Nebraska's Top 10 high school baseball games for April

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As the Nebraska high school baseball season struggled through the damp, cool, but sometimes warm weather of March, several larger-than-life contests are coming up on the schedule in April. No. 1 on that list is big school state tournament favorite Omaha Creighton Prep at Rockhurst (Mo.).

If that game doesn't catch your interest, how about defending Class B champion Lincoln Pius X traveling to Norris to battle with the undefeated Titans. Or, maybe, Lincoln North Star at Grand Island.


Creighton Prep (Omaha) at Rockhurst (Kansas City) – April 9
The Nebraska Class A state championship favorite Junior Jays travel to Missouri to take on one of the Show-Me State's top contenders – Rockhurst (4-2). Both teams are hot as of late with Creighton Prep starting the 2016 season 3-0. Rockhurst, on the other hand, has won four straight contests since dropping its first two games to open the season.

Pius X (Lincoln) at Norris (Firth) – April 2
Defending Class B champion Pius (0-1) hits the road to battle the defending Class B runners-up. Not only did these two clubs go toe to toe in the state finals a year ago, they are rivals. Norris (5-0) is off to a fast start in 2016, winning five games to start the season. Pius X is searching for that first win. Brock Wordekemper leads Pius X following an all-state performance as a sophomore a year ago. Maison Burnley and Spencer Johnson lead the Titans with .500 batting averages.

North Star (Lincoln) at Grand Island – April 12
North Star (3-0) already has wins over Archbishop Bergan and defending state champion Omaha Westside in 2016. Now Wade Deist and Trevor Marreel and the Navigators (4-0) look toward a meeting with Parker Upton, Matthew Lamb and the Islanders in mid-April. This could be a battle of big bats with both Deist and Marreel hitting .667 in 2016. Lamb, Upton and Alec Lee are all hitting well above .500 for the Islanders.

Bellevue West at Millard West (Omaha) – April 4
Millard West (5-0) made a run at a championship a year ago and is highly regarded in 2016. Bellevue West (5-1) is off to a great start as well. The Thunderbirds are hitting .419 as a team and list four hitters, with at least three games under their belts, with .400 batting averages or better. C.J. Hlavac is fantastic on the mound, having registered 18 strikeouts to date and a 1.24 earned run average. Sophomore Brenden Tauber is 8-for-12 this season for the Wildcats.

Omaha Westside at Millard South (Omaha) – April 5
The defending state champion Warriors (1-4) are struggling to win games in 2016, and the defending Class A runners-up, hoping to flip the score, are off to a fast 5-0 start. Aidan Breedlove leads Westside into battle from the mound, while the Wildcats hope infielder Calvin Rudolph can guide the hosts to victory at the plate and on defense.

Waverly at Archbishop Bergan (Fremont) – April 23
Bergan's Bradyn Thomas is one of the best at getting on base. He's even more dangerous once he gets there, netting a state-leading eight stolen bases. The Vikings (1-2) counter with James Scurto and Owen Gubbles from the mound and Trevor Steinmeyer will take his cuts from the plate. Alec Karr already has 12 strikeouts for the Knights (3-1).

Papillion-LaVista (Papillion) at Papillion-LaVista South (2-2) – April 27
Cross-town rivals, both of these clubs are looking to have wonderful seasons. Dakota Smith is solid at the plate for the Titans (2-2), hitting .385 so far this season. Papio (2-1), meanwhile, is led by Cal Mathison, who is hitting .571 and has scored four times in three contests.

Nebraska City at Elkhorn – April 19
A pair of Eastern Midland foes, the Antlers (4-1) and the Pioneers (5-2) are off to good starts this season. Drew Smith is set to lead Elkhorn after hitting his first home run Tuesday in an 8-1 win over a good Lincoln Northeast club. Jared Nemec leads the Pioneers with a .500 batting average, .611 on-base percentage and .785 slugging percentage.

Skutt Catholic (Omaha) at Roncalli Catholic (Omaha) – April 8
A pair of Class B preseason ranked squads, Skutt (4-1) and Roncalli (2-2) enjoy knocking each other off. Roncalli is hoping to get back into the postseason after falling short a year ago, while Skutt hopes to qualify for the Class B state tournament for the ninth-straight time. Ben Zerzan leads the Skyhawks with a .538 batting average for the year, producing five runs scored and knocking another five runs knocked in. Mojo Hagge is also a big bopper with a .500 batting average for Skutt. Tyler Kloewer is the big man at the plate for the Crimson Pride, producing a .429 average to this point in the 2016 season.

Arlington at Platte Valley (Shelton) – April 26
In a pair of appearances, Arlington (4-0) pitcher Grant Miller has produced a 0.91 earned run average in 2016, with one earned run allowed in 7 2/3 innings. The Eagle coaching staff hopes Miller, or whomever they put on the mound in this one, is able to mirror Miler's performance to this point in the season. Wyatt Zaugg, Cody Feist and Trevor Ziemba hope to score and score again.