MaxPreps Southern California Top 25 high school baseball rankings

It's the penultimate Southern California Baseball Rankings, leaving little room for movement next week. But, we still have uncertainty at the top. Harvard-Westlake is the top team around, but if it falters at Dodger Stadium in the Southern Section Division 1 final, we may have reason to move Mater Dei back in to the top spot.

Harvard-Westlake will face Marina, which has seen a meteoric rise in the rankings - and deservedly so.

San Diego Section teams have seen lots of parity (just like the regular season) and the double-elimination format makes ranking those teams a little tougher. But we welcome Grossmont back.

The next rankings will be the final ones - so a little more time for some teams to move around.

Check out the MaxPreps Computer Rankings for California and also be sure to visit the MaxPreps California baseball playoff brackets.

MaxPreps Southern California Baseball Rankings

1. (2 last week) Harvard-Westlake (Studio City), 27-4
Freeman Ranking: 1 state, 2 national
Division: Southern Section 1

The Wolverines are now the best team in all Southern California after they advanced to the CIFSS Division 1 final at Dodger Stadium. They beat Los Alamitos 3-2 to earn the title-game trip and will face Marina in the biggest game of the year. They eliminated El Dorado early last week, 12-1, and then shut out Santa Margarita 5-0 last Thursday. The deal was that the Wolverines had to make an impressive run in the playoffs to unseat Mater Dei as the top team, and they have. It's enough to overcome a head-to-head loss to Mater Dei.

2. (1) Mater Dei (Santa Ana), 24-3*
Freeman Ranking: 2 state, 3 national
Division: Southern Section 1

Season over. Lost to Huntington Beach in CIFSS opening round.

3. (3) Oaks Christian (Westlake Village), 28-3-1
Freeman Ranking: 14 state, 42 national
Division: Southern Section 4

The Lions continued their blitz through the D-4 bracket by shutting out San Dimas 3-0 to advance to the final. Oaks Christian outhit San Dimas 9-4, and will face El Rancho in the final, Saturday at UC Riverside. They eliminated Savanna last week, 5-3, and then pummeled Northview 14-4 in the quarterfinals. The Lions haven't lost since April 5, a span of 16 games.

4. (4) Serra (Gardena), 27-5
Freeman Ranking: 23 state, 113 national
Division: Southern Section 3

The Cavaliers are in the Division 3 final, set for Friday at 2 p.m. at Dodger Stadium, thanks to a prolific offense during the postseason. They beat Diamond Bar Tuesday in the semifinals, 10-2, and that came on the heels of a 6-2 win over Garden Grove in the quarterfinals. Before that, they won a slugfest with Knight (Palmdale), taking a 23-14 triumph in a game they led 18-2 at one point. Serra will battle Mira Costa in the final.

5. (13) Temecula Valley (Temecula), 23-5
Freeman Ranking: 10 state, 36 national
Division: Southern Section 2

The Golden Bears are Dodger Stadium-bound after eliminating Los Osos Tuesday in the semifinals. In the 3-2 victory, they broke a tie in the final inning for the triumph. A.J. Sawyer knocked in two runs and David Maldonado had two hits. Next up is the final, against Cypress. They blasted Arroyo Grande 9-2 and Aliso Niguel 9-0 to reach the semis.

6. (18) Cypress, 25-8
Freeman Ranking: 19 state, 59 national
Division: Southern Section 2

The Centurions are also set to play at Dodger Stadium after they broke a 1-all tie against Vista Murrieta with a run in the seventh inning. That 2-1 victory in the semifinals will get them to a finals matchup with Temecula Valley. Cypress eliminated Dos Pueblos 10-1 and Oxnard 9-0 before the Vista Murrieta contest.

7. (24) Marina (Huntington Beach), 22-8
Freeman Ranking: 5 state, 14 national
Division: Southern Section 1

We owe the Vikings a tip of the cap and the admission that we were wrong about them. They always had a high number in the computer rankings - now the schedule is in parallel with it. Marina is headed to Dodger Stadium to face Harvard-Westlake after a thrilling 6-5 win over Loyola that featured a two-run single from Max Willingham in the sixth inning. Marina beat Thousand Oaks 11-4, then Agoura 3-1 in the quarterfinals before dispatching Loyola.

8. (22) Clovis North (Fresno), 27-6*
Freeman Ranking: 8 state, 25 national
Division: Central Section I

The Broncos are the undisputed kings of the entire Central Section, taking the title with a 13-2 demolition of Stockdale. It's even more impressive because Stockdale had eliminated Buchanan in the previous round. It turns out the biggest challenge was the semifinal, where Clovis North escaped against Clovis with a 6-5 triumph.

9. (5) Rancho Bernardo (San Diego), 28-5
Freeman Ranking: 7 state, 21 national
Division: San Diego Section Open

The Broncos beat Rancho Buena Vista, 2-0,  to open the SDS Open Division Playoffs. Then they beat Vista, 2-1. Then came the semifinals, and RBV was back, meaning Rancho Buena Vista had to beat the Broncos twice to advance. They earned the first of those two, 6-4, so Thursday will be a winner-take-all game to advance to the finals.

