High school baseball rankings: California postseason shuffles MaxPreps Top 25 lineup

Huntington Beach (Calif.) pulled off the upset in the Southern California regional championships over the weekend, rearranging how the California teams land in the MaxPreps Top 25 high school baseball rankings.

The Oilers, the No. 6 seed, upset defending SoCal champion and No. 1 seed JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) in the championship game, moving Huntington Beach into the No. 21 spot in the rankings. The Lions dropped from No. 16 to No. 22 while Villa Park and Notre Dame (SO) (Sherman Oaks), which lost to Huntington Beach and JSerra respectively in the semifinals, dropped out of the rankings.

Meanwhile, Orange Lutheran stayed in the rankings due to its previous win over Huntington Beach, as well as wins over JSerra Catholic, Notre Dame, Nevada state champion Basic (Henderson) and Texas squad Southlake Carroll.

De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) also moved into the rankings at No. 23, replacing Saint Francis (Mountain View, Calif.) which lost to the Spartans in the Northern California regional championship game.

With six teams falling out of the rankings this week, Brother Rice (Chicago) and Miami Christian (Fla.) moved in due mainly to their wins over No. 4 IMG Academy. Brother Rice is the No. 1 seed in the Illinois Division 1 playoffs while Miami Christian won the Florida Class 2A state championship.

Dropped out: No. 9 Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati); No. 13 Saint Francis (Mountain View, Calif.); No. 14 Keller (Texas); No. 18 Villa Park (Calif.); No. 19 Notre Dame (SO)(Sherman Oaks, Calif.); No. 24 Lake Travis (Austin, Texas).

Best game: Huntington Beach 2, JSerra Catholic 0. With a nod to Providence's win over Pinecrest in the bottom of the 10th, the best game had to be the Oilers' win over the Lions. Raffaele Velazquez hit a two-run homer in the eighth to beat the defending Southern California champions.

Player of the Week: Nolan Schubart, St. Mary's Prep. The Eaglets have dominated this category but Schubart's performance is hard to ignore. He had home runs in both of St. Mary's Prep's playoff wins and drove in seven runs over the two games.

Games to watch: Southlake Carroll vs. Ridge Point. The Dragons are looking to make their third appearance in the state finals in the past five seasons. Ridge Point is looking to make the state finals for the second time since 2019. Southlake Carroll defeated Ridge Point in the 2019 championship game 17-0.

Streaks: St. Mary's Prep has 61 straight wins after two playoff wins last week. The streaks is tied for the 14th longest streak in high school history and second best in state history. Homer had a 75-game win streak between 2004 and 2005. Another pair of streaks ended for Colusa (Calif.) and its top pitcher Ethan Lay. Colusa saw its 41-game win streak end after a 9-0 loss to Bradshaw Christian. Lay's streak of innings pitched without allowing an earned run ended at 95 in a row after giving up an earned run with no outs in the fourth inning of a 5-4 win over Branson (Ross). The streak ranks No. 5 all-time.
MaxPreps Top 25 high school baseball rankings

1. St. Mary's Prep (Orchard Lake, Mich.)
Record: 39-0 | Last week: 1
Results: Def. Avondale, 15-1; def. West Bloomfield, 11-1
Stats: Nolan Schubart had a home run and three RBI while Jasen Oliver had a double and three RBI against Avondale. Schubart added a triple and home run with four RBI in the win over West Bloomfield.
Next: Wed. vs. Lakeland

2. Stoneman Douglas (Parkland, Fla.)
Record: 30-2 | Last week: 2
Florida 7A state champions

3. Providence (Charlotte, N.C.)
Record: 34-0 | Last week: 3
Results: Def. Pinecrest 3-0, 3-1
Stats: Eli Jerzembeck threw a three-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts in the 3-0 win. Michael Forret struck out 12 in the second game, but Jerzembeck got the win with two strikeouts in the bottom of the 10th.
Next: Season over, North Carolina Class 4A state champion

4. IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)
Record: 23-2 | Last week: 4
Season complete

5. North Oconee (Bogart, Ga.)
Record: 39-1 | Last week: 5
Georgia AAAA state champion

6. Sumrall (Miss.)
Record: 35-1 | Last week: 6
Mississippi Class 4A state champion

7. West Monroe (La.)
Record: 33-4 | Last week: 7
Class 5A state champions

8. Northwest Rankin (Brandon, Miss.)
Record: 34-3 | Last week: 10
Mississippi Class 6A state champion

9. Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.)
Record: 29-4 | Last week: 11
Arizona 6A state champion

10. Hartselle (Ala.)
Record: 39-4 | Last week: 12
Alabama Class 6A state champion

11. Rockwall-Heath (Rockwall, Texas)
Record: 35-6 | Last week: 8
Results: Def. Rockwall 6-0, 3-4, 5-1
Stats: Baylor Baumann threw a no-hitter in the 6-0 win while Alex Stowers went 3-for-3 in the 5-1 win.
Next: Friday vs. Reagan (San Antonio)

12. Southlake Carroll (Southlake, Texas)
Record: 32-8 | Last week: 15
Results: Def. Keller, 2-0, 4-0
Stats: Owen Proksch went the distance in the opener, giving up four hits with 10 strikeouts while also belting a triple. Griffin Herring threw a two-hit shutout in the 4-0 win, striking out nine.
Next: Friday vs. Ridge Point

13. Ridge Point (Missouri City, Texas)
Record: 35-5 | Last week: 17
Results: Def. Strake Jesuit, 3-0, 2-1
Stats: Kellen Gradisar tossed a four-hit shutout with five strikeouts in the 3-0 win. Hunter Nichols struck out 10 in the 2-1 win.
Next: Friday vs. Southlake Carroll

14. Brother Rice (Chicago)
Record: 34-5 | Last week: NR
Results: Def. Lyons, 5-3; def. Chicago Mt. Carmel, 2-1
Stats: Amir Gray had a double and two RBI against Lyons while Zion Rose had a home run against Mt. Carmel.
Next: Tue. vs. Lincoln Way West

15. Miami Christian (Miami)
Record: 29-3 | Last week: NR
Florida Class 2A state champion

16. Mason (Ohio)
Record: 26-4 | Last week: NR
Results: Def. Lebanon, 4-3; def. Archbishop Moeller, 4-1.
Stats: Brenden Garula upped his record to 9-0 with a two-hit win over Moeller.
Next: Fri. vs. Grove City.

17. Charlotte Christian (Charlotte, N.C.)
Record: 30-3 | Last week: 21
NCISAA Division 1 champion

18. Woodstock (Ga.)
Record: 33-7 | Last week: 22
Georgia AAAAAAA state champion

19. Pope (Marietta, Ga.)
Record: 33-7 | Last week: 23
Georgia AAAAAA state champion

20. Silo (Okla.)
Record: 30-0 | Last week: 25
Oklahoma Class 2A state champion

21. Huntington Beach (Calif.)
Record: 25-9 | Last week: NR
Results: Def. La Costa Canyon, 5-1; def. Villa Park, 9-2; def. JSerra Catholic, 2-0
Stats: Raffaele Velazquez had a two-run homer in the eighth inning to beat JSerra.
Next: Season over, Southern California Division 1 champion

22. JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
Record: 25-11 | Last week: 16
Results: Def. Granite Hills 5-2, def. Notre Dame (SO), 5-4; lost to Huntington Beach, 2-0
Stats: Brandon Chang had a run scored and an RBI against Notre Dame.
Next: Season over, Southern California Division 1 runner-up; Southern Section Division 1 champion

23. De La Salle (Concord, Calif.)
Record: 27-6 | Last week: NR
Results: Def. Del Campo, 9-3; def. Foothill (Pleasanton), 5-1; def. Saint Francis (Mountain View), 7-6
Stats: Donovan Chriss went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI against Saint Francis.
Next: Season over, Northern California Division 1 champion

24. Reagan (San Antonio)
Record: 31-6-2 | Last week: NR
Results: Def. Lake Travis 3-2, 2-7, 6-2
Next: Friday vs. Rockwall-Heath.

25. Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.)
Record: 25-5 | Last week: 20
Season over