MaxPreps 2017 CIF Central Coast Section preseason high school baseball Fab 5, presented by the Army National Guard

Video: Diving catch straight into wall
This diving catch by Tyler Pettigrew of Henley (Klamath Falls, Ore.) was one of the highlights from the 2016 baseball season.


1. Bellarmine College Prep (San Jose)
Head coach: Mike Rodriguez
2016 record: 21-11

The Bells return seven starters from a team that reached the Open Division semifinals last year. Connor Mack will play at Cal-Berkeley next year. He batted .298 as a junior. Todd Jackson (.367) will play for San Diego while Kyle Horn (.284) is headed to Baylor and Matt Clark will play for Nevada. Juniors Joe Amirato and Wes Harper are also potential Division I players.

See last season's Central Coast Section baseball computer rankings presented by the Army National Guard

2. Serra (San Mateo)
Head coach: Craig Gianinno
2016 record: 25-6-1
The Padres figure to be a young team, but there is still plenty of talent considering Serra won all three levels of the WCAL last season. Thomas McCarthy is the top returning player. He was first team All-WCAL at catcher and is committed to play at USF. Another player to watch is Cameron Barstad, a junior catcher who has committed to play at Oregon.

See the MaxPreps Central Coast Section baseball pro photo galleries

3. Palo Alto
Head coach: Pete Fukuhara
2016 record: 23-6-1

Palo Alto finished second in league play and lost in the first round of the Open Division playoffs, but the Vikings had underclassmen make major contributions last year and could go deeper into the postseason in 2017. Junior Max Jung-Goldberg led the offense with a .354 batting average while senior Ryan Chang is the top returning pitcher after going 5-1. A pair of juniors, Jeremy Akioka and Niko Lillios, combined for five wins last year.

See last season's MaxPreps Central Coast Section baseball playoff brackets

4. Archbishop Mitty (San Jose)
Head coach: Brian Yocke
2016 record: 15-13

A perennial contender in the WCAL, Mitty should be much improved over last year's team that finished in the middle of the pack. Five starters return, led by Haydn King, who batted .346 and led the pitching staff with a 6-2 record and 0.58 ERA. JP Caldwell also returns after leading the team in RBIs and home runs last year.

See last season's MaxPreps Central Coast Section baseball stat leaders

5. Leland (San Jose)
Head coach: Mike Sparrer
2016 record: 22-8

The defending Division I champions return seven of the top eight hitters off of last year's team, including junior Albert Hsiao (.409) and senior Dominic Flocchini (.344). One of the team's top pitchers, Flocchini went 8-1 on the mound with a 1.06 ERA last year.