MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Baseball Rankings

Take a good look at this week's Xcellent 25 National Baseball Rankings, because they could look a lot different next week.

The National High School Invitational gets underway Wednesday in Cary, N.C., and five of the teams in the Xcellent 25 are competing, including four in the Top 10. Unfortunately the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the rankings, Bishop Gorman and Carroll, will not meet in the finals since they are on the same side of the bracket, but they could meet Friday if they both win their first two games of the event.

Also conspiring to give the Xcellent 25 a drastic new look - the northern half of the United States.

The end of March means that most teams in the country will be on the field playing ball. Teams from Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey could all make a move by next week to gain inclusion in the national rankings.

Until then, here's a look at this week's rankings. Five new teams move in, including Klein Collins, Orange Lutheran, El Capitan, Bishop Verot and Oak Grove. Leaving the Xcellent 25 are Huntington Beach, Roberson, Simeon, Mount Si and Cherry Creek.

MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Baseball Rankings

1. (1 last week) Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), 8-0
The Gaels head into the National High School Invitational matchup against Mater Dei with eight straight wins to start the season after winning three times last week. Bishop Gorman topped Bonanza 19-2, Desert Oasis 8-0 and Western 23-8. Kenny Meimerstorf and A.J. Van Meetren had the only home runs of the week, both coming against Western. The Gaels also bashed 10 doubles in that game, including two each from Johnny Sewald, Joey Gallo and Jerrell Latham.

2. (2) Carroll (Corpus Christi, Texas), 14-0
The Tigers take an explosive offense into the NHSI with seven starters batting at least .400. Trey Rodriguez leads the team with a .513 average while Josh Cruz is hitting .477 and Courtney Hawkins is hitting .457. Hawkins also leads the team with five home runs while O'Shea Dumes has a team-high 24 RBIs. The Tigers whipped Highlands (San Antonio) 19-1, Southwest (San Antonio) 10-0 and South San Antonio 12-0 last week.

3. (3) Calallen (Corpus Christi, Texas), 20-0
The Wildcats shut down rival Moody 3-0 in a battle of Corpus Christi 4A powers, but then they needed extra innings to get past Flour Bluff 5-2. Wyatt Mathisen threw a one-hitter and struck out 12 to beat Moody.

4. (4) Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.), 0-0
Season opens Saturday at Georgetown Prep.

5. (5) Spanish Fork (Utah), 8-0
The Dons received a pair of impressive pitching performances in a two-game set with North Sanpete (Mt. Pleasant, Utah). In a 6-0 win, Brady Corless threw a no-hitter with 17 strikeouts, including 14 in a row. In a 16-0 win, Hayden Nielsen threw a perfect game with 11 strikeouts. Jake Meservey led the offense, going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and seven RBIs.

6. (6) Farragut (Knoxville, Tenn.), 10-0
The Admirals returned from Florida with four straight wins including a 6-1 win over Choctawhatchee (Fort Walton Beach), 6-2 over Crestview, 3-0 over Niceville and 6-4 over Central (Little Rock, Ark.). David Logan had a two-run homer against Central while freshman Patrick Raby went six innings to get the win over Niceville. Eric Freeman went all seven innings to beat Choctawhatchee.

7. (7) Washington (New York City), 9-0-1
The Trojans have only a 3-3 tie with Grand Street Campus marring an otherwise perfect record. Nelson Rodriguez, Randy Rodriguez and Henry Rodriguez have all been outstanding at the plate for the Trojans with Nelson batting .333 with 12 RBIs, Randy belting two home runs and Henry hitting a team-best .567. Washington defeated Taft (Bronx) 3-0, All Hallows (Bronx) 3-0 and St. Raymond Boys (Bronx) 2-1 last week.

8. (8) Gloucester Catholic (N.J.), 0-0
Season opens Monday at Penns Grove.

9. (9) JW North (Riverside, Calif.), 11-0
The Huskies are ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section Division 1 coaches poll and they remained unbeaten with an 8-6 win over Poly (Riverside) and a 4-3 victory over Roosevelt (Corona). JW North takes part in the Anaheim Lions Tournament this weekend.

10. (10) Columbus (Ga.), 10-0
The Blue Devils had a pair of easy wins last week, topping Central 17-4 and Haralson County 16-0. Kyle Carter was 4-for-5 with two home runs against Haralson County.

