The Texas Class 6A playoffs and the California regional brackets will have a big impact on next week's MaxPreps Top 25 high school baseball rankings.
Texas completes its regional playoffs this week with some key matchups where the winner will advance to the state tournament. One of those matchups occurs in Region 1 where District 4-6A co-champions Keller and Southlake Carroll meet in the regional final. The Indians and Dragons both finished 10-2 in district play, but Keller won both encounters with Southlake Carroll. Thus Keller enters this week's rankings just ahead of Southlake Carroll at Nos. 14 and 15, respectively.
The two Texas teams debut just above JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.), which won the Southern Section Division 1 championship due to an early season win by Southlake Carroll over the Lions. JSerra Catholic is the No. 1 seed for the Southern California regional playoffs, which get underway Tuesday.
JSerra Catholic won the inaugural Southern California Division 1 regional last year and is joined in this year's bracket by No. 18 Villa Park and No. 19 Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks).
Meanwhile in Northern California, Saint Francis (Mountain View), which won the Central Coast Section Division 1 championship, is the No. 2 seed in the Division 1 Northern California regionals. This is the first year that the NorCal playoffs have been held.
Other Texas 6A teams in this week's rankings include No. 8 Rockwall-Heath, which meets rival Rockwall; No. 17 Ridge Point (Missouri City), which is matched up with Strake Jesuit; and No. 24 Lake Travis (Austin), which plays Reagan (San Antonio).
An upset in the Florida Class 3A championship game knocked two teams out of the Top 25. Berkeley Prep, which had knocked Calvary Christian (Clearwater) out of the postseason, fell to North Broward Prep in the finals. The loss dropped both No. 6 Berkeley Prep and No. 7 Calvary Christian out of the rankings.
Dropped out: No. 6 Berkeley Prep (Tampa, Fla.); No. 7 Calvary Christian (Clearwater, Fla.).
Best game: Saint Francis 1, Palo Alto 0. The Vikings knocked Saint Francis out of the postseason in the first round of the Central Coast Section playoffs last year, but this year the Lancers edged Palo Alto 1-0 on a sac fly in the bottom of the eighth.
Player of the Week: Tommy Walker, Providence (Charlotte, N.C.). Walker had a big game in the first contest with T.C. Roberson in the North Carolina 4A semifinals as he had a double and a home run in a 10-0 win.
Games to watch: Keller vs. Southlake Carroll. The Indians and Dragons meet in the Region 1 Class 6A final with the winner advancing to the state finals. Tradition is strong on both sides. Keller won the two district meetings with Southlake Carroll and reached last year's 6A final before losing to Rockwall-Heath, but the Dragons won state championships in 2018 and 2019.
Streaks:
St. Mary's Prep won four games last week to surpass Silo (Okla.) with
the nation's longest win streak at 59 in a row. Silo, which finished the
season undefeated, could eventually add to its streak next year.
Tyler Khanolkar, Providence
Photo by Brad Arrowood
1. St. Mary's Prep (Orchard Lake, Mich.)
Record: 37-0 |
Last week: 1
Results: Def. Brother Rice, def. Flushing, 15-2; def. Grand Blanc, 9-3; def. Dakota, 13-1
Stats: Ciaran Caughey struck out 13 against Brother Rice.
Ike Irish homered against Grand Blanc and
Ryan McKay had a double and a triple against Dakota.
Next: Playoffs, TBD
2. Stoneman Douglas (Parkland, Fla.)
Record: 30-2 |
Last week: 2
Florida 7A state champions
3. Providence (Charlotte, N.C.)
Record: 32-0 |
Last week: 3
Results: Def. T.C. Roberson, 10-0, 3-0
Stats: Tommy Walker had a double and a home run in the 10-0 win while
Michael Forret struck out 14 in the 3-0 win.
Next: Fri. vs. Pinecrest at Class 4A championship
4. IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)
Record: 23-2 |
Last week: 4
Season complete
5. North Oconee (Bogart, Ga.)
Record: 39-1 |
Last week: 5
Season complete, Georgia AAAA state champion
6. Sumrall (Miss.)
Record: 35-1 |
Last week: 9
Results: Def. Pontotoc 6-5, 11-4
Stats: Marshall Phillips had two doubles in the 6-5 win.
