MaxPreps Top 50 national high school baseball rankings

The season came to an early end for a pair of teams ranked among the top 11 in the Xcellent 50 National Baseball Rankings.

American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.), the defending Class 5A state champion in Florida, dropped a 3-2 game to Estero in the quarterfinals and was eliminated from the playoffs. The Patriots dropped to No. 21 with the defeat, but could drop further depending on Estero's play the rest of the tournament.

Meanwhile Barbe (Lake Charles, La.), the top seed in the Louisiana Class 5A state championships, fell to West Monroe in the quarterfinals. The loss had to drop the Bucs all the way out of the top 50 since West Monroe had over 10 losses on the season and promptly lost its next game in the playoffs.

The top six teams all remained the same with only Owasso ending its season. The Rams claimed the 12th state championship in school history with a 5-1 win over Norman North.



MaxPreps Xcellent 50 National Baseball Rankings 1. (1 last week) Pensacola Catholic (Fla.), 28-0
The Crusaders advanced to the Class 4A state semifinals with an 8-5 win over Madison County (Madison) and a 3-1 win over Episcopal (Jacksonville) in last week's playoff matchups. Pensacola Catholic will face Bishop Verot (Fort Myers) in the semifinals on May 20. Avery Geyer got the win against Madison County, going 5 1/3 innings with nine strikeouts and only one hit allowed. He also got the win against Episcopal, going all seven innings while striking out three and giving up one run on eight hits.

2. (2) Owasso (Okla.), 36-0
The Rams won the 12th state championship in school history, the first since 2009, with a 5-1 win over Norman North in the Class 6A championship game. Owasso also defeated Edmond Santa Fe 11-1 in the first round and Broken Arrow, 5-3, in the semifinals. Austin O'Brien and Trae Bobo each hit a home run against Broken Arrow. Braden Webb went the distance on the mound in the championship game, giving up one run on four hits with four strikeouts.

3. (3) Sharyland (Mission, Texas), 31-1
The Rattlers advanced to the third round of the Class 5A state playoffs with a 10-7, 12-1 sweep of McAllen. Pancho Martinez got the win in the latter game, giving up one run on five hits with five strikeouts.

4. (4) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 24-2
The Monarchs got back on track with a pair of Trinity League wins over JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano). Aaron Cross pitched a shuout in a 2-0 win on Thursday, giving up three hits while striking out three. In a 6-5 win over JSerra on Tuesday, Jacob Erickson got the win in relief (6-0). The Monarchs await their first-round matchup for the Southern Section Division I playoffs.

5. (5) Venice (Fla.), 27-3
The Indians knocked off rival Sarasota 3-0 in the second round of the Class 7A playoffs and then blanked Wiregrass Ranch, a team that had defeated Steinbrenner in the previous round, 6-0. The two shutouts give Venice 18 on the season. Tyson Albert pitched the first four innings against Wiregrass Ranch, striking out seven without giving up a hit.

6. (6) The Woodlands (Texas), 30-3
Originally scheduled to play a best-of-three series with Stony Point, The Woodlands needed to win only one game after rain suspended play in the first game and forced the cancellation of the remainder of the series. Ryan Burnett struck out 11 batters in a 2-1 victory in a game that began on Friday and ended on Saturday due to heavy rains.



7. (9) Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.), 27-2
The Tigers advanced to the Class 5A semifinals with an 11-1 win over Dunedin and a 5-4 victory over Auburndale. Evan Cannan, Leland Saile and Vincent Miniet all hit home runs against Dunedin. Jesuit will play Ponte Vedra in the semifinals on May 22.

8. (10) Magnolia Heights (Senatobia, Miss.), 34-0
Magnolia Heights completed an undefeated season at 34-0 with a sweep of Washington (Greenville) 8-6 and 6-1 in the MAIS AAA II championship series. David Herrington had a home run in the 8-6 win.

9. (12) Gainesville (Ga.), 27-3
The Red Elephants swept Creekview 10-0 and 3-2 to advance to the third round of the Georgia AAAA playoffs.