11. (12) Olympia (Orlando, Fla.), 15-0
Olympia rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the seventh inning to defeat Satellite 3-2 on Monday in the opening round of the Spring Break Slam baseball tournament in West Orange. Steve McClellan had the RBI single to give the Titans the win.

12. (13) St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.), 12-0-1
The Lancers tied a solid St. Ignatius team 4-4 in West Catholic Athletic League play and then had little trouble with Riordan (San Francisco) 9-0 and Serra (San Mateo) 7-2. The Lancers have a tough stretch of games in the next two weeks as they will face Valley Christian (San Jose) and Willow Glen (San Jose).

13. (18) Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.), 12-1
The Tigers had their seventh and eighth shutouts of the season last week, blanking Robinson (Tampa) 11-0 and Spoto (Riverview) 14-0. Spencer Trayner threw a two-hitter against Robinson while Adrian Chacon hit a home run. Lance McCullers no-hit Spoto, striking out 12.

14. (19) Owasso (Okla.), 13-1
The Rams went 4-0 in the Bruin Wood Bat Classic in Bartlesville, defeating three teams from Missouri, including Fort Osage 11-3, Hillcrest 6-1 and Park Hill 8-3. They also defeated Edison (Tulsa) 13-0.

15. (20) Seven Lakes (Katy, Texas), 17-1-1
The Spartans had two shutouts last week, beating Morton Ranch (Katy) 7-0 and Mayde Creek (Houston) 4-0. Seven Lakes will get a good test this week against Memorial (Houston).

16. (NR) Klein Collins (Spring, Texas), 16-2
The Tigers have the longest winning streak in the Texas 5A division at 15 wins in a row. After starting the season 1-2, Klein Collins has been unbeatable, defeating Memorial (Houston) 4-3 and Plano East 9-2.

17. (11) Broken Arrow (Okla.), 13-1
The Tigers lost their first game of the season, falling to Moorpark (Calif.) 9-3 at the Coach Bob National Tournament in Arizona. The loss ended a 24-game win streak for Broken Arrow. The Tigers managed to defeat Quartz Hill (Calif.) 4-3, O'Connor (Phoenix) 6-5 and Boulder Creek (Anthem, Ariz.) 4-3.

18. (15) Nova (Davie, Fla.), 13-1
The Titans dropped a 9-8 decision to St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale), a team it blanked 12-0 earlier in the season. Nova also defeated McArthur (Hollywood) 10-2 earlier in the week.

19. (NR) Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.), 10-2
The Lancers head to the National High School Invitational ranked among the top teams in the Southern Section. The winner of six straight in the Trinity League, Orange Lutheran has recent wins over Servite, Mater Dei and JSerra Catholic.

20. (17) Pelham (Ala.), 23-1
Pelham suffered its first loss of the season, falling to Rogers Heritage (Rogers, Ark.) 4-0 in tournament play. Pelham did manage to top Brentwood Academy (Tenn.) 8-3, Spruce Creek (Port Orange, Fla.) 3-2 and Gardendale (Ala.) 12-0 the rest of the week to remain ranked No. 1 in the state of Alabama.

21. (NR) El Capitan (Lakeside, Calif.), 8-1
The Vaqueros have beaten nearly every tough team the San Diego Section has to offer, including Helix 8-4, Cathedral Catholic 3-0, Rancho Bernardo 6-5 and Rancho Buena Vista 7-6. All-American candidate Troy Conyers is 2-0 with 38 strikeouts in 20.2 innings pitched.

22. (NR) Bishop Verot (Fort Myers, Fla.), 14-1
Last year's Florida 3A state champion is now in the 4A division. The Vikings lost their season opener, but they have won 14 in a row. Dominick Stefanacci has been strong on the mound with a 5-0 record and 26 strikeouts.

23. (NR) Oak Grove (Hattiesburg, Miss.), 15-0
The Warriors have the best record in Class 6A in Mississippi and they have a pair of wins over perennial state champion Sumrall. Big games this week against Petal and next week against Madison Central loom.

24. (24) Carroll (Fort Wayne, Ind.), 0-0
Season opens Friday at Jeffersonville (Ind.).

25. (25) Conestoga (Berwyn, Pa.), 0-0
Season opened March 26 at Upper Darby (Drexel Hill, Pa.).

Dropped Out: No. 14 Roberson, No. 16 Huntington Beach, No. 21 Cherry Creek, No. 22 Simeon, No. 23 Mount Si.