Some of the nation's top pitchers are off to stellar starts, helping their teams rise up the MaxPreps Top 25 high school baseball rankings.
Jackson Ferris of IMG Academy struck out 13 and threw six innings of no-hit ball in an 8-0 win over Huntsville two weeks ago. The Ascenders Davion Hickson struck out 15 against Blessed Trinity (Roswell, Ga.) in a combined no-hitter. Allan Gil pitched one inning of no-hit relief for both Ferris and Hickson. The Ascenders stayed at No. 2 behind idle No. 1 St. Mary's Prep (Orchard Lake, Mich.).
Brennan Phillips of Owasso was perfect in the Rams' season opener, striking out all15 batters he faced in a 27-0 win over Grant. Then teammate Jackson Farrell added a 14-strikeout, five-inning perfect game in the second game of the doubleheader against Grant as Owasso jumped to No. 14 in this week's rankings.
Finally, there's Jaden Noot of Sierra Canyon who struck out 14 in a six-inning no-hitter against Windward. The Trailblazers moved up to No. 6 this week.
Other pitchers with solid efforts include Dylan Lesko of Buford (Ga.) with nine strikeouts against nationally-ranked Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.), Gavin Guidry of Barbe with 14 strikeouts in a one-hitter against Denham Springs (La.) and Solomon Rotberg of Tompkins (Katy, Texas) with a nine-strikeout no-hitter against Montgomery.
Allatoona (Ga.), The Woodlands (Texas), Teurlings Catholic (La.), Rancho Bernardo (San Diego) and Sumrall (Miss.) moved into this week's MaxPreps Top 25.
Dropped out: No. 5 Yucaipa (Calif.); No. 6 Harvard-Westlake; No. 7 Jesuit (Tampa); No. 13 Rockwall-Heath (Texas); No. 14 American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.)
Best game: IMG Academy 3, Blessed Trinity 0. Taking on one of the top programs from Georgia, the Ascenders put together their second combined no-hitter of the season on the arms of Hickson and Gil. Hickson had 15 of IMG Academy's 17 strikeouts. Blessed Trinity got a strong pitching effort as well, however, giving up just two hits.
Player of the Week: Brennan Phillips, Owasso. The All-America candidate opened his season impressively with a five-inning, 15-strikeout win over Grant. He followed that effort with a two-hit shutout of Page (Sand Springs) with eigth strikeouts.
Games to watch: Orange Lutheran vs. JSerra Catholic. The two Trinity League foes meet three times this week. Although JSerra Catholic dropped out of the rankings last week, the Lions are the defending Trinity League and Southern Section champions while the Lancers finished second in league play last year and are ranked No. 4.
Streaks: Barbe won five games last week to bring its winning streak to 29. That total puts the Buccaneers tied at No. 3 among active streaks behind Roff (Okla.) with 43 and White River Valley (Vt.) with 35.
Josh Tiedemann, Hamilton
File photo by David Levy
1. St. Mary's Prep (Orchard Lake, Mich.)
Record: 0-0 |
Last week: 1
Next: Season begins March 30 vs. Shrine Catholic
2. IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)
Record: 6-0 |
Last week: 2
Results: Def. Huntsville 8-0, def. Hartselle 9-3, def. Blessed Trinity 3-0, def. Hoover 12-2.
Stats: Jackson Ferris and
Allan Gil combined for a no-hitter against Huntsville with Ferris striking out 13.
Brady Neal went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI against Hartselle.
Davion Hickson and Gil combined for a no-hitter against Blessed Trinity with Hickson striking out 15.
Elijah Green was 2-for-5 with four RBI against Hoover.
Next: Thur. vs. Sunshine State Academy; Sat. vs. Doral Academy.
3. Buford (Ga.)
Record: 8-0 |
Last week: 3
Results: Def. Jesuit (Tampa) 7-4, Marist 4-3, Gadsden City 10-5 and St. John's Country Day 8-7 at La Grange Invitational.
