MaxPreps High School Top 25 boys baseball national rankings

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Calvary Christian's march toward a second straight unbeaten season begins this week as the Warriors compete in their district tournament before moving on to the Florida Class 4A postseason tournament.

One of three undefeated teams at the top of this week's Xcellent 25 National High School Baseball Rankings, Calvary Christian is 55-0 over the past two seasons and looking to become the first Florida team to win more than 60 games in a row. The Warriors won the Class 4A state tournament last year and are the clear favorite to win it again.

Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) is No. 2 for the second straight week and concludes its regular season with a single game this week. The Eagles do not participate in postseason play in Florida.

Argyle, the top Class 4A team in Texas, moves up to the No. 3 spot after previous No. 3 Lake Travis (Austin, Texas) lost a district contest last week. Argyle begins bi-district play this week.



Only one new team joined the Xcellent 25 rankings this week as La Cueva (Albuquerque, N.M.) comes in at No. 25 after winning 22 games in a row.

1. (Last week 1) Calvary Christian (Clearwater, Fla.), 25-0
The Warriors finished the regular season undefeated for the second straight year, but not without a little drama. St. Petersburg outhit Calvary Christian 8-4 in the finale, but the Warriors scored a run in the bottom of the sixth to secure the 2-1 win. The Warriors also defeated Jesuit (Tampa Bay) 8-1 earlier in the week. Calvary Christian begins district play this week before heading into the Class 4A state playoffs.

2. (2) Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), 25-0
The Eagles needed eight innings to defeat IMG Academy 1-0 on Tuesday and then routed Seven Rivers Christian (Lecanto) 10-4 on Thursday. Montverde Academy has added Central Pointe Christian Academy to its schedule and is expected to conclude its season today against the White Tigers.

3. (4) Argyle (Texas), 27-0
The Eagles finished the regular season with their sixth straight 10-run win by beating Decatur 11-1 and Gainesville 12-2. Dillon Carter had a double and a triple against Decatur and Parker Abrego struck out 10 against Gainesville. Argyle begins bi-district play with a single game against Wilmer-Hutchins on Thursday.

4. (5) Blessed Trinity (Roswell, Ga.), 30-2
The Titans swept Stephens County (Toccoa) in the first round of the Class AAAA playoffs, winning 5-2 and 11-0. They play Troup County (LaGrange) in the second round. Clark Dearman picked up his 10th win of the season during the series win over Stephens County while Sebastian Szot threw a one-hitter in the other win.

5. (6) Cleburne (Texas), 29-1-2
The Yellowjackets enter bi-district play with a 26-game winning streak after beating Granbury 7-3 and Joshua 4-3 last week. Marcus Guereca hit a home run against Granbury, while Willie Rangel fanned nine against Joshua. Cleburne begins bi-district play with a three-game series against Mansfield Lake Ridge.



6. (7) Zachary (La.), 34-2
The Broncos advanced to the third round of the Class 5A state playoffs with an 11-4 win over Chalmette in the opener and a 12-2, 13-2 sweep of Central Lafourche. River Town had a home run and a double against Chalmette and in the opener against Central Lafourche. Joey Blanchard also had two runs against Central LaFourche as Zachary hit five home runs total. Collier Cranford had a home run and five RBIs in the second game of the series.

7. (3) Lake Travis (Austin, Texas), 28-2
After winning its first 25 games of the season, Lake Travis has lost two of its last five. The Cavaliers fell to Vandegrift 5-2, but they concluded the regular season with a 9-8 win over Dripping Springs. Brett Baty had a home run in the win. Lake Travis opens bi-district play Wednesday with a single game against MacArthur (San Antonio).

8. (11) Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.), 26-1
The Crusaders were all over the map last week, beating Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.) 11-0, Battlefield (Haymarket, Va.) 4-2 and Cape Henlopen (Lewes, Del.) 7-4.

9. (12) Mill Creek (Hoschton, Ga.), 28-4
The Hawks advanced past the first round of the Class AAAAAAA playoffs with a 5-0, 7-1 sweep of North Forsyth. They take on South Gwinnett in the second round.

10. (13) John Curtis Christian (River Ridge, La.), 26-4
The Patriots had a bye in the first round of the Division I playoffs and play the winner of Evangel Christian Academy and Byrd in the second round.

