MaxPreps Top 25 National High School Baseball Rankings

Video: Top 5 Buzzer-Beaters of the Year // Winter 2017-18
Rewind to the best game-winners from the winter.

As expected, the SoCal Boras Classic had a big impact on this week's Xcellent 25 National High School Baseball rankings, but it left more questions than answers.

JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.), which had five losses entering the Boras Classic, won the event by defeating La Mirada in the championship game. Pre-tournament favorites like Huntington Beach and Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) both lost in the first round, while National High School Invitational champion Orange Lutheran lost in the second round and finished seventh.

JSerra Catholic did not enter this week's rankings despite the tournament win while Notre Dame fell out of the rankings after reaching No. 3 last week. Huntington Beach stays in the rankings because it previously had two wins over JSerra Catholic. Orange Lutheran also stays in despite a 2-2 finish due to its NHSI championship.

Four new teams entered the rankings, three from east of the Mississippi. O'Fallon (Ill.) is the top ranked team in the St. Louis area and enters at No. 16 while Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.), which finished No. 3 in last year's Xcellent 25 rankings, joins the 2018 rankings at No. 17. Bishop England (Charleston, S.C.) is undefeated and comes in at No. 25 while McAllen (Texas) is ranked No. 3 in Class 6A in Texas.



1. (Last week 1) Lake Travis (Austin, Texas), 21-0
The Cavaliers are over halfway through district play and have barely been challenged in building a 10-0 district mark. Over the past seven games, Lake Travis has four shutouts and four games won by the 10-run rule, including a 12-2 win over Lehman and a 13-3 win over Leander last week. Brett Baty and Austin Plante each had two home runs against Lehman with Plante adding a double. Baty also homered against Leander. Lake Travis faces its toughest district challenge at the end of the week when it faces second-place Vista Ridge.

2. (2) Calvary Christian (Clearwater, Fla.), 18-0
The Warriors won three times last week, beating Northside Christian 2-1, Largo 13-2 and Tampa Prep 12-0. Denzel Drumright had a home run against Largo, while Matheu Nelson had a double and a home run against Tampa Prep. With 48 wins in a row, Calvary Christian faces its toughest tests of the season in the next two weeks when it faces Carrollwood Day and Venice.

3. (5) Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), 20-0
The Eagles remained undefeated with an 8-0 win over Legacy and a 4-2 win over Seven Rivers Christian. Eduardo Acosta, Caleb Cali and Trevor Candelaria all hit home runs against Legacy, while Nander De Sedas went 3-for-4 with a double and a home run against Seven Rivers Christian.

4. (6) Vianney (Kirkwood, Mo.), 12-0
The Griffins won four more games, beating Chaminade 4-3, Christian Brothers 10-0, Fort Zumwalt South 9-3 and Fort Zumwalt West 6-1. Luke Mann went 3-for-3 with a double and a home run against Fort Zumwalt West. He also struck out eight against Chaminade but did not get the decision.

5. (7) Bellarmine College Prep (San Jose, Calif.), 15-2
The Bells won their second straight tournament, capturing the Cunningham Easter Classic with an 11-6 win over Damien (La Verne). Bellarmine also shut out Salinas 3-0 and Seattle Prep 6-0 in tournament play. Andres Rebollar homered against Seattle Prep and the Bells had five home runs against Damien, including two by Wes Harper who also got the pitching win.

6. (9) Argyle (Texas), 21-0
The Eagles had their closest game of the season, edging Krum 2-1 in district play before knocking off Decatur 8-2. Hayden Clearman was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on an error in the top of the seventh for the winning run against Krum. Chad Ricker struck out 11 and Alex Gonzales had two doubles in the win over Decatur.

7. (4) Blessed Trinity (Roswell, Ga.), 22-2
The Titans dropped their second game of the season in a spring break tournament in Tampa Bay, falling 5-3 to Bishop McLaughlin Catholic (Flint Hill, Fla.) to go along with an 11-1 win over Johnson Central (Ky.) and a 12-0 win over Palm Harbor University. Josh Voss hit a home run against Palm Harbor University, while Trey Baker homered against Johnson Central.

8. (15) Valley Christian (San Jose, Calif.), 16-1-1
The Warriors picked up four wins over Southern California opponents at the National Classic, beating Servite (Anaheim) 4-2, Corona 2-1, Cypress 5-1 and Mission Viejo 2-1 for the tournament championship. Sophomore Eddie Park drove in both runs and picked up the pitching win in the title game against Mission Viejo.

9. (16) Reagan (San Antonio), 22-4
The Rattlers are ranked No. 2 in the state by the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association and they won twice last week, beating MacArthur (San Antonio) 10-0 and Churchill (San Antonio) 5-1. Hilton Brown had a triple and a home run against Churchill.



10. (17) Cleburne (Texas), 21-1-2
The Yellowjackets picked up a pair of 10-run rule wins, beating Joshua 10-0 and Everman 15-5. Willie Rangel struck out 14 in the win over Joshua, while Coy Sims led a 17-hit attack against Everman with a pair of home runs.