Stats: Dylan Lesko struck out nine to get the win over Jesuit.
Riley Stanford fanned 11 against Marist. Tournament MVP
Eli Parks went 4-for-4 with two doubles and a triple against Gadsden City. He added a home run against SJCD.
Next: Tues/Wed/Fri. vs. Lanier.
4. Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.)
Record: 5-0 |
Last week: 4
Results: Did not play
Next: Tue/Wed./Fri vs. JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano)
5. Barbe (Lake Charles, La.)
Record: 11-0 |
Last week: 8
Results: Def. Glenmora 11-1, def. Parkway 10-0, def. Denham Springs 3-0, def. Mandeville 2-0, def. St. Thomas Aquinas 6-5.
Stats: Landon Victorian struck out seven against Aquinas.
Gavin Guidry struck out 14 and gave up one hit against Denham Springs. He added two home runs against Mandeville.
Next: Wed. vs. St. Louis Catholic.
6. Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.)
Record: 9-0 |
Last week: 9
Results: Def. Windward 5-0, def. Viewpoint 12-0, def. Windward 3-1.
Stats: Jaden Noot threw a six-inning no-hitter with 14 strikeouts against Windward.
Eddie Mgdesyan struck out seven in a one-hitter against Viewpoint while Noot added a home run.
Kassius Thomas got the win over Windward in a 3-1 win with eight strikeouts.
Next: Tues. vs. Agoura, Thur. vs. Crespi.
7. Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.)
Record: 3-0 |
Last week: 11
Results: Def. Corona del Sol 13-1; def. Red Mountain 5-4, def. O'Connor 11-1.
Stats: Josh Tiedemann and
Liam Wilson both homered against Corona del Sol. Wilson added a home run against Red Mountain.
Gavin Turley,
Zach Wadas and
Jeter Mauzey each had a home run against O'Connor.
Next: Tue. vs. Mountain Pointe, Wed. vs. Chaparral, Thur. vs. Chandler.
8. Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas)
Record: 6-0 |
Last week: 12
Results: Def. Shadow Ridge 7-4, def. Rancho 10-0, def. Cimarron Memorial 19-4, def. Palo Verde 12-2, def. Cimarron Memorial 7-3, def. Centennial 15-5.
Stats: Justin Crawford is off to a strong start for the Gaels, batting .571 with 11 RBI and two home runs in six games.
Gunnar Myro is batting .588 while
Billy Scaldeferri and
Easton Shelton each had two home runs.
Next: Wed. vs. Green Valley, Sat. vs. Palo Verde.
9. Servite (Anaheim, Calif.)
Record: 5-0 |
Last week: 10
Results: Did not play.
Next: March 15 vs. Orange Lutheran
10. The First Academy (Orlando, Fla.)
Record: 5-0 |
Last week: 15
Results: Def. Trinity Prep (Winter Park) 14-0, def. South Lake 5-0.
Stats: D.J. Brazelton had a home run against Trinity Prep while
Ben Barrett and
Greg Pettay each had a home run against South Lake.
Next: Sat. vs. Dr. Phillips.
11. Taravella (Coral Springs, Fla.)
Record: 5-0 |
Last week: 16
Results: Def. Coral Springs Charter 5-4, def. Cardinal Gibbons 2-0.
Stats: Christopher Scinta struck out seven against Coral Springs Charter while
Ryan Meekins struck out seven against Cardinal Gibbons.
Next: Tue. vs. Monarch, Fri. vs. St. Thomas Aquinas.
12. Stoneman Douglas (Parkland, Fla.)Record: 4-1 |
Last week: 17
Results: def. St. Thomas Aquinas 6-0, def. Flanagan 15-3.
Stats: Jake Clemente hit two home runs and Roman Anthony had one against St. Thomas Aquinas. Clemente also struck out nine for the win.
Santiago Ordonez went 4-for-4 against Flanagan.
Next: Tue. vs. Barron Collier, Thur. vs. West Broward.