10. (6) Fountain Valley, 24-5*
Freeman Ranking: 6 state, 15 national
Division: Southern Section 1

The Barons lost to Santa Margarita in the second round of the playoffs, falling 3-2 in eight innings. It was a disappointing end to the season, as they lost three of their last four.

11. (11) Loyola (Los Angeles), 22-11*
Freeman Ranking: 21 state, 108 national
Division: Southern Section 1

The Cubs came oh-so-close to reaching Dodger Stadium, but lost 6-5 to Marina in the semifinals. They held a late lead but it wasn't meant to be. Loyola scored all five of its runs in the second inning.

12. (NR) Los Alamitos, 19-11*
Freeman Ranking: 17 state, 48 national
Division: Southern Section 1

The Griffins are similar to Marina in that they got computer love this season but not much praise in the rankings. But a trip to the D-1 semifinals and a tight game against Harvard-Westlake have sealed the deal. Los Al beat West Ranch (6-5), Chaminade (4-3) and El Toro (4-1) to get to the semis, then fell 3-2 to the Wolverines. They own wins over Marina and Fountain Valley this season as well.

13. (7) El Toro (Lake Forest), 23-7*
Freeman Ranking: 13 state, 41 national
Division: Southern Section 1

The Chargers beat Moorpark 8-0 in the second round but ran out of steam against Los Alamitos, losing 4-1 in the quarterfinals.

14. (9) Orange Lutheran (Orange), 19-8*
Freeman Ranking: 18 state, 52 national
Division: Southern Section 1

Season over. The Lancers lost to Chaminade in the opening round.

15. (8) Redlands East Valley, 23-5-1*
Freeman Ranking: 97 state, 706 national
Division: Southern Section 2

The Wildcats lost 8-4 to Vista Murrieta in the second round, ending their successful season.

16. (12) Agoura, 21-10*
Freeman Ranking: 38 state, 201 national
Division: Southern Section 1

The Chargers beat Trabuco Hills 9-4 last week, then fell victim to the Marina juggernaut, losing 3-1. Albee Weiss and Tyler Cohen each hit homers in the second-round win over Trabuco Hills. Cohen went 3-for-3 with a double in the Marina game, which was a quarterfinal.

17. (16) Granite Hills (El Cajon), 24-9
Freeman Ranking: 12 state, 40 national
Division: San Diego Section Open

The Eagles have a somewhat similar situation to Rancho Bernardo's. They whacked Torrey Pines 9-2 to open the playoffs, then beat Helix 6-0. But La Costa Canyon came from the losers' end and beat them 10-1, setting up Thursday's winner-moves-on contest.

18. (10) Quartz Hill, 22-7*
Freeman Ranking: 137 state, 1,035 national
Division: Southern Section 3

The Rebels committed four errors and lost to Mira Costa last week in the second round. Tyler Pittmon and Ty Boyles each rapped a pair of hits, but it wasn't enough to advance.

19. (15) Canyon (Anaheim), 22-6*
Freeman Ranking: 22 state, 109 national
Division: Southern Section 1

Season over. The Comanches lost to Thousand Oaks in the opening round.

20. (14) Lakewood, 23-9*
Freeman Ranking: 49 state, 265 national
Division: Southern Section 1

The Lancers lost 6-3 to Loyola in the second round last week. Brendan Davis had two of Lakewood's four hits in the game.

21. (NR) Grossmont (El Cajon), 25-8
Freeman Ranking: 11 state, 37 national
Division: San Diego Section I

The Foothillers are in the SDS Division I final after blitzing through their part of the bracket. They beat Patrick Henry 2-0 to start things off, then won 10-3 over Valhalla before beating them 8-5 to move to the final, which will be against Carlsbad or Mira Mesa Friday at the University of San Diego.

22. (25) Carlsbad, 25-7
Freeman Ranking: 16 state, 45 national
Division: San Diego Section I

The Lancers are still alive in he D-I bracket as the top seed, and will have a rematch with Mira Mesa tonight for the right to go to the finals. Carlsbad lost 5-4 in eight innings to Mira Mesa but has the benefit of coming from the winners' bracket, so Mira Mesa has to accomplish the feat twice. Carlsbad blanked Mira Mesa 6-0 to open the postseason and then beat Montgomery 1-0.

23. (17) Bonita (La Verne), 25-4-1*
Freeman Ranking: 45 state, 240 national
Division: Southern Section 3

Season over. The Bearcats lost to Cathedral 3-1 in the opening round

24. (21) Buchanan (Clovis), 25-5-1*
Freeman Ranking: 33 state, 153 national
Division: Central Section I

Stockdale shocked the Bears in the Central Section Division I semifinals, taking a 3-2 decision in eight innings. Buchanan outhit Stockdale, 8-7, but its season came to an end earlier than expected.

25. (23) San Clemente, 23-10*
Freeman Ranking: 39 state, 203 national
Division: Southern Section 2

The Tritons saw their season end in a 4-3 setback to South Hills in eight innings. Jake Terkoski homered in the loss.