Buchanan (Deer Park will play one more best-of-three series before the state tournament).

Meanwhile, Coppell missed out on its chance to move back into the top spot in the rankings after losing to Midland Lee in the region semifinals. The Cowboys, who were ranked No. 1 in the Xcellent 50 rankings for most of the season, have now been eliminated.

Should both Deer Park and Buchanan lose along the way, look for Stoneman Douglas to finish the 2016 season as the No. 1 team in the nation. The Eagles won the Florida Class 9A state championship last week.

1. (last week 1) Deer Park (Texas), 36-1
Deer Park suffered its first loss of the season, but it still managed to advance to the Region 3 finals. The Deer defeated Strake Jesuit 9-3 to reach 35-0, but lost in the second game 6-2. Deer Park eliminated Strake Jesuit with a 15-0 win in the third game and will meet Langham Creek in the region final.

2. (2) Buchanan (Clovis, Calif.), 29-1
The Bears advanced to the Central Section Division I championship game for the third-straight year with a 5-3 win over Bullard. The Bears will take on Clovis North, which handed Buchanan its only defeat of the season, in the finals today. Jamal O'Guinn had a home run to lead the Bears to the semifinal win.

3. (3) Stoneman Douglas (Parkland, Fla.), 27-2
Florida Class 9A state champion. Season over.



4. (5) Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 29-2
Florida Class 6A state champion. Season over.

5. (6) Canterbury (Fort Myers, Fla.), 31-1
Florida Class 3A state champion. Season over.

6. (7) Walton (Marietta, Ga.), 32-4
Georgia Class 6A state champion. Season over.

7. (8) North Davidson (Lexington, N.C.), 27-2
North Davidson needed three games to knock off defending Class 4A state champion Providence in the regional round. North Davidson lost the first game 7-2, but bounced back to win the next two, 5-1 and 3-2. North Davidson will play Green Hope in the final.

8. (13) Rockledge (Fla.), 28-2
Season over.

9. (14) Teurlings Catholic (Lafayette, La.), 35-4
Louisiana Class 4A state champion.



10. (15) Barbe (Lake Charles, La.), 34-6
Louisiana Class 5A state champion.

11. (18) Brother Rice (Chicago), 34-3
The Crusaders won a pair of posteseason games, defeating Kennedy (Chicago) 12-1 and Oak Lawn 11-1. Four Brother Rice pitchers combined for a no-hitter against Kennedy.

12. (20) JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.), 27-6
The Lions defeated Loyola 4-1 in the second round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs and knocked off Hart (Newhall) 13-1 in the quarterfinals. Royce Lewis was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs in the win over Hart while Colin Townsend was 3-for-3 with three RBIs.

13. (NR) Midland Lee (Midland, Texas), 28-9
The Rebels knocked off Coppell, a team that had been ranked No. 1 in the nation for most of the season, in the regional semifinals, 7-2, 5-14 and 6-4. Midland Lee will play Amarillo in the Region 1 final.

14. (4) Coppell (Texas), 33-4
Midland Lee stunned Coppell in the Region I semifinals, winning 7-2, 5-14 and 6-4 to eliminate the Cowboys from the Texas Class 6A state playoffs.

15. (22) Johnson (San Antonio), 29-5
Johnson advanced to the Region 4 finals by downing Alexander, last year's region champion, in two straight games, 4-1 and 3-1. Johnson will meet United (Laredo) in the region final.



16. (16) West Orange (Winter Garden, Fla.), 27-3
Season over.

17. (9) Providence (Charlotte, N.C.), 27-4
Providence saw its chance of back-to-back state titles come to an end with a semifinal series loss to North Davidson. Providence won the first game 7-2, but lost the next two 5-1 and 3-2 to end its season.

18. (17) South Caldwell (Hudson, N.C.), 28-2
Season over.

19. (19) University (Orange City, Fla.), 23-4-1
Season over.

20. (21) Bolles (Jacksonville, Fla.), 27-3
Florida Class 5A state champion. Season over.

21. (23) Bryant (Ark.), 28-2
Arkansas Class 7A state champion. Season over.



22. (24) Greenup County (Greenup, Ky.), 36-1
The Musketeers won their two district playoff games, beating Raceland 12-2 and Lewis County 10-0. Gage Hughes had a triple and four RBIs against Raceland. Hughes and Christian Wireman both hit home runs against Lewis County.

23. (26) Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.), 27-7
Arizona Division I state champion. Season over.

24. (28) De La Salle (Concord, Calif.), 23-3
The Spartans opened the North Coast Section Division I playoffs with a pair of shutout wins, beating Pittsburg 10-0 and California (San Ramon) 7-0. The Spartans meet last year's section champion College Park (Pleasant Hill) in the semifinals this week.