10. (13) Loganville (Ga.), 26-4
Loganville defeated Riverwood (Atlanta) 10-0 and 12-2 with Clint Frazier hitting a home run in each game, his 15th and 16th of the season.

11. (14) Lexington (S.C.), 26-4
The Wildcats defeated South Aiken twice, 4-1 and 2-1, to advance to the Class 4A state finals against Blythewood.

12. (15) United (Laredo, Texas), 32-1-1
United advanced to the third round of the Class 5A playoffs with a 10-2 and 13-2 series sweep of Weslaco.



13. (7) Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village, Colo.), 19-2
Cherry Creek dropped its second game of the season, falling 6-1 to Regis Jesuit (Aurora) on Tuesday. The Bruins rebounded to beat Castle View (Castle Rock) 6-3 and Ralston Valley (Arvada) 13-0. Griffin Jax and Derik Beauprez both homered against Ralston Valley.

14. (17) Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.), 23-4
The Wolverines dropped St. Francis (La Canada) twice in league play, winning 6-1 and 14-0. Will open postseason play this week.

15. (19) Desert Mountain (Scottsdale, Ariz.), 30-4
The Wolves advanced to the Division I state final with a 5-4 win over Tucson Magnet School. Will play Chaparral for the championship.

16. (20) Carroll (Southlake, Texas), 31-4-1
The Dragons won twice to advance to the third round of the Class 5A playoffs. Carroll defeated San Angelo Central 6-4 and 2-1. Will play Midland next.

17. (18) Barbers Hill (Mt. Belvieu, Texas), 33-3
Barbers Hill suffered a loss, but still managed to get past Brenham 6-1, 6-8, 9-2 to advance to the third round of the Class 4A state playoffs.

18. (23) Lincoln-Way North (Frankfort, Ill.), 30-1-2
Lincoln-Way North played six times last week, defeating Thornridge 19-0, Andrew 3-0 and 4-3 and Montini 7-0 and 7-2.



19. (25) Mason (Ohio), 22-0
The Comets stayed undefeated with a pair of wins last week, defeating Fairfield 7-0 and Middletown 12-1.

20. (26) Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati), 21-2-1
The Crusaders defeated McNicholas 5-1 and Bacon 10-0 and tied LaSalle 5-5 last week.

21. (8) American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.), 25-3
The defending champions saw their season come to an abrupt end with a 3-2 loss to Estero in the Class 5A state quarterfinals. C.J. Chatham had a home run in the seventh inning, but the Patriots managed only two other hits through the first six frames.

22. (28) East Coweta (Sharpsburg, Ga.), 28-3
East Coweta needed three games to get past Marietta, but won 3-2, 6-11, 3-2 to advance to a matchup with Milton.

23. (30) Deer Park (Texas), 28-4-1
The Deer advanced to the third round with a series win over Fort Bend Kempner (Sugar Land) 5-0, 7-3, 0-3.

24. (32) Tomball (Texas), 28-3
The Cougars won a rain-shortened series against Friendswood with a 4-3 victory.

25. (33) Spanish Fort (Ala.), 36-7
The Toros took two of three from Russell County to reach the Class 5A state finals. After losing the first game 5-0, Spanish Fort won the next two 8-0 and 4-3.



The Next 25

26. (34) Frenship (Wolfforth, Texas), 33-4
Frenship captured a pair of second round games, topping Chapin (El Paso) 3-0 and 8-2.

27. (35) Puyallup (Wash.), 22-2
Finished off the regular season with three more wins over Olympia, 7-1, South Kitsap (Port Orchard), 9-3, and Skyview (Vancouver), 10-1.

28. (36) Jupiter (Fla.), 23-4
Jupiter advanced to the Class 8A semifinals with a 9-0 win over Seminole Ridge (Loxahatchee) and a 8-1 win over Flanagan (Pembroke Pines).

29. (29) Coronado (Henderson, Nev.), 32-3
After losing its opener in the Sunrise Region playoffs to Rancho (Las Vegas) 7-3, Coronado won six games in a row to win the region, including a 3-2, 6-4 series win over Liberty (Henderson) in the championship game.

