MaxPreps Top 25 high school baseball rankings

It doesn't happen often when it comes to national baseball rankings, but for the most part the Xcellent 25 was status quo from last week.

The top eight teams in the rankings all won, or didn't play, and five other teams have yet to start their season. Additionally, only four teams in the top 25 lost last week, with only two of those, Roberson and Grayson, exiting the rankings. Loganville and Lexington, each of which lost one game last week, remain in the rankings this week.

The fastest riser of the week is Tomball, which rose from No. 18 to No. 10 after going undefeated at the New Caney Tournament. Tomball, ranked No. 1 in Class 4A in Texas, has run off 13 straight wins to start the season.

Two newcomers include Owasso and Buchanan. Both squads are regulars in the Xcellent 25. Owasso starts the season 6-0, but played Jenks in an Oklahoma showdown between the top two teams on Monday. Buchanan, meanwhile, is 9-0-1 with nine straight wins.



The most intriguing matchup of the week pits Grayson, which dropped out of this week's rankings following a loss to Crisp County, and Loganville. Grayson is the home of the MaxPreps No. 2 ranked senior Austin Meadows while Loganville is the home of the No.1 prospect Clint Frazier. The town of Loganville figures to be awash in scouts today when the two teams square off.

MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Baseball Rankings

1. (1 last week) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego), 2-0
The Dons opened the season with a pair of wins at the Hilltop Lolita's Tournament, defeating La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 7-3 and Bonita Vista (Chula Vista) 7-0. Saturday's game with Poway was rained out. Stephen Gonsalves got the win against La Costa Canyon, giving up no runs on one hit with four strikeouts and a walk through five innings. Brady Aiken was equally as effective against Bonita Vista, going five innings and giving up no runs on two hits with eight strikeouts and a walk. The Dons are set to play El Capitan today in tournament play.

2. (2) Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.), 10-0
IMG Academy (Bradenton) played Jesuit tough last week, falling to the Tigers 3-1. In a showdown between two of the top pitchers in Florida, Spencer Trayner went six innings to get the win for Jesuit while Brett Hanewich took the loss. Trayner gave up one run on seven hits with 12 strikeouts and no walks. Hanewich gave up just four hits, but walked five and struck out three. The Tigers routed East Lake (Tarpon Springs) 12-2 on Thursday with Trayner, Vincent Miniet and Leland Saile all getting three hits apiece. Daniel Portales had a triple among his two hits and drove in four runs. The Tigers host Providence in a non-district game this week. The Stallions are the defending Class 3A state champions.

3. (3) Pensacola Catholic (Fla.), 8-0
The Crusaders racked up a pair of easy wins over the weekend, dropping Marianna 11-0 in district play and crossing the border to defeat Davidson (Mobile, Ala.) 18-1. Sophomore Evans Bozeman cracked a pair of home runs to drive in four runs against Marianna. Avery Geyer and James McGhee each added a home run of their own. Geyer went the distance on the mound, striking out 10 in five innings. Gavin Wehby had the lone home run in the win over Davidson. Cooper Jones went three innings for the win, striking out four.

4. (4) The Woodlands (Texas), 13-0
The Highlanders captured a pair of wins last week, beating Furr (Houston) 13-2 and Cypress Lakes (Katy) 4-0 in non-district play. Sophomore Chris Andritsos struck out nine batters and had an RBI double for The Woodlands against Furr while Brandon Manger was 3-for-5 with a double and four RBI and Hillin Warren went 4-for-4 with two doubles. Carter Hope had another impressive outing in the win over Cypress Lakes, giving up just three hits and no runs in six innings with four strikeouts. The Highlanders open District 14-5A play today at home against Lufkin.



5. (5) Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village, Colo.), 0-0
Snow has prevented some early-season games from being played in Colorado. Cherry Creek will play Dakota Ridge on Saturday — a team that handed Cherry Creek one of its three losses last season.

6. (6) Oak Grove (Hattiesburg, Miss.), 8-0
Facing its toughest tests of the season thus far, Oak Grove edged Petal 5-4 on Tuesday and beat Petal again on Friday 4-0. Oak Grove needed 10 innings to win the first outing. Taylor Braley went eight innings and gave up four runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts. Kirk McCarty got the win, throwing the final two frames. McCarty then went all seven innings on Friday, giving up no runs on two hits with 11 strikeouts and no walks.

7. (7) Elk Grove (Calif.), 3-0
The Thundering Herd picked up an impressive 4-0 win over defending Central Coast Section Division I champion Valley Christian on Saturday. David Smith got the win for Elk Grove while Nick Madrigal had two hits and two RBI. Earlier in the week, Elk Grove rallied from a 1-0 deficit with four runs in the sixth to defeat Rodriguez 4-2.

