Griffin Haupert and his Orange Lutheran teammates have a huge test ahead this week in the tough Trinity League, as they will battle Mater Dei twice in a matchup of the nation's Nos. 2 and 3 teams.
Photo by Rob Carmell
Several big matchups highlight the upcoming week with two sets of games featuring Xcellent 25 teams on tap.
In California's Southern Section, Orange Lutheran, ranked No. 2 in the Xcellent 25, takes on No. 3 Mater Dei on Wednesday and Friday in Trinity League play.
This matchup could be considered the top prep baseball contest of the season. No. 1 did play No. 2 during the National High School Invitational when top-ranked Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) played second-ranked Carroll (Corpus Christi, Texas). But by the time the teams played, Bishop Gorman had lost twice and Carroll once, thus taking some luster away from the matchup.
Meanwhile in Illinois, No. 14 Mount Carmel, which is undefeated on the season, plays two games against No. 23 St. Laurence. The teams are ranked 1-2 in the state.
Former No. 1 Calallen picked up a big win with its city showdown with Carroll. The Wildcats, the top-ranked Class 4A team in the state, knocked off the Tigers, the No. 1-ranked Class 5A team in the state, 7-1.
Only three teams move into the Xcellent 25 this week. Bloomingdale in Florida joins the club, as does St. Laurence and Cathedral Catholic, which was the gold medal-winning team in the San Diego Lions Tournament last week.
Dropping out are Pensacola Catholic, Bob Jones and Redlands.
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Baseball Rankings 1. (1 last week) Olympia (Orlando, Fla.), 25-0The Titans ended the regular season undefeated after an 11-1 win over Oak Ridge (Orlando) and a 4-3 win over Winter Park. In doing so, Olympia became the first Orlando-area team to complete a regular season undefeated, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Against Winter Park,
Jesse Winker was 3-for-3 with two doubles, a home run and three RBIs.
Ryan Barr, Mater Dei
Photo by Alyson Boyer Rode
The Lancers set up this week's showdown with Mater Dei by sweeping a pair from Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita) last week. Orange Lutheran won 2-1 in the first game and 6-3 in the second game of the week to raise its Trinity League record to 9-0.
3. (3) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 16-4The Monarchs hope to avenge their only Trinity League loss when they face Orange Lutheran Wednesday and Friday. Mater Dei took two from St. John Bosco last week, winning 17-3 behind
Ty Moore's home run, and 7-4.
4. (4) Columbus (Ga.), 22-1The Blue Devils won three more times last week, beating Haralson County 11-1, Carrollton 3-1 and La Grange 6-0. Columbus closes out the regular season this week and concludes the year with games against defending state champions Marist and Parkview.
5. (5) Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), 25-2The Gaels played four times last week, winning all in impressive fashion.
Cody Roper,
Joey Gallo and
Cameron Cole all homered in a 9-1 win over Bonanza. Gallo followed up that effort with a huge performance against Clark as he went 5-for-6 with four home runs and eight RBIs.
Stephen Joseph also homered in the 27-0 win. The Gaels also defeated Desert Oasis 11-1 and Durango 13-3, with Roper notching his second home run of the week in the latter game.
6. (6) Calallen (Corpus Christi, Texas), 28-1The Wildcats, the top 4A team in the state, won the battle for Texas on Saturday with a convincing 7-1 triumph over Carroll (Corpus Christi), the top 5A team in the state.
Armando Arrevelo stymied the Tiger offense as he went into the seventh inning with a no-hitter before giving up a base hit to Trey Rodriguez.
Wyatt Mathisen led the Calallen offense, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
7. (7) Carroll (Corpus Christi, Texas), 23-3The Tigers lost for the first time this year against a team from Texas in falling 7-1 to Calallen.
Courtney Hawkins started on the mound and took the loss, giving up four runs in the fifth inning. No drop here since Carroll has a win over Gulliver Prep, a team Jesuit lost to.
8. (8) Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.), 23-1The Tigers closed out the regular season with a 1-0 victory over Sarasota and an 11-1 victory over Clearwater Central Catholic.
Max Beermann provided the only run against Sarasota with a solo home run.
Lance McCullers tossed a three-hitter with 11 strikeouts and no walks in the second game.
9. (9) St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.), 21-1-1The Lancers won twice in West Catholic Athletic League play last week, blanking Riordan (San Francisco) 11-0, Archbishop Mitty 5-4 and Sacred Heart Cathedral 10-0.