11. (15) McAllen (Texas), 25-1-1
The Bulldogs moved into the No. 1 spot in the Class 6A state coaches association rankings last week. They had only one game, beating Mission 9-3. Aaron Nixon had four hits in the win. McAllen begins bi-district play Thursday against United (Laredo).



12. (16) O'Fallon (Ill.), 22-1-1
The Panthers won twice last week, including a 10-0 win over Belleville West. Quinn Lowery had two doubles and Brayden Arnold had a home run. O'Fallon also topped Alton 3-1.

13. (17) Flanagan (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), 21-1
The Falcons made it nine wins in a row with a 12-3 win over Park Vista and a 2-0 win over Taravella. Frank Gonzalez had the win with 10 strikeouts in the latter game.

14. (18) St. Xavier (Louisville, Ky.), 17-0
The Tigers picked up two wins over Indiana teams, beating Crown Point 6-5 and Noblesville 8-3. They also defeated Male (Louisville) 5-3 to stay undefeated on the season. A showdown with defending state champion Pleasure Ridge Park looms on Wednesday.

15. (20) Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.), 20-3
The Wolverines continue to romp in league play, taking three from St. Francis (La Canada) by scores of 15-0, 22-8 and 4-1. They face Loyola (Los Angeles) in a three-game set this week.

16. (21) Neuqua Valley (Naperville, Ill.), 18-0
The Wildcats have emerged as the top team in Illinois with a fantastic start to the season. Three more wins came last week as they beat Lockport 8-5, Waubonsie Valley (Aurora) 14-1 and Naperville North (Naperville) 10-0.

17. (22) Staley (Kansas City, Mo.), 25-1
Staley might be the top team in Missouri after five more wins last week. They beat William Chrisman 11-0, For Osage 6-3, Ruskin 28-0, ickman 2-1 and Francis Howell 14-4. They ran their win streak to 22 straight games.



18. (8) Vianney (Kirkwood, Mo.), 26-2
Playing five more games in six days, the Griffins went 4-1 with a 7-6 loss to St. Louis University – a team it had defeated the week before. Vianney also beat Howell Central 9-7, DeSmet Jesuit 4-1, Lutheran South 7-6 and Gibault Catholic 16-0.

19. (19) Har-Ber (Springdale, Ark.), 25-4
The Wildcats went 3-1 during the week, splitting a pair with Van Buren and beating Northside 4-1 and Germantown 10-0. Har-Ber lost to Van Vuren 8-2 on Monday but came back to win on Tuesday 8-5. Blake Adams had a home run over Germantown.

20. (23) Coppell (Texas), 28-4-1
The Cowboys finished district play undefeated at 14-0 with two wins over Richardson, 9-3 and 3-0. Coppell played a nonleague game against Frisco Wakeland and lost 10-5. They take on Garland Naaman Forest in a three-game series in bi-district play.

21. (25) Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), 17-0
The Golden Eagles survived one of their toughest tests last week, beating Heritage (Littleton) 7-6 in eight innings. Mountain Vista also beat Chaparral (Parker) 8-5. Cooper Jamieson and John Zakhem both homered against Chaparral.

22. (9) Valley Christian (San Jose, Calif.), 21-3-1
League play is proving much more difficult than the rest of the schedule as the Warriors are undefeated at 12-0-1 outside of league play and 9-3 in the West Catholic Athletic League. The Warriors dropped a 2-1 decision to Saint Francis (Mountain View), but defeated Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory (San Francisco) 7-6 in nine innings. Valley Christian concludes league play this week against Bellarmine College Prep (San Jose.)

23. (10) Huntington Beach (Huntington Beach, Calif.), 22-4
The Oilers split their two games with Fountain Valley last week, losing a blowout 20-4 early in the week before taking the second game 6-2. Justin Brodt had two home runs in the second game.



24. (14) American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.), 21-3
Hialeah made the most of fits five hits to beat American Heritage 5-3 last week. Cory Acton had a home run for the Patriots. American Heritage concluded the regular season with a 6-4 win over Canterbury with Gavin Casas hitting a home run and a double.

25. (NR) La Cueva (Albuquerque, N.M.), 22-2
The Bears have won 22 straight since losing their first two games of the season. They will open the defense of their Class 6A state championship this week.

Dropped out: No. 24 Saline (Mich.)