Four of the top 10 teams in last week's Xcellent 50 saw their seasons come to an end in a premature manner as they were eliminated from postseason play.
No. 4 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) might have been the biggest shocker as it lost to Huntington Beach 2-1 in the first round of the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs. No. 3 Sharyland (Mission, Texas) had an equally frustrating loss as it fell to Eagle Pass 10-9 in a one-game playoff on a bases-loaded balk.
Meanwhile, Georgia 5A powerhouses Gainesville and Loganville, appeared headed for a collision course in the state championship game, both lost in the quarterfinals.
One team that continues to win, however, is Pensacola Catholic, which defeated Bishop Verot in Monday's semifinals and advanced to the Class 4A state championship in Florida. Pensacola Catholic is 29-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation by MaxPreps.
A loss by Pensacola Catholic in today's state final would open the door for Owasso, which finished its season two weeks ago, to move into the No. 1 spot. The Rams ended their season 36-0.
MaxPreps Xcellent 50 National Baseball Rankings
The Woodlands climbed two more spots in the rankings and is in the 5A regional semifinals.
Photo by Jamie Harms
1. (1 last week) Pensacola Catholic (Fla.), 29-0Advanced to today's Class 4A state championship game with a 2-0 win over Bishop Verot.
2. (2) Owasso (Okla.), 36-0
Oklahoma Class 6A champion. Season over.
3. (5) Venice (Fla.), 29-3
The Indians repeated as the Class 7A state
champions by knocking off Chiles (Tallahassee) 4-0 in the semifinals and
Haines City 14-4 in the championship game. The semifinal shutout is the
19th shutout of the season for the Venice pitching staff.
4. (6) The Woodlands (Texas), 32-3
The Highlanders swept two from Round Rock, 4-0 and 8-2, to advance to the regional semifinals of the Class 5A state playoffs.
5. (7) Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.), 27-2
Did not play last week. Will face Ponte Vedra in the semifinals on May 22.
6. (4) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 24-3
The Monarchs fell 2-1 to Huntington Beach in the first round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs.
7. (11) Lexington (S.C.), 28-5
Jack Flaherty, Harvard-Westlake
Photo by Vince Pugliese
The Wildcats won the Class 4A state
championship in South Carolina by defeating Blythewood 5-2, 2-7, 4-0 in
the championship series.
8. (14) Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.), 24-4
The Wolverines
opened the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs with a 7-1 win over
Valencia. Will play El Dorado (Placentia) Tuesday.
9. (15) Desert Mountain (Scottsdale, Ariz.), 31-4
The Wolves defeated Chaparral 4-3 to capture the Division I state championship.
10. (16) Carroll (Southlake, Texas), 33-4-1
The Dragons advanced to the Class 5A regional semifinals with a 5-4, 9-8 sweep of Midland.
11. (17) Barbers Hill (Mt. Belvieu, Texas), 35-3
Barbers Hill advanced to the fourth round of the Class 4A state playoffs with a 2-1, 5-4 sweep of Georgetown.
12. (8) Magnolia Heights (Senatobia, Miss.), 34-0
MAIS Class AAA II state champion. Season over.
13. (12) United (Laredo, Texas), 34-2-1
United lost only its second
game of the season in a third-round matchup with Alexander, but won the
series 7-6, 7-9, 7-3 to advance to the regional semifinals.
14. (18) Lincoln-Way North (Frankfort, Ill.), 34-2-2
Lincoln-Way
North finished the regular season with four wins in five games last
week. The Phoenix topped Lemont 16-6, Marian Catholic 1-0, Lincoln Way
West 9-3 and 7-0. The lone loss was a 14-0 defeat to St. Laurence.
15. (19) Mason (Ohio), 24-0
The Comets concluded the regular season with a 6-0 win over Fairfield and then topped Northwest 11-1 to begin postseason play.
16. (20) Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati), 22-2-1
The
Crusaders got in only one game last week, defeating Anderson 14-1.
Nicholas Meece was 2-for-3 with a triple and four RBIs in the win.
17. (24) Tomball (Texas), 30-4
After losing the first game of their
regional quarterfinal to Ridge Point 8-6, the Cougars bounced back with a
pair of shutout wins, 6-0 and 13-0, to advance to the regional
semifinals.
18. (48) Lake Brantley (Altamonte Springs, Fla.), 27-5
Defeated Jupiter 4-0 in the Class 8A semifinals and topped Durant 8-3 in the championship game.
19. (30) Granada (Livermore, Calif.), 23-1
Granada
finished the regular season with a 6-0 win over Monte Vista (Danville)
and an 11-2 win over Livermore. Will begin the North Coast Section
playoffs this week.
20. (29) Coronado (Henderson, Nev.), 36-4
Coronado ended Bishop
Gorman's run of seven straight state titles by beating the Gaels twice,
11-7 and 7-4, for the Nevada Division I state championship. Coronado had
lost to Bishop Gorman 9-7 in the first round but won four straight to
claim the state title.
Jack Hallmark, Cherry Creek
Photo by Tim Visser
After losing
its Class 5A state playoff opener to Grandview 7-4, Cherry Creek
defeated Chatfield 12-2 and Mountain Vista 9-7 to meet Thunder Ridge in
this week's semifinal matchup.
22. (NR) Starr's Mill (Fayetteville, Ga.), 28-4
Defeated Loganville 13-9 and 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Class 5A playoffs.
23. (26) Frenship (Wolfforth, Texas), 35-5
Frenship advanced to the
fourth round of the Class 4A state playoffs by taking two of three from
Randall (Amarillo), 13-4, 2-4 and 11-0.