30. (31) Granada (Livermore, Calif.), 21-1
Granada lost its first game of the season to California (San Ramon) 5-0, but rebounded to defeat De La Salle (Concord) 8-4.



31. (27) Tullahoma (Tenn.), 32-6
Tullahoma claimed two of three games against Columbia, winning 7-3 and 7-6 before losing in the last game 4-1.

32. (37) Richmond (Rockingham, N.C.), 24-1
The Raiders won the SEC tournament with a 2-0 win over Scotland. Opened the first round of the class 4A playoffs with a 9-0 win over Harnett Central (Angier).

33. (38) Madison (Vienna, Va.), 19-1
Won twice last week by shutout, beating McLean 2-0 and Jefferson 5-0.

34. (NR) Great Bridge (Chesapeake, Va.), 19-1
Connor Jones upped his record to 8-0 with a 4-0 shutout over Grassfield, but Nansemond River ended Great Bridge's undefeated season with a 4-1 victory.

35. (39) Pearland (Texas), 31-5
Advanced to the third round with a sweep of Clear Falls, 5-2 and 11-1.

36. (21) Fountain Valley (Calif.), 23-4
The Barons concluded the season with two losses, falling to Marina (Huntington Beach) 8-5 and 8-3.



37. (NR) Bellarmine (San Jose, Calif.), 24-6
Winner of the West Catholic Athletic League tournament, the Bells defeated both St. Francis (Mountain View) and Serra (San Mateo) last week.

38. (24) St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.), 25-4
The Lancers lost in the semifinals of the West Catholic Athletic League playoffs, falling to Bellarmine 3-0. St. Francis opened the tournament with a 4-1 win over Archbishop Riordan. Will take on Monta Vista (Cupertino) in the first round of the Central Coast Section playoffs.

39. (42) Flora (Columbia, S.C.), 22-5
Won a pair of playoff games by defeating Eastside 6-3 and Travelers Rest 6-5 in the Class 3A Upper State state playoffs.

40. (44) St. Joseph Regional (Montvale, N.J.), 18-0
Now ranked No. 1 in New Jersey by NJ.com, St. Joseph Regional played only one game last week, defeating Pascack Valley 2-1.

41. (45) Mosley (Lynn Haven, Fla.), 27-3
Dolphins moved into the Class 6A semifnials with a 3-0 win over Crestview and a 10-6 win over Middleburg.

42. (46) Howell (St. Charles, Mo.), 27-5
Played only one game last week, defeating Fort Zumwalt North 6-0.



43. (43) Floyd Central (Floyds Knobs, Ind.), 23-1
Lost its first game of the season to Jeffersonville, 1-0.

44. (47) Harrison Central (Gulfport, Miss.), 26-3
The Red Rebels won their series with Petal in three games, 4-3, 3-4 and 8-7. Also defeated George County in two games, 2-1 and 2-1.

45. (49) Rancho Bernardo (San Diego), 24-4
Rancho Bernardo took a pair from Poway, winning 6-2 and 3-0. Will finish season this week against Westview (San Diego) and Poway again.

46. (50) Orange Lutheran (Calif.), 19-7
Finished up Trinity League play with a sweep of St. John Bosco (Bellflower), 8-1 and 3-2.

47. (NR) Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 22-5-1
The Mavericks are on pace to win yet another state championship. Advanced to the semifinals of the class 6A state playoffs.

48. (NR) Lake Brantley (Altamonte Springs, Fla.), 25-5
Advanced to the Class 8A semifinals and will face Jupiter this week.

49. (NR) King (Tampa, Fla.), 25-3
Defeated Mitchell 4-1 and will face Mosley in the Class 6A state semifinals.



50. (NR) Cypress Ranch (Houston), 29-4
Defeated Bellaire 9-2 to reach the third round of the Texas 5A state playoffs.

Dropped Out: No. 11 Barbe (Lake Charles, La.), No. 16 Steinbrenner (Lutz, Fla.), No. 22 Melbourne (Fla.), No. 40 Klein (Texas), No. 41 Tucson High Magnet School (Ariz.), No. 48 Gloucester Catholic (N.J.).