MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Baseball Rankings

A crazy year with multiple changes at the top of the Xcellent 25 National Baseball Rankings just got crazier.

Not only did Orange Lutheran, the No. 1 team in the country, fall last week during postseason play. But Calallen, the No. 4 team and favorite in the Texas 4A state playoffs, also lost.

But that wasn't all.

Harvard-Westlake and JW North, two heavy hitters in California's Southern Section playoffs, were both ousted. Montwood, one of the top-ranked teams in Texas, also fell. Maize, one of the few undefeated teams last year, lost in the first round of the Kansas 6A state playoffs. Farragut, in search of its fifth-straight Tennessee 3A state championship, lost to eventual champion Arlington.

In all, 12 teams exited the Xcellent 25 this week while four others made significant drops.

That left the No. 1 spot open for Mater Dei, which won the National High School Invitational just two months ago. While the Monarchs do have two losses to Orange Lutheran, they can trump the Lancers in these ratings with a first-place finish in the Southern Section Division I playoffs to go along with the first-place trophy at the NHSI.

Waiting in the wings is Bishop Gorman, which moves up to No. 2. The Gaels' season is over after winning a record seventh-straight Nevada 4A state championship.

MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Baseball Rankings

1. (2) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 21-5
The Monarchs ascend to the No. 1 spot in the rankings after Orange Lutheran's loss and their wins over Temecula Valley and Esperanza in the Southern Section Division I playoffs. Ty Moore was 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBIs in a 6-5 victory over Temecula Valley. He then threw a complete game in a 5-2 victory over Esperanza for his 12th win of the season (12-1). He also singled and scored a run in the win while striking out six and walking two on the mound.

2. (3) Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), 40-3
Nevada 4A state champions. Season over.

3. (7) Carroll (Corpus Christi, Texas), 30-4
Courtney Hawkins homered, his 11th of the season, and also pitched two innings of relief to get the win in Carroll's 2-1 victory over Sharyland (Mission) in a Texas 5A regional semifinal. Carroll, which also won 4-0 on Friday, got an RBI single from Chris Cano in the ninth inning to break the tie and help the Tigers advance to a regional final against Alexander (Laredo).

4. (5) Columbus (Ga.), 33-4
The Blue Devils swept Ringgold on Monday 6-3 and 11-1 to claim the AAA state championship. Last week, the Blue Devils dropped the second game of their Georgia AAA semifinal series with Troup County, splitting the first two games with a 9-0 win and then a 5-1 loss before finally claiming a 7-1 victory to advance to the championship series against Ringgold. Pierce Ressmeyer was 3-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs while Tony Dalponte also drove in a pair of runs with a double in the clinching 7-1 victory. Columbus won 9-0 on the pitching of Kyle Carter.

5. (6) Martin (Arlington, Texas), 36-4-1
Bell gave Martin a scare, winning the first game of their series 3-1, but the Warriors rallied for a pair of wins on Saturday to advance to the regional finals. Martin won 6-1 thanks to a Collin Lawrence home run. Drew Dowdy homered in an 8-4 victory in the second game.

6. (8) Spruce Creek (Port Orange, Fla.), 28-4
Florida 8A state champions. Season over.

7. (9) Olympia (Orlando, Fla.), 29-1
Season over.

8. (10) American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.), 27-4
Florida 5A state champions. Season over.

9. (11) Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.), 28-2
Season over.

10. (13) Parkview (Lilburn, Ga.), 31-6
Parkview collected its second-straight Georgia AAAAA state title on the hitting and pitching heroics of Matt Olson. Going up against a Brookwood team it had lost to twice during the regular season, Parkview collected a 5-2 victory in the first game and a 6-3 win in the second. Olson pitched a complete game and had a two-run homer in Game 1. Olson also hit a home run in the seventh inning to lead Parkview to a 6-3 win and a two-game sweep of the Broncos. Parkview also swept Mill Creek 5-4 and 5-0 in the semifinals.

11. (14) Ashley Ridge (Summerville, S.C.), 31-2
South Carolina 4A state champions. Season over.

12. (1) Orange Lutheran (Calif.), 23-5
After defeating Vista Murrieta 7-2 in the second round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs, Orange Lutheran lost to West Ranch 5-4 on a sixth-inning, two-out, two-run ground-rule double by Jagger Rusconi.

13. (4) Calallen (Corpus Christi, Texas), 33-2
Boerne-Champion shocked the No. 1-ranked Texas 4A team with a 4-3 win in a single-elimination game in the 4A state championships, thus eliminating the Wildcats from the postseason. Wyatt Mathisen lost his first game of the season (11-1) and Calallen stranded 10 baserunners in the process.

14. (15) Lake Braddock (Burke, Va.), 21-2
Lake Braddock topped West Springfield 7-2 and whipped Wakefield 22-7 in its only two games last week. Chuck Feola had a home run and three RBIs in the win over Wakefield.

15. (20) Liberty (Mo.), 27-3
Liberty advanced to Friday's semifinal against Rockwood Summit with a 6-0 win over Winnetonka and a 4-2 victory over Rockhurst. Lucas Norton had a home run in the win over Rockhurst and Spencer Schwandt was the winning pitcher.

16. (21) Providence Catholic (New Lenox, Ill.), 27-6
Providence Catholic advanced to the sectional tournament with a 13-3 win over Eisenhower (Blue Island) and a 10-2 victory over Lincoln-Way East (Frankfort) in the regional playoffs. It will face Marist (Chicago) on Wednesday.

