Nebraska's most improved baseball teams

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As the Nebraska high school baseball season prepares to hit the stretch run, we've crunched the numbers in an attempt to determine which baseball programs have made the most substantial improvements in the MaxPreps Nebraska Baseball Rankings over a year ago.

Douglas County West and Waverly both rose 23 spots in Friday's updated rankings, compared to last spring, to claim the top two spots and own the other 58 Cornhusker State programs. The Falcons, just 2-13 a year ago, have turned in an 8-5 record so far this spring after improving its won-loss record a Top 10 second best seven games this spring. Waverly's six game improvement drops it into the Top 10s No. 2 slot.

Norfolk, Nebraska's No. 7 program in this week's Top 10 after moving up 16 spots from a year ago, edged Douglas County West and Columbus in the "games improved" category with an eight-game turnaround over a year ago. The Panthers improved their 2-25 record from a year ago into an 8-15 mark so far this spring, while the Discoverers are 10-10 after going 5-19 in 2016-17.

Wayne takes the No. 3 spot in this week's Top 10 after improving 21 places in the rankings, while Columbus and Platteview round out the Top 5 with 20 rung swings each. Besides the tie at the top and between the Discoverers and the Trojans, Omaha South and Omaha Roncalli Catholic tied for eighth in the Top 10 with 14 spot climbs, while Omaha Burke, Bennington and Lincoln North Star are all squared for the 10th spot with 10 rung improvements from a year ago.

In calculating these turnarounds, it has been determined that the team displaying the most improvement in its won-loss record is the victor in the case of a tie, therefore Douglas County West gets the top spot over Waverly, Columbus grabs the fourth rung over Platteview and Omaha South takes the eighth spot over the Crimson Pride. The final three squads remain tied for the 10th spot since it is the final rung in this week's Top 10.

Of the programs that landed in this week's Top 10, Omaha Burke holds the highest ranking at No. 5. Waverly (11th) and Grand Island (8th) are also sitting in the Top 15 in Friday's MaxPreps Nebraska Baseball Rankings. Of the 12 schools listed this week, Douglas County West, Waverly, Wayne, Omaha South, Omaha Roncalli Catholic and Bennington have all produced winning records after suffering through below .500 seasons a year ago.

On the top line, next to the name of the baseball program, we have included the number of spots a team has climbed in our Nebraska baseball rankings over a year ago and the number games a program has improved its won-loss record from last spring.

Nebraska's most improved baseball teams
1. Douglas County West (Valley) — 23 spot improvement | 7 game improvement
Final 2016-17 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 55th (2-13)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 32nd (8-5)

2. Waverly — 23 spot improvement | 6 game improvement
Final 2016-17 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 34th (11-12)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 11th (16-5)

3. Wayne — 21 spot improvement | 6 ½ game improvement
Final 2016-17 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 51st (6-12)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 30th (12-5)

4. Columbus — 20 spot improvement | 7 game improvement
Final 2016-17 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 45th (5-19)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 25th (10-10)

5. Platteview (Springfield) — 20 spot improvement | 4 game improvement
Final 2016-17 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 39th (11-9)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 19th (14-4)

6. Grand Island — 19 spot improvement | 4 ½ game improvement
Final 2016-17 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 27th (15-11)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 8th (19-6)

7. Norfolk (Norfolk, Neb.) — 16 spot improvement | 8 game improvement
Final 2016-17 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 57th (2-25)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 41st (8-15)

8. Omaha South — 14 spot improvement | 6 ½ game improvement
Final 2016-17 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 47th (7-18)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 33rd (14-12)

9. Roncalli Catholic (Omaha) — 14 spot improvement | 5 game improvement
Final 2016-17 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 30th (10-12)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 16th (12-4)

10. Burke (Omaha) — 10 spot improvement | 3 ½ game improvement
Final 2016-17 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 15th (17-9)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 5th (19-4)

10. Bennington — 10 spot improvement | 1 ½ game improvement
Final 2016-17 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 33rd (10-11)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 23rd (11-9)

10. North Star (Lincoln) — 10 spot improvement | 0 game improvement
Final 2016-17 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 37th (10-17)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 27th (7-14)