Shane Peisker and St. Rita (Chicago) barely held on to their Xcellent 50 spot after falling in an Illinois state title matchup.
Photo by John Rowland
The 2014 high school baseball season has been one filled with No. 1 seeds falling by the wayside and underdogs coming through to capture a state championship. Such was true in Illinois, Virginia and Michigan over the weekend.
Bay City Western won Michigan's Division I state championship last year, but was not expected to do so again this year after graduating most of last year's squad. However with a mostly underclassman lineup, Bay City Western edged Grosse Pointe South (which had upset favorite Sterling Heights Stevenson earlier in the tournament) 6-4 for its second-straight state title.
In Illinois, St. Rita entered the Class 4A state championship game with three prior wins over its opponent Providence Catholic. None of that mattered, however, as Providence Catholic pulled out the 4-1 win and the state title.
In Virginia, Hickory had finished as the runner-up in the 5A South playoffs, but it knocked off 5A North champion Stone Bridge in the semifinals and avenged an earlier loss to 5A South champion Freeman with a 6-4 win in the championship game.
Bay City Western, Providence Catholic and Hickory all joined the Xcellent 50 National Baseball Rankings this week, along with Lemont, the Class 3A state champion in Illinois.
MaxPreps Xcellent 50 National Baseball Rankings
1. (Last week 1) Barbe (Lake Charles, La.), 39-2
Louisiana Class 5A state champion. Season over.
2. (2) Lambert (Suwanee, Ga.), 36-2
McCarthy Tatum, Clovis
Photo by Alyson Boyer Rode
Georgia 6A state champion. Season over.
3. (3) Puyallup (Wash.), 28-0
Washington 4A state champion. Season over.
4. (4) Clovis (Calif.), 32-5
California Central Section Division I champion. Season over.
5. (5) Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.), 30-3
Arizona Division I state champion. Season over.
6. (6) Sumter (S.C.), 28-2-1
South Carolina Class 4A state champion. Season over.
7. (7) Flower Mound (Texas), 34-11-2
Texas Class 5A state champion. Season over.
8. (8) Bryant (Ark.), 33-2
Arkansas Class 7A state champion. Season over.
9. (9) Fayetteville (Ark.), 30-4
Season over.
10. (10) Stillwater (Okla.), 32-4
Oklahoma Class 6A state champion. Season over.
11. (11) Spanish Fort (Ala.), 40-6
Alabama Class 5A state champion. Season over.
12. (12) American (Hialeah, Fla.), 27-6
Florida Class 7A state champion. Season over.
13. (13) South Dade (Homestead, Fla.), 22-7
Florida Class 8A state champion. Season over.
14. (26) Western Branch (Chesapeake, Va.), 28-2
Virginia Class AAA state champion. Season over.
15. (17) Flanagan (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), 23-2
Season over.
16. (18) Flora (Columbia, S.C.), 27-4
John Saavedra, Milton
Photo by Steve Hampton
South Carolina Class 3A state champion. Season over.
17. (19) North Florida Christian (Tallahassee, Fla.), 26-4
Florida Class 3A state champion. Season over.
18. (20) Milton (Ga.), 28-8
Season over.
19. (21) Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.), 25-6
Florida Class 5A state champion. Season over.
20. (NR) Bay City Western (Auburn, Mich.), 38-7
Bay City Western defeated Grosse Point South 6-2 for the Michigan Division I state championship.
21. (NR) Hickory (Chesapeake, Va.), 24-4
Hickory defeated Freeman 6-4 for the Virginia Class 5A state championship.
22. (23) Marcus (Flower Mound, Texas), 32-10
Season over.
23. (24) Pearland (Texas), 37-6
Season over.
24. (25) Reagan (San Antonio), 33-7
Season over.
25. (28) Olympia (Orlando, Fla.), 25-3
Season over.
The Next 25
26. (29) Carl Albert (Midwest City, Okla.), 38-4
Oklahoma Class 5A state champion. Season over.
27. (30) Greenway (Phoenix), 28-4
Arizona Division II state champion. Season over.
28. (31) New Hope (Columbus, Miss.), 32-4
Jayson Rose, Granite Hills
Photo by Steven Silva
Mississippi Class 5A state champion. Season over.
29. (NR) Lemont (Ill.), 29-6
Lamont defeated Sacred Heart Griffin (Springfield) 2-1 for Illinois Class 3A state championship.
30. (33) Granite Hills (El Cajon, Calif.), 26-7
California San Diego Section Open Division champion. Season over.
31. (34) St. Thomas More (Lafayette, La.), 31-5
Louisiana 4A state champion. Season over.
32. (35) Oak Grove (Hattiesburg, Miss.), 27-6
Mississippi 6A state champion. Season over.
33. (36) Aledo (Texas), 34-6
Texas Class 4A state champion. Season over.
34. (37) Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.), 20-10-1
California Southern Section Division I champion. Season over.
35. (38) Atascocita (Humble, Texas), 31-8
Season over.
36. (39) La Cueva (Albuquerque, N.M.), 26-3
New Mexico Class 5A state champion. Season over.
37. (40) St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.), 25-5
Season over.
38. (41) West Forsyth (Clemmons, N.C.), 29-6
Caleb Hicks, Westminster Christian
Photo by Mark Guthrel
North Carolina Class 4A state champion. Season over.
39. (42) Temecula Valley (Temecula, Calif.), 24-8
California Southern Section Division II champion. Season over.
40. (43) Westminster Christian (St. Louis), 30-5
Missouri Division 4 state champion. Season over.
41. (44) St. John-Vianney (Holmdel, N.J.), 20-7
New Jersey Non-Public A champion. Season over.
42. (45) Jackson (Massillon, Ohio), 26-5
Ohio Division I state champion. Season over.
43. (22) Freeman (Richmond, Va.), 26-2
Freeman lost to Hickory 6-4 in the Virginia Class 5A state championship game.
44. (46) Providence (Charlotte, N.C.), 26-6
Season over.
45. (47) Ardrey Kell (Charlotte, N.C.), 28-3
Season over.
46. (48) Terre Haute North Vigo (Terre Haute, Ind.), 25-7
THNV defeated Castle 8-4 to reach the Class 4A state championship game.
47. (49) Bloom-Carroll (Carroll, Ohio), 29-2
Ohio Division II state champion. Season over.
48. (50) College Station (Texas), 36-8-1
Texas Class 3A state champion. Season over.
49. (NR) Providence Catholic (New Lenox, Ill.), 27-14
Providence Catholic defeated St. Rita 4-1 to win the Illinois Class 4A state championship.
50. (14) St. Rita (Chicago), 37-5
After defeating Providence Catholic three times during the season, St. Rita lost to Providence Catholic 4-1 in the Class 4A state championship game.
Dropped Out: No. 15 Stone Bridge (Ashburn, Va.), No. 16 Sterling Heights Stevenson (Mich.), No. 27 Cosby (Midlothian, Va.), No. 32 Sacred Heart Griffin (Springfield, Ill.).