Ethan Aultman was 2-for-4 with three RBI in the 11-4 win.
Next: Season complete, Mississippi Class 4A state champion
7. West Monroe (La.)
Record: 33-4 |
Last week: 10
Season complete, Class 5A state champions
8. Rockwall-Heath (Rockwall, Texas)
Record: 33-5 |
Last week: 11
Results: Def. Oak Ridge 8-2, 8-0
Stats: Jett Williams homered in the 8-2 win and had a double among his two hits in the 8-0 win.
Next: Sat. vs. Rockwall
9. Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati)
Record: 27-2 |
Last week: 12
Results: Def. Princeton, 9-0; def. Springboro, 10-0
Stats: Keelan Daniel went 3-for-3 with two RBI against Princeton.
Nate Earley and
Nathan Manley each homered in the 10-0 victory.
Next: Tue. vs. Reading
10. Northwest Rankin (Brandon, Miss.)
Record: 34-3 |
Last week: 8
Results: Def. DeSoto Central, 9-4, 3-11, 3-2
Stats: Nick Monistere struck out seven to get the 9-4 win and also drove in a run. He added a double and
Mason McCaleb had a triple in the 3-2 win.
Next: Season complete, Mississippi Class 6A state champion
11. Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.)
Record: 29-4 |
Last week: 13
Arizona 6A state champion
12. Hartselle (Ala.)
Record: 39-4 |
Last week: 14
Season complete, Alabama Class 6A state champion
13. Saint Francis (Mountain View, Calif.)
Record: 29-4 |
Last week: 15
Results: Def. Bellarmine College Prep, 9-1; def. Palo Alto, 1-0
Stats: Max Ross and
Wyatt King each had two doubles against Bellarmine.
Derek Gile scored the winning run on a walk-off sacrifice fly by
Elias Duncan in the bottom of the eighth against Palo Alto in the Central Coast Section Division 1 championship.
Next: Tue. vs. Cardinal Newman
14. Keller (Texas)
Record: 26-7 |
Last week: NR
Results: Def. Marcus, 4-2, 3-5, 4-2
Stats: Ty Zahradnik had a double and also struck out nine for the 4-2 win in the rubber game against Marcus.
Next: Sat. vs. Southlake Carroll
15. Southlake Carroll (Texas)
Record: 30-8 |
Last week: NR
Results: Def. Coppell, 4-0, 6-0
Stats: Owen Proksch struck out 11 in the 4-0 win while
Griffin Herring struck out 10 in the 6-0 win.
Next: Sat. vs. Keller
16. JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
Record: 23-10 |
Last week: 17
Results: Did not play
Next: Tue. vs. Granite Hills (El Cajon)
17. Ridge Point (Missouri City, Texas)
Record: 33-5 |
Last week: 16
Results: Def. Pearland, 6-2, 0-2, 4-2
Stats: Travis Vlasek went 2-for-3 with two doubles and five RBI in the 6-2 win.
Carter Groen had a double in the 4-2 victory.
Next: Sat. vs. Strake Jesuit
18. Villa Park (Calif.)
Record: 27-5 |
Last week: 18
Results: Did not play
Next: Tue. vs. Stockdale
19. Notre Dame (SO) (Sherman Oaks, Calif.)
Record: 24-8-1 |
Last week: 19
Results: Did not play
Next: Tue. vs. Chatsworth
20. Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.)
Record: 25-5 |
Last week: 20
Next: Season complete
21. Charlotte Christian (Charlotte, N.C.)
Record: 30-3 |
Last week: 21
Season complete, NCISAA Division 1 champion
22. Woodstock (Ga.)
Record: 33-7 |
Last week: 22
Season complete, Georgia AAAAAAA state champion
23. Pope (Marietta, Ga.)
Record: 33-7 |
Last week: 23
Season complete, Georgia AAAAAA state champion
24. Lake Travis (Austin, Texas)
Record: 33-5-2 |
Last week: 24
Results: Def. La Joya, 11-0, 5-0
Stats: Cole Johnson had two doubles in the 11-0 win.
O.J. Gonzalez struck out nine in the 5-0 win.
Next: Sat. vs. Reagan (San Antonio)
25. Silo (Okla.)
Record: 30-0 |
Last week: 25
Season complete, Oklahoma Class 2A state champion