25. (33) St. Joseph Regional (Montvale, N.J.), 23-3
St. Joseph Regional knocked off Bergen Catholic 3-1 to capture the Bergen County tournament championship.

Next 25

26. (27) American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.), 19-5
Season over.



27. (25) Plainfield North (Plainfield, Ill.), 30-3
Plainfield North lost its last nonleague game of the regular season to Lincoln-Way West 5-3, but won a pair of postseason games against Oswego East, winning 12-8, and Hinsdale Central, winning 12-0.

28. (31) Mountain Ridge (Glendale, Ariz.), 26-6
Season over.

29. (35) Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.), 29-2
The Seahawks advanced to the Southern Section Division 3 semifinals with an 8-1 win over La Salle (Pasadena) and a 9-2 win over Culver City. Redondo Union meets Beckman in the semifinals.

30. (34) Catholic-B.R. (Baton Rouge, La.), 31-7
Season over.

31. (37) Basic (Henderson, Nev.), 36-4
Nevada Division I state champion. Season over.

32. (38) Hillcrest (Tuscaloosa, Ala.), 40-10
Alabama Class 6A state champion. Season over.



33. (NR) Locust Grove (Ga.), 33-5
Locust Grove captured the Georgia Class 4A state championship by defeating Buford 2-3, 4-1 and 3-1.

34. (41) Westminster (Atlanta), 30-6
Georgia Class 3A state champion. Season over.

35. (43) Dallas Jesuit, 33-8-2
The Rangers reached the Region 2 finals by beating Oak Ridge 0-3, 3-2 and 3-0. Dallas Jesuit will take on Atascocita for the right to advance to the state tournament.

36. (42) Blessed Trinity (Roswell, Ga.), 33-4
Season over.

37. (30) Buford (Ga.), 32-5
The Wolves defeated Eastside (Covington) 6-4 to advance to the Class 4A championship series, but lost to Locust Grove 3-2, 1-4 and 1-3.

38. (32) O'Fallon (Ill.), 32-5
O'Fallon lost to Sacred Heart Griffin 6-2 in a nonleague game on Monday, but opened postseason play with a 5-4 win over Danville and a 2-1 win over Alton.



39. (45) Russellville (Ala.), 47-7
Alabama Class 5A state champion. Season over.

40. (46) Steinbrenner (Lutz, Fla.), 27-5
Florida Class 8A state champion. Season over.

41. (47) Gaither (Tampa, Fla.), 20-9
Florida Class 7A state champion. Season over.

42. (44) Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.), 24-4
Bergen Catholic fell 3-1 to St.Joseph Regional in the final of the Bergen County Tournament.

43. (48) Venice (Fla.), 26-6
Season over.

44. (NR) Alamo Heights (San Antonio), 25-7
Alamo Heights knocked off Calallen 2-1 and 6-3 to advance to the Region 4 championship game against Boerne-Champion.



45. (11) Calallen (Corpus Christi, Texas), 27-4
The Wildcats had their season come to an end with a 2-1, 6-3 loss to Alamo Heights in the Texas Class 5A Region 4 semifinals.

46. (NR) Boerne-Champion (Boerne, Texas), 33-8
Boerne-Champion advanced to the Region 4 final with a 5-3, 1-4 and 12-0 series win over Flour Bluff in the Texas Class 5A region playoffs.

47. (NR) Prestonwood Christian (Plano, Texas), 35-1
The Lions captured the TAPPS Class 5A state championship with a 5-4 win over St. Thomas Catholic (Houston) in the semifinals and a 7-1 win over Monsignor Kelly Catholic (Beaumont) in the championship game.

48. (NR) Hanover (Mechanicsville, Va.), 19-1
Hanover won the Conference 20 championship with an 11-0 win over Dinwiddie. The Hawks begin postseason play against Luisa in the Region 4A East quarterfinals.

49. (NR) Siegel (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), 31-9
Siegel defeated Arlington 9-8 to capture the Tennessee Class AAA state championship.

50. (NR) East (Shawnee Mission, Kan.), 17-4
East won the Kansas Class 6A state championship with a 4-3 win over Lawrence Free State.



Dropped out: No. 10 St. Thomas Catholic (Houston), No. 12 Jackson (Massillon, Ohio), No. 29 Staley (Kansas City, Mo.), No. 36 Orange Lutheran (Calif.), No. 39 Farragut (Knoxville, Tenn.), No. 40 Saline (Mich.), No. 49 El Toro (Lake Forest, Calif.), No. 50 Naaman Forest (Garland, Texas).