17. (18) Columbus (Miami), 28-5
Season over.

18. (22) Oak Grove (Hattiesburg, Miss.), 34-3
Mississippi 6A state champions. Season over.

19. (23) Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 27-4-1
Florida 6A state champions. Season over.

20. (24) St. Laurence (Burbank, Ill.), 30-4-1
St. Laurence topped Whitney Young (Chicago) 9-0 and Proviso East (Maywood) 10-3 to advance to the sectional tournament. St. Laurence faces Lyons (LaGrange) on Wednesday.

21. (25) Oxford (Ala.), 39-13
Alabama 6A state champions. Season over.

22. (37) Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village, Colo.), 24-3
Derik Beauprez struck out nine in a 6-0 win over Legend to give Cherry Creek the Colorado 5A state championship. Cherry Creek also defeated Highland Ranch and Regis Jesuit in the two games leading up to the championship matchup.

23. (45) Pensacola Catholic (Fla.), 25-3
Cooper Jones went the distance to get the 7-2 win over Bishop Verot in the Florida 4A state championship game for the Crusaders. Pensacola Catholic broke the game open with six runs in the first inning. Chad Westlake had a double and three RBIs.

24. (47) Lake Central (St. John, Ind.), 27-1
Jimmy McNamara struck out 12 in Lake Central's 7-0 sectional playoff opener win over Munster and is ranked No. 1 in the state of Indiana.

25. (48) Grove City (Ohio), 25-2
Grove City advanced to the Ohio Division I semifinals with a 7-4 win over Olentangy Orange and an 11-1 win over Olentangy and will face Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati) on Thursday.

The Next 25

26. (26) Edmond North (Okla.), 24-15
Oklahoma 6A state champions. Season over.

27. (27) Broken Arrow (Okla.), 35-5
Season over.

28. (28) Owasso (Okla.), 29-5
Season over.

29. (29) Carl Albert (Midwest City, Okla.), 39-3
Oklahoma 5A state champions. Season over.

30. (33) Chaparral (Scottsdale, Ariz.), 27-7
Arizona Division 1 state champions. Season over.

31. (35) Barbe (Lake Charles, La.), 32-6
Louisiana 5A state champions. Season over.

32. (46) Spanish Fort (Ala.), 37-8
Alabama 5A state champions. Season over.

33. (NR) Calvert Hall (Baltimore), 30-6
Defeated Archbishop Curley for the MIAA A championship.

34. (49) Malvern Prep (Pa.), 30-5
Malvern Prep advanced to the Pennsylvania Independent Schools baseball tournament championship game with a 10-0 win over Chestnut Hill. Joe Ravert hit two home runs and picked up the shutout win.

35. (50) Roseburg (Ore.), 24-2
The top seed in the Oregon 6A state playoffs won three times, beating McKay 11-3, Southridge 4-1 and Beaverton 2-0. Roseburg will play Oregon City today in the semifinals.

36. (19) Bishop Verot (Fort Myers, Fla.), 29-3
Bishop Verot edged Monsignor Pace 1-0 in the Florida 4A state semifinals, but it lost to Pensacola Catholic 7-2 in the championship game.

37. (NR) Rockwall-Heath (Rockwall, Texas), 35-8
Rockwall-Heath advanced to the Region 2 finals in the Texas 4A state playoffs with a 15-5, 3-2 win over Whitehouse.

38. (NR) Grand Street Campus (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 17-1
Ranked No. 1 in New York City by the New York Post.

39. (36) Byrnes (Duncan, S.C.), 21-4
Season over.

40. (NR) Kentwood (Covington, Wash.), 25-2
Kentwood defeated Puyallup 4-1 in the Washington 4A state championship game. Taylor Jones got the win despite battling a groin injury.

41. (NR) Arlington (Tenn.), 34-11
Arlington captured the Tennessee AAA state championship.

42. (NR) Alexander (Laredo, Texas), 30-5
Alexander advanced to the Texas 5A Region 4 finals against Carroll with a 3-2, 1-6, 6-5 series win over Churchill.

43. (NR) Cypress Ranch (Houston), 28-8
Cypress Ranch advanced to the Texas 5A Region 3 final against Kempner with a 10-2, 2-1 win over Fort Bend Clements.

44. (NR) Carroll (Southlake, Texas), 23-10
Carroll advanced to the Texas 5A Region 1 final against Martin with a 1-2, 5-1, 5-2 win over Montwood.

45. (NR) Venice (Fla.), 24-8
Florida 7A state champion.

46. (NR) Vista (Calif.), 27-3
Vista advanced to third round of the San Diego Section Division I playoffs.

47. (NR) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego), 28-5
Cathedral Catholic advanced to the third round of the San Diego Section Division III playoffs.

48. (NR) West Ranch (Valencia, Calif.), 21-8-1
West Ranch upset No. 1 Orange Lutheran 5-4 to advance to the Southern Section Division I semifinals.

49. (38) Fairhope (Ala.), 36-8
Season over.

50. (12) Montwood (El Paso, Texas), 35-4
Montwood lost twice to Carroll (Southlake) in the Texas 5A regional semifinals, falling 5-1 and 5-2. Season over.

Dropped Out: No. 16 Harvard-Westlake, No. 17 St. Francis, No. 30 JW North, No. 31 Mount Juliet, No. 32 Farragut, No. 34 Maize, No. 39 Gainesville, No. 40 Lexington, No. 41 Estero, No. 42 Spain Park, No. 43 Pelham, No. 44 Sharyland.