11. (11) Calvary Christian Academy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 7-13
The Eagles defeated Sports Leadership & Management 7-3 and Gulf Coast 7-4, but reportedly had to forfeit 11 previous wins, including a victory over American Heritage. David Judge hit a home run against Gulf Coast. The Eagles have a tough outing this week against Benjamin.

12. (21) Providence School (Jacksonville, Fla.), 17-2
The Stallions won three times last week, beating Duval Charter 11-6, Interlachen 10-0 and Baldwin 14-0. A previous loss to Ravenwood (Tenn.) was actually a win. Providence School moved back to No. 1 in the Jacksonville Times Union area rankings.

13. (22) Zachary (La.), 26-2
The Broncos won three times last week, including a 10-3 win over defending Class 5A state champion Central (Baton Rouge). Zachary also defeated Live Oak 6-2 and Scotlandville 6-1. Rhett Hebert had two doubles against Central while River Town had a double and a home run against Live Oak.

14. (23) Har-Ber (Springdale, Ark.), 15-2
The Wildcats claimed a pair of wins from Bentonville, winning 9-4 and 8-2. Blake Adams struck out 10 in the first win. Adams has had double-figure strikeouts in all four of his outings this year and has 42 strikeouts in 21.2 innings pitched.

15. (8) Huntington Beach (Calif.), 16-3
The Oilers saw their 13-game win streak come to an end with a 3-2 loss to South Hills in the first round of the SoCal Boras Classic. Huntington Beach won three in a row to claim the consolation championship, beating Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 4-2, Vista Murrieta 6-5 and Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 9-0. The Oilers also have two previous wins over JSerra Catholic, the Boras Classic SoCal champion.



16. (NR) O'Fallon (Ill.), 12-0-1
The Panthers are ranked No. 1 in the St. Louis area by the Post-Dispatch — over Vianney — and they have wins over the likes of Oak Forest and Brother Rice. O'Fallon has four shutout wins and five wins of 10 runs or more.

17. (NR) Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.), 17-1
The Crusaders recently won the Southeastern Baseball Classic in South Carolina, including a 2-0 win over Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.) in the final game. Only loss of the season is to Gilman and Riverdale Baptist has a 47-2 record over the past two seasons.

18. (18) St. Laurence (Burbank, Ill.), 10-1
The Vikings dropped their first game of the season, falling to Andrew 8-5 on Saturday. St. Laurence also defeated Shaumburg 16-0 and Maine South 14-1 during the week. Matt McCormick had three doubles against Shaumburg while Gage Olszak hit a home run against Maine South.

19. (20) Mill Creek (Hoschton, Ga.), 19-4
Mill Creek had its 13-game win streak end with a 5-2 region loss to Mountain View (Lawrenceville), but the Hawks rebounded to beat Mountain View 4-3 and 3-0 to win the series. Mill Creek has a three-game series against North Gwinnett, which is ranked No. 2 in Class 7A behind Mill Creek by the Georgia Dugout Preview Magazine.

20. (24) John Curtis Christian (River Ridge, La.), 22-4
The Patriots went 3-0 last week against two of the state's top programs. They beat Brother Martin 9-5 and 6-3 in league play and then topped Jesuit 1-0 in 13 innings.

21. (25) American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.), 15-2
The Patriots recovered a previous loss to Calvary Christian Academy when they were awarded a forfeit win. American Heritage also topped Westminster Christian 9-1 and Doral Academy 5-3 last week. Cory Acton and Gavin Casas each homered against Westminster Christian.



22. (10) Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.), 10-4
Fresh off a tournament win at the National High School Invitational, the Lancers finished in seventh place at the SoCal Boras Classic. The Lancers routed defending Southern Section Division I champion El Toro (Lake Forest) 9-1 in the tournament opener, but lost to Harvard-Westlake (Studio City) 3-0 in the second round. After a 3-1 loss to Simi Valley, Orange Lutheran beat Etiwanda 9-7 for seventh. Jasiah Dixon had a home run against Etiwanda while Cole Winn hit one out against El Toro.

23. (14) Sam Houston (Lake Charles, La.), 25-4
The Broncos went 1-2 during the week, falling to New Iberia 4-3 and Lafayette 5-4. Sam Houston also defeated LaGrange 10-0. All four of Sam Houston's losses have been by one run.

24. (NR) McAllen (Texas), 20-1-1
Ranked No. 3 in Class 6A in the state coaches association poll, the Bulldogs' only loss is a 1-0 defeat to Moody (Corpus Christi). McAllen is 7-0 in district play and has posted six shutouts on the season.

25 (NR) Bishop England (Charleston, S.C.), 16-0
A Class 3A school in South Carolina, the Bishops have four wins over Class 5A teams ranked in the top 10 of the state coaches association poll including two wins over Summerville and one over T.L. Hanna.

Dropped out: No. 3 Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.); No. 12 Bolles (Jacksonville, Fla.); No. 13 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.); No. 19 San Marcos (Calif.).