MaxPreps Southern California Top 25 high school baseball rankings

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It's a Foothill League invasion in this week's edition of the rankings.

Three teams from the Santa Clarita Valley-area league have entered on the heels of big-time Division 1 playoff wins in the Southern Section. We must welcome Hart, Valencia and Saugus after each knocked off highly ranked teams.

We had a switch in the LA City Section, where Cleveland replaced Chatsworth, and the Central Section Division I champs Buchanan solidified their spot with a title.

In San Diego, the Open Division bracket has three teams in the rankings. Southern Section action continues this week.

Click here to see the MaxPreps California Computer Rankings and click here to see California playoff brackets. Records are current as of Thursday morning.


1. (1 last week) San Dimas, 30-0
Classification: Southern 3
Rankings: 6 state, 20 national, 4 Xcellent 50

The Saints can start talking about a national championship possibility, as they won two more times. They eliminated La Quinta 9-0 and Garden Grove 17-0 in Division 3 blowouts. They face Santa Monica in Thursday's quarterfinals.

2. (2) JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano), 27-4-1
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 1 state, 1 national, 8 Xcellent 50

The Lions have fared well thus far in Division 1 in the Southern Section, beating Temecula Valley 8-3 and Fountain Valley 7-5 (a ranked team). Next up is a quarterfinal against Hart on Friday.

3. (3) Buchanan (Clovis), 29-4 *Season over
Classification: Central 1
Rankings: 8 state, 22 national, 17 Xcellent 50

The Bears won the Central Section Division I crown, as they steamrolled through the playoffs. They beat Tulare West 6-1 in the semifinals and then put a beat-down on Clovis in the title match, winning 15-1 to avenge a loss in last year's title game.

4. (5) Huntington Beach, 21-8
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 5 state, 16 national

The Oilers took down Roosevelt 7-2 and then shut out Woodrow Wilson 3-0 at Blair Field to move on to the quarterfinals. There, they will meet El Dorado on Friday.

5. (7) San Clemente, 24-7
Classification: Southern 2
Rankings: 4 state, 12 national

The Tritons have a Friday quarterfinal date with Bonita (La Verne) and they will bring some hot bats with them. They beat Bellflower 12-2 and Dos Pueblos 10-1 to advance.

6. (4) La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad), 24-6
Classification: San Diego Open
Rankings: 11 state, 50 national

The Mavericks had a little hiccup, but also have the top seed in the San Diego Section Open Division playoffs. They split with El Camino (Oceanside) 3-2 and 1-2, then lost 4-3 in eight innings to Carlsbad. But they opened the playoffs with a 5-1 decision over St. Augustine. They face Granite Hills (El Cajon) on Friday.

7. (13) Norco, 24-5
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 12 state, 52 national

The Cougars are hot. They eliminated ranked Dana Hills in a 3-0 contest and kept it going with a 9-4 victory over JW North to stay alive. Now they have Valencia scheduled for Friday in the quarterfinals.

8. (17) El Dorado (Placentia), 21-8
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 30 state, 145 national

The Golden Hawks have three shutouts in their last four games. That's the ticket to success in the playoffs. They eliminated Tustin 6-0 to start things off and then shut out Harvard-Westlake 3-0. They play Huntington Beach on Friday in the quarterfinals.

9. (14) El Camino Real (Woodland Hills), 26-7
Classification: Los Angeles 1
Rankings: 20 state, 86 national

The Conquistadors will play for a City title Saturday against Cleveland (Reseda), and they sure had to grit it out. They won three times by one run in the playoffs leading up to the title tussle at Dodger Stadium. They won 1-0 over Verdugo Hills, 4-3 over Birmingham and 3-2 over Narbonne.

10. (10) Rancho Bernardo (San Diego), 23-7
Classification: San Diego Open
Rankings: 33 state, 166 national

The Broncos won 2-1 over Canyon Crest Academy before falling 6-2 to a good Poway team in their regular-season finale. The No. 2 seed in the SDS Open Division kicked off the playoffs with a 6-1 win over Torrey Pines and will face No. 3 Cathedral Catholic Friday in the semifinals.

11. (8) Harvard-Westlake (Studio City), 24-6 *Season over
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 7 state, 21 national

The Wolverines will finish ahead of Agoura because they were eliminated by a ranked team and because they beat a ranked team in the second round. Also, they won two playoff games. They beat Mater Dei 11-10 in a slugfest, then cored three times in the 10th to eliminate Vista Murrieta 6-3. They were eliminated by El Dorado in a 3-0 loss.