13. Tompkins (Katy, Texas)
Record: 9-0 |
Last week: 18
Results: Def. Magnolia 5-3, def. Montgomery 10-0, def. Kingwood Park 6-4, def. Montgomery 13-1.
Stats: Solomon Rotberg struck out nine in a six-inning no-hitter against Montgomery.
Jace Laviolette went 3-for-4 with two triples and two RBI in the 13-1 win over Montgomery.
Next: Thur. vs. George Ranch, Magnolia.
14. Owasso (Okla.)
Record: 6-0 |
Last week: 21
Results: Def. Grant 27-0 and 19-0; def. Coweta 23-4, def. Tahlequah 17-4, def. Muskogee 9-0, def. Page 5-0.
Stats: Brennan Phillips opened his season with a five-inning perfect game with 15 strikeouts against Grant.
Solomon Skalnik had a grand slam and
Bennett Flanary had a home run in the win.
Jackson Farrell also had a five-inning perfect game in the second contest, striking out 14. Phillips added a home run against Coweta while
Jackson Smith had two home runs against Tahlequah. Skalnik and
Austin Thulin each homered against Muskogee. Phillips threw a two-hit shutout with eight strikeouts against Page.
Next: Tue. vs. Page, Thur. vs. Chickasaw.
15. Deer Creek (Edmond, Okla.)
Record: 3-0 |
Last week: 23
Results: Def. Carl Albert 9-8, def. Heritage Hall 13-8, def. Putnam City 22-0.
Stats: Luke Schimmels had a double and two RBI and
Ashton Hartwig had a triple and two RBI against Carl Albert.
Brett McComas had a home run and
Duncan Key had a double and a triple against Heritage Hall. The Antlers scored 14 runs in one inning and took advantage of 10 errors against Putnam City.
Next: Tues. vs. Putnam City. Thur. vs. Washington.
16. Allatoona (Acworth, Ga.)
Record: 9-0 |
Last week: NR
Results: Def. Trinity Christian (Sharpsburg, Ga.) 15-1, 14-4; def. Mill Creek 6-2, North Cobb
Stats: Aidan Jolley is batting .357 with 13 RBI and two home runs while
William Mosley is batting .440 with two home runs.
Ethan Sutton also had 13 RBI and two home runs and a .478 batting average.
Next: Wed. vs. Sprayberry
17. The Woodlands (Texas)
Record: 5-0 |
Last week: NR
Results: Def. Cypress Woods 7-1, def. Klein Oak 6-1, def. Caney Creek 8-5, def. San Antonio Houston 5-0, def. Klein 11-4.
Next: Tues. vs. Lake Creek.
18. Teurlings Catholic (Lafayette, La.)
Record: 9-0 |
Last week: NR
Results: Def. St. Anne-Pacelli 9-7, def. John Carroll Catholic 15-2, def. Resurrection Catholic 6-5, def. Pensacola Catholic 12-2.
Next: Tues. vs. Tioga.
19. Rancho Bernardo (San Diego)
Record: 5-0 |
Last week: NR
Results: Def. Temecula Valley 9-1.
Next: March 14 vs. Mission Hills.
20. Sumrall (Miss.)
Record: 9-0 |
Last week: NR
Results: Def. Parklane Academy 8-3, def. Madison-Ridgeland 5-3.
Next: Tues. vs. Greene County.
21. Baylor (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
Record: 0-0 |
Last week: 19
Next: Season begins March 14 vs. Upperman
22. Hanover (Mechanicsville, Va.)
Record: 0-0 |
Last week: 20
Next: Season begins March 18 vs. Deep Run
23. Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.)
Record: 0-0 |
Last week: 22
Next: Season begins March 24 vs. Emerson
24. Walsh Jesuit (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio)
Record: 0-0 |
Last week: 24
Next: Season starts March 26 vs. Mentor
25. American Fork (Utah)
Record: 0-0 |
Last week: 25
Next: Season begins March 11 at Jordan.