24. (32) Richmond (Rockingham, N.C.), 27-1
The
Raiders won their first three games in the Class 4A state tournament,
beating Harnett Central (Angier) 9-0, West Johnston (Benson) 3-1 and
Hoggard (Wilmington) 16-6.
25. (33) Madison (Vienna, Va.), 20-1
The
War Hawks won their only game last week, blanking Stone Bridge 11-0
thanks to Luke Belt's 3-for-4 effort that included a grand slam and
seven RBIs.
The Next 2526. (31) Tullahoma (Tenn.), 34-7
Tullahoma opened region play with a
4-2 win over Oakland, but lost in the second round to Riverdale 2-1. It
advanced to the state tournament with a 4-2 win over Cookeville. Will
open state tournament play against Dyer County.
27. (28) St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.), 27-4
Advanced to the
third round of the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs by beating
Monta Vista (Cupertino) 2-0 in the first round and Valley Christian (San
Jose) 3-0 in the second round. Will face Palo Alto today.
28. (39) Flora (Columbia, S.C.), 24-5
Defeated Airport in the first game of the Class 3A playoffs. Second game was postponed until Monday.
29. (40) St. Joseph Regional (Montvale, N.J.), 23-1
Dropped
its first game of the season to Bergen Catholic 7-4, but rebounded to
win four times last week, 3-2 over Ridgewood, 12-4 over Indian Hills,
9-5 over Jefferson and 10-0 over Demarest.
30. (41) Mosley (Lynn Haven, Fla.), 27-3
Did not play last week. Will face King in the Class 6A semifinals.
31. (42) Howell (St. Charles, Mo.), 29-5
Topped Washington 16-6 and Holt 8-0 last week. Still ranked No. 1 in St. Louis area by Post Dispatch.
32. (34) Great Bridge (Chesapeake, Va.), 19-1
Did not play last week. Will play Western Branch today in the Southeastern District Tournament.
33. (35) Pearland (Texas), 33-5
Swept Manvel 7-0 and 1-0 to advance to the fourth round of the Class 5A state playoffs.
34. (36) Fountain Valley (Calif.), 24-4
The
Barons opened the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs with an 8-0 win
over Alemany (Mission Hills). Faces Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa
Margarita) in the second round.
35. (NR) Milton (Ga.), 27-7-1
Advanced to the Georgia 6A semifinals with a 7-4, 11-1 sweep of East Coweta.
36. (NR) Parkview (Lilburn, Ga.), 26-7
Edged Colquitt County 16-11, 7-3 to advance to the Georgia 6A state semifinals against Milton.
37. (44) Harrison Central (Gulfport, Miss.), 28-3
The Red Rebels knocked off defending state champion Oak Grove 10-1 and 5-4 to advance to the Class 6A state finals.
38. (45) Rancho Bernardo (San Diego), 26-4
Knocked
off Westview (San Diego) 8-1 and Poway 14-0 to complete the regular
season. Faces Rancho Buena Vista in the first round of the San Diego
Section Open Division playoffs.
38. (NR) Whitewater (Fayetteville, Ga.), 26-7
Topped Gainesville 2-1 and 4-3 to advance to the Class 5A state semifinals.
39. (9) Gainesville (Ga.), 27-5
The Red Elephants were eliminated from the Class 5A state playoffs with a 2-1, 4-3 series sweep by Whitewater. Season over.
40. (10) Loganville (Ga.), 26-6
The Red Devils were eliminated from the Class 5A state playoffs with a 13-9, 6-4 series loss to Starrs Mill. Season over.
41. (50) Cypress Ranch (Houston), 31-4
Defeated Memorial (Houston) 5-1 and 7-5 to reach the fourth round of the Texas 5A state playoffs.
42. (NR) Calallen (Corpus Christi, Texas), 34-3
Advanced to the regional semifinals with an 8-1, 9-1 sweep of Flour Bluff.
43. (NR) Fort Bend Dulles (Sugar Land, Texas), 24-6
Knocked Deer Park out of the playoffs with a 7-4 win.
44. (22) East Coweta (Sharpsburg, Ga.), 28-5
Lost to Milton 7-4 and 11-1 in the Class 6A quarterfinals. Season over.
45. (21) American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.), 25-3
Season over.
46. (43) Floyd Central (Floyds Knobs, Ind.), 27-2
Went 4-1 last week,
beating Providence 11-0, Heritage Hills 8-0, Clarksville 11-2 and
Bloomington South 1-0, but lost to Bloomington North 8-3.
47. (47) Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 22-5-1
Brandon Caples, King
Photo by Marc Estrada
Did not play last week. Faces Edgewater (Orlando) in the Class 6A semifinals.
48. (49) King (Tampa, Fla.), 25-3
Did not play last week. Faces Mosley on Wednesday in Class 6A state semifinals.
49. (NR) Martin (Arlington, Texas), 27-5-1
Advanced to the Class 5A regional semifinals by topping Fossil Ridge 9-8, 1-11, 4-3.
50. (NR) Marcus (Flower Mound, Texas), 33-6
Eliminated Grapevine from the Class 5A playoffs with a 6-4, 7-0 series win.
Dropped Out: No. 3 Sharyland (Mission, Texas), No. 23 Deer Park (Texas), No. 25 Spanish Fort (Ala.), No. 27 Puyallup (Wash.), No. 28 Jupiter (Fla.), No. 37 Bellarmine (San Jose, Calif.), No. 46 Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.).
