High school baseball rankings: Early-season matchups in Southern California tweak Top 25

High school baseball is underway in a handful of states but there have already been a number of games that affected the Top 25, including a series of matchups in Southern California.

Corona (Calif.), ranked No. 5 in the preseason, knocked off a pair of the top teams at the Prep Baseball California Spring Invitational in Irvine. The Panthers beat defending National High School Invitational champion Huntington Beach an defending Southern Section Division 1 champion JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano). Huntington Beach entered the season at No. 16 while JSerra Catholic was No. 10.

Corona is expected to meet Orange Lutheran (Orange), which also went 3-0 during the first part of the tournament including a win over No. 13 Harvard-Westlake (Studio City), in the championship game sometime this week depending on the weather. The Lancers were ranked No. 11 in the preseason but moved up to No. 10 in this week’s rankings.

Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Georgia also began play last week with No. 1 Stoneman Douglas (Parkland, Fla.) holding on to the top spot with a pair of wins. The Eagles have upped their win streak to 53 games and are closing in on the state’s all-time record of 60 in a row by Calvary Christian (Clearwater).

The only team to drop out of the rankings was Catholic-B.R. (Baton Rouge, La.), which lost to Sam Houston (Lake Charles, La.) last week. Jackson Prep (Jackson, Miss.), which opened its season with six straight wins, moved into the HS Top 25 at No. 25.

Top 25 baseball rankings

1. Stoneman Douglas (Parkland, Fla.)
Record: 2-0 | Last week: 1
Scores: def. West Broward, 4-3; def. West Boca Raton, 4-3
Hitter of the week: Devin Fitz-Gerald went 2-for-4 over two games with two home runs and three RBI.
Pitcher of the week: Gio Rojas went three innings and gave up no runs on one hit with nine strikeouts.
Next: Wednesday vs. Westminster Academy

2. West Monroe (La.)
Record: 0-0 | Last week: 2
Next: Wednesday vs. Catholic-B.R. (Baton Rouge)

3. IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)
Record: 0-0 | Last week: 3
Next: Wednesday vs. Braden River (Bradenton)

4. American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.)
Record: 0-0 | Last week: 4
Next: Tuesday vs. South Fork (Stuart)

5. Corona (Calif.)
Record: 3-0 | Last week: 5
Scores: Def. Ayala, 2-0; def. Huntington Beach, 4-2; def. JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano), 4-1
Hitter of the week: Seth Hernandez went 4-for-9 with a double, a triple and a three RBI in three games.
Pitcher of the week: Sam Burgess picked up a win, giving up no runs on three hits in five innings with seven strikeouts.
Next: Thursday vs. Orange Lutheran

6. Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.)
Record: 0-0 | Last week: 6
Next: Tuesday vs. Cypress Creek (Wesley Chapel)

7. Parkview (Lilburn, Ga.)
Record: 2-0 | Last week: 7
Scores: Def. North Gwinnett (Suwanee), 11-5; def. Marist (Atlanta), 10-2
Hitter of the week: Adrian Jimenez went 4-for-6 with four runs, three RBI and a triple in the two wins.
Pitcher of the week: Thorpe Musci went three innings to pick up a win, giving up two runs on two hits with five strikeouts.
Next: Wednesday vs. Lassiter (Marietta)

8. Lewisburg (Olive Branch, Miss.)
Record: 2-0 | Last week: 8
Scores: Def. Center Hill, 7-0, 11-1
Hitter of the week: Austin Hannigan went 3-for-7 with three runs and three RBI in the two wins.
Pitcher of the week: Stone McCaughey picked up a win last week, giving up no runs on one hit in three innings with five strikeouts and no walks.
Next: Tuesday vs. Kirk Academy

9. Flower Mound (Texas)
Record: 0-0 | Last week: 9
Next: Thursday vs. Barbe (Lake Charles, La.)

10. Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.)
Record: 3-0 | Last week: 11
Scores: Def. Etiwanda, 3-2; def. Maranatha, 11-3; def. Harvard-Westlake, 4-3
Hitter of the week: Ben Reiland went 4-for-4 (.444) over the three wins, driving in three runs and connecting for a double.
Pitcher of the week: Brady Strohm went 2.2 innings against Harvard-Westlake, giving up no runs on no hits with no walks and three strikeouts for the win.
Next: Wednesday vs. Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks)

11. Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.)
Record: 0-0 | Last week: 12
Next: Feb. 29 vs. Basic (Henderson)

12. JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
Record: 2-1 | Last week: 10
Scores: Def. Mira Costa, 7-1; def. Gahr (Cerritos), 11-9; lost to Corona, 4-1
Next: Tuesday and Wednesday vs. Harvard-Westlake (Studio City)

13. Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.)
Record: 2-1 | Last week: 13
Scores: Def. South Hills, 3-1; def. Santa Margarita, 9-1; lost to Orange Lutheran, 4-3
Next: Tuesday and Wednesday vs. JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano)

14. Farragut (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Record: 0-0 | Last week: 14
Next: Saturday vs. Baylor (Chattanooga)

15. Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.)
Record: 0-0 | Last week: 15
Next: Feb. 26 vs. Tolleson

16. Huntington Beach (Calif.)
Record: 3-1 | Last week: 16
Scores: Def. Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks), 1-0; lost to Corona, 4-2; def. Gahr (Cerritos), 15-0; def. Cypress, 7-3
Hitter of the week: C.J. Weinstein went 3-for-4 with three RBI and two triples in a win over Gahr.
Pitcher of the week: Tanner Brown pitched three no-hit innings in the win over Notre Dame.
Next: Friday vs. Marcus (Flower Mound)

17. Barbe (Lake Charles, La.)
Record: 1-0 | Last week: 17
Scores: Def. South Beauregard, 14-3
Hitter of the week: J.D. Alexander went 4-for-4 with a double and five RBI in the win.
Pitcher of the week: Lawton Little went five innings and struck out 10 for the win.
Next: Tuesday vs. South Beauregard

18. Basic (Henderson, Nev.)
Record: 0-0 | Last week: 18
Next: Feb. 29 vs. Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas)

19. Chaparral (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
Record: 0-0 | Last week: 20
Next: Feb. 26 vs. Mountain Pointe (Phoenix)

20. Buford (Ga.)
Record: 1-0 | Last week: 21
Scores: Def. South Forsyth, 6-3
Hitter of the week: Ethan Murray went 2-for-2 with a home run and four RBI in the win.
Pitcher of the week: Damian Brown went 2.1 innings and gave up no runs on one hit with five strikeouts for the win.
Next: Tuesday vs. South Forsyth

21. Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Record: 0-0 | Last week: 22
Next: March 13 vs. Springboro

22. Argyle (Texas)
Record: 0-0 | Last week: 23
Next: Thursday vs. Carthage

23. North Broward Prep (Coconut Creek, Fla.)
Record: 0-0 | Last week: 24
Next: Wednesday vs. Schoolhouse Prep

24. Tomball (Texas)
Record: 0-0 | Last week: 25
Next: Friday vs. Polytechnic

25. Jackson Prep (Jackson, Miss.)
Record: 6-0 | Last week: NR
Scores: Def. Brookhaven Academy, 12-0; def. Riverfield Academy, 10-0; def. Lamar, 5-1; def. Tri-County Academy, 11-1; def. Lamar, 5-2; def. Heritage Academy, 9-0
Hitter of the week: Tre’ Bryant went 8-for-15 for the week (.533) with 2 home runs, a double and 12 RBI.
Pitcher of the week: Gardner Young went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 11 strikeouts.
Next: Tuesday vs. Tri-County Academy (Flora)