12. (6) Agoura, 23-5 *Season over
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 3 state, 10 national

The Chargers are done for the year now. They opened the playoffs with a 4-3 victory over Edison (Huntington Beach) but saw it all come to an end in a 4-3 loss to Valencia.

13. (19) Fountain Valley, 20-10 *Season over
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 28 state, 137 national

The Barons shut out El Modena in their playoff opener, 1-0, but it all came to an end with a 7-5 loss to JSerra Catholic.

14. (24) Mission Viejo, 23-10
Classification: Southern 2
Rankings: 24 state, 107 national

The Diablos are still alive in Division 2 of the Southern Section playoffs, and are looking good. They eliminated Yucaipa 6-4 and then blasted Oxnard 11-0 in the second round. They will face Royal (Simi Valley) on Friday.

15. (12) Dana Hills (Dana Point), 24-8 *Season over
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 10 state, 25 national

The Dolphins saw their season end in a 3-0 shutout against Norco in the opening round for them.

16. (16) Vista Murrieta (Murrieta), 18-9 *Season over
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 16 state, 66 national

The Broncos' playoff run stopped where it began. They lost a tough 6-3 decision to Harvard-Westlake in the opening round, allowing the tying run in the seventh and then three in the 10th.

17. (9) Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks), 22-7 *Season over
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 19 state, 81 national

The Knights were bounced rudely by Saugus, 10-0, picking up just four hits and allowing 11.

18. (11) Alemany (Mission Hills), 18-11 *Season over
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 42 state, 195 national

The Warriors fell 3-0 to Hart in their playoff opener and are in danger of falling out of the rankings before it's all over.

19. (NR) Hart (Newhall), 18-9-1
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 60 state, 303 national

The Indians, Foothill League champs, have been stellar in two playoff wins. They shut out Alemany 3-0 tp start things out and did the same thing to Calabasas in the next round by the same score. Next up is a Friday quarterfinal with JSerra Catholic.

20. (NR) Valencia, 20-9
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 41 state, 194 national

The Vikings made a brief appearance earlier this year, and they're back in a big way. They beat Loyola 1-0 to start things off, then eliminated Agoura 4-3. Though they have a head-to-head win (obviously), they need to go deeper to surpass Agoura in the rankings. They face Norco on Friday in the quarterfinals.

21. (NR) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego), 21-8
Classification: San Diego Open
Rankings: 35 state, 174 national

The Dons enter the rankings with the No. 3 seed in the SDS Open Division playoffs. They beat El Camino (Oceanside) in the first round, 4-0, and that earned them a Friday matchup against Rancho Bernardo.

22. (NR) Arlington (Riverside), 23-4
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 59 state, 291 national

Their overall schedule is a bit lacking but the Lions still have won twice in the CIFSS Division 1 playoffs and have a great record. They beat formerly ranked Corona 1-0 and beat Millikan (Long Beach) 2-1 to set up Friday's game against Saugus.

23. (NR) Saugus, 19-9-1
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 86 state, 472 national

The Centurions are on a great playoff run as well. They had to play Newbury Park in the wild card round and won 6-3. Then they blasted Notre Dame 10-0 and won 1-0 over Capistrano Valley. Just like Valencia, they can move up way higher with one more win. They face Arlington on Friday in the quarterfinals.

24. (NR) Moorpark, 22-9
Classification: Southern 2
Rankings: 38 state, 181 national

The Musketeers are in the rankings for the first time this season thanks to a pair of playoff wins: 3-2 over La Mirada in eight innings and 1-0 over previous No. 25 Burroughs (Burbank). In Friday's quarterfinals, they face Chino Hills.

25. (NR) Cleveland (Reseda), 24-11
Classification: Los Angeles City I
Rankings: 125 state, 717 national

The Cavaliers are one win away from a Division I City title. Their playoff run has featured wins over San Pedro (3-1), Granada Hills (4-1) and Chatsworth (1-0). They face El Camino Real for the title on Saturday at Dodger Stadium.

Dropped out: 15 Orange Lutheran; 18 Glendora; 20 South Hills; 21 Centennial (Bakersfield); 22 Chatsworth; 23 Cypress; 25 Burroughs.