8. (8) Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.), 6-0
Conor Cuse gave up four hits and struck out eight in six innings to lift the Wolverines to an 11-0 win over Chaminade (West Hills) in the finals of the Easton Tournament on Tuesday. Three pitchers combined to shut out Camarillo 3-0 on Thursday. Hans Hansen got the win, going four innings and giving up two hits with four strikeouts. Arden Pabst had a triple to lead the offense. The Wolverines have won four of their games by shutout, including the last three in a row.

9. (18) Tomball (Texas), 13-0
The Cougars won their third-straight tournament, blasting the competition at the New Caney Tournament. Tomball won the final two games 21-6 over Westbrook and 25-3 over Caney Creek (Conroe). Tomball also defeated Little Cypress-Mauriceville (Orange) 13-3 and Deer Park 3-2. Earlier in the week, Tomball won its district opener 6-0 over Fort Bend Marshall.

10. (17) Jenks (Okla.), 4-0
The Trojans continue to produce the runs, downing Enid 14-1 and 12-0 on consecutive days last week. Jenks takes on Owasso, which is undefeated at 6-0, on Monday.



11. (19) St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.), 8-0
The Lancers head into West Catholic Athletic League play with three victories from last week. Michael Strem threw a one-hitter to defeat Aptos 4-2 on Tuesday. The Lancers then beat Menlo 12-6 on Friday before an 8-0 win over Westmont (Campbell) on Saturday. Junior Tyler Deason went five innings to get the win over Westmont.

12. (10) Lake Braddock (Burke, Va.), 0-0
Season opens March 12 against St. John's in the preseason tournament.

13. (11) Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), 0-0
Season opens March 14 at Bonanza (Las Vegas).

14. (12) Farragut (Knoxville, Tenn.), 0-0
Season begins March 11 at Lenoir City.

15. (13) Woodford County (Versailles, Ky.), 0-0
Season begins March 12 at Collins (Shelbyville).

16. (14) Gloucester Catholic (Gloucester City, N.J.), 0-0
Season begins April 1 vs. Deptford.



17. (20) Venice (Fla.), 7-1
The Indians posted their fourth- and fifth-straight shutouts of the season in blanking Braden River (Bradenton) 3-0 on Tuesday and Charlotte (Punta Gorda) 8-0 on Friday. Tyler Shambora and Cooper Hammond combined for the three-hitter against Charlotte that included 14 strikeouts.

18. (21) American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.), 9-1
The Patriots have won nine straight since losing their opener. Last week they defeated Hialeah 7-0, Dillard (Fort Lauderdale) 15-0 and American (Hialeah) 8-1. Danny Zardon homered against Hialeah. Zack Collins hit a home run against American.

19. (22) Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 9-0
The Mavericks had a pair of easy wins last week, shutting out Goleman (Miami) 10-0 and Fort Lauderdale 11-0. Andres Nunez picked up his third win of the season while pitching five innings of no-hit ball against Fort Lauderdale.

20. (23) Calallen (Corpus Christi, Texas), 16-1
The Wildcats won their own tournament over the weekend, defeating Alice 12-1 on Saturday. During the week, Calallen dropped Calhoun (Port Lavaca) 12-2 in district play and Ray (Corpus Christi) 5-4, Midland Lee (Midland) 11-0, Rio Grande City 9-1 and Westlake (Austin) 7-2 in tournament play. Preston Dorsey is off to a strong start for the Wildcats, batting .400 with 13 RBI, 3 doubles and 2 triples.

21. (NR) Owasso (Okla.), 6-0
The Rams are off to their usual strong start. Wins include a 10-0, 14-2 sweep of Thomas Edison, a 10-0, 9-2 sweep of Bixby, an 8-4 win over Skiatook and a 5-3 win over Shiloh (Ark.). Owasso plays Jenks on Monday in a showdown between the top two teams in Oklahoma.

22. (NR) Buchanan (Clovis, Calif.), 9-0-1
The Bears tied their season opener against Hoover (Fresno) at the Coca Cola Classic, but have won nine straight, including a 2-0, 8-3 sweep of defending Central Section champion Bullard (Fresno) last week.



23. (9) Lexington (S.C.), 4-1
The Wildcats went 2-1 at the IP Classic, defeating Mauldin 7-4 and Wando 4-1 while losing to Conway 4-1. Earlier in the week, Lexington topped Irmo 10-0. On Sunday, Lexington edged St. James 7-2.

24. (16) Loganville (Ga.), 5-1
Johns Creek held Clint Frazier without an extra-base hit to defeat Loganville 10-3. The Red Devils bounced back on Friday, however, whipping Collins Hill (Suwanee) 15-1.

25. (25) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 1-1
The Monarchs were off last week and open Trinity League play today at home against Servite (Anaheim).

Dropped out: No. 15 Roberson (Asheville, N.C.), No. 24 Grayson (Ga.)