Kort Peterson had four hits, including two home runs with seven RBIs, in the win over Riordan.
10. (10) Nova (Davie, Fla.), 19-1Nova finished the regular season with a 5-2 win over Western last week. The Titans move on to play the winner of the Cooper City/South Broward matchup tonight.
11. (11) Winter Springs (Fla.), 25-1-1The Bears concluded the regular season last week with three wins, including 1-0 victories over Trinity Christian Academy (Deltona) and Ocoee, plus a 3-0 win over Lake Brantley (Altamonte Springs).
Trey Cobb, Broken Arrow
Photo by Kevin French
Pelham advanced to the second round of the Alabama 6A state playoffs with a 2-1, 16-2 sweep of Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa. Pelham now meets Hoover, a team that provided one of Pelham's two losses this year, in the second round.
13. (13) Broken Arrow (Okla.), 27-3Broken Arrow won three times last week, beating Sapulpa 3-2, and Stillwater 11-8 and 6-1.
Jacob Evans had 11 strikeouts in the first win over Stillwater and also had a home run.
Cody Ziegler also knocked one out.
Trey Cobb followed up his no-hitter against Tulsa Memorial on April 14 with a six-strikeout effort against Stillwater. He also had three hits at the plate, including a triple.
14. (15) Mount Carmel (Chicago), 21-0The Caravan set up a big showdown with St. Laurence this week by beating Brother Rice 7-4 on Saturday.
Tj Laurisch (8-0) picked up the win while
Justin Sanchez was 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Mount Carmel, ranked No. 1 in Illinois by the Chicago Sun Times, takes on St. Laurence (21-1-1), which is ranked No. 2, today and Friday.
15. (16) Providence (Charlotte, N.C.), 18-1Providence claimed a pair of wins, topping Cannon (Concord) 8-5 and Independence (Charlotte) 7-1.
16. (18) Lexington (S.C.), 22-2Lexington picked up three wins last week, topping Blythewood 12-0, White Knoll 12-6 and Flora 5-3. The 5-3 victory avenged an earlier loss to Flora, the No. 1-ranked 3A team in the state.
17. (20) Owasso (Okla.), 23-3The Rams won twice, beating Muskogee 9-0 and 12-1 last week. Owasso aims to avenge last week's loss with a pair of games against Bishop Kelley at the end of the week.
18. (14) Seven Lakes (Katy, Texas), 24-3-1Seven Lakes split its two games during the week, shutting out Mayde Creek (Houston) 9-0 before falling to Memorial (Houston) 6-0.
19. (21) Lake Braddock (Burke, Va.), 13-1Lake Braddock edged last year's AAA runnerup South County 9-4 and also blanked Lee 10-0 to remain No. 1 in the Washington D.C. metro area.
Thomas Rogers struck out 15 against Lee.
20. (24) Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) 16-3-1Harvard-Westlake won three games last week, claiming a pair of league contests from Chaminade (West Hills), 6-5 and 10-6, and a win over Westlake (Westlake Village) in the Chatsworth Tournament, 6-1.
21. (25) Parkview (Lilburn, Ga.), 18-4Parkview dropped Shiloh behind
Matt Olson's complete-game win that included nine strikeouts. Olson is 8-0 on the year. Parkview also knocked off Central Gwinnett (Lawrenceville) 7-0 and Archer (Lawrenceville) 10-7.
22. (17) Martin (Arlington, Texas), 25-2-1Martin lost to Arlington Heights 2-1, but beat Lamar (Arlington) 4-1 and Weatherford 6-4 to remain ranked among the top three teams in the state.
Evan Cassolato, Cathedral Catholic
Photo by Steven Silva
Ranked No. 2 in the state of Illinois by the Chicago Sun Times, St. Laurence has a big showdown with Mount Carmel this week.
24. (NR) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego), 17-3Winners of the San Diego Lions Tournament, the Dons topped Rancho Bernardo, Helix and El Capitan during the tourney and have recent wins against Madison (San Diego), 6-3 and 5-4, and Point Loma (San Diego), 8-0.
25. (NR) Bloomingdale (Valrico, Fla.), 22-3Only one team in the Florida 8A class has a better record than Bloomingdale, and that's No. 1 Olympia.
Dropped Out: No. 19 Pensacola Catholic, No. 15 Bob Jones, No. 21 Redlands.
