With the 2008 high school baseball season winding down around
the country, two constants all year at the top of the PG Crosschecker Top 50 high
school rankings have been No. 1 American Heritage High of Plantation, Fla., (29-2)
and No. 2 Bishop Gorman High of Las Vegas (38-3). The two teams began the season
ranked 1-2 and re-established those positions in the latest bi-weekly rankings.
The mid-April rankings had American Heritage at No. 5 nationally,
but other than that American Heritage and Bishop Gorman have been in the top two
spots all year. We’ll take a close-up look at both teams as they move toward winning
state championships.
American Heritage
American Heritage, which may have as many as six or seven
players drafted in June including projected first-rounder Eric Hosmer, has
cruised into the Final 4 in the Florida 3-A tournament. The Final 4 will be held
May 19-20 in Sarasota. The Patriots run to a championship might have become a little
easier as No. 37 Clearwater Central Catholic High (26-4) was bounced in the quarter-finals
by John Carroll High of Fort Pierce.
The offense continues to roll for the Patriots, who have
now hit 74 home runs through 31 games. Six players have hit eight or more, including
senior outfielder Joey Belviso (.506-15-36), junior shortstop Deven Marrero
(.475-9-39) and Hosmer (.451-11-26). Amazingly, out of the six players that
have hit at least eight homers, Aflac All American catcher Adrian Nieto (.372-5-38)
and College of Charleston-bound outfielder Austin Yeager (.416-4-16) are
not among them.
The Patriots pitching staff has been dominant, as well,
with senior lefthander Ryan Kahn (9-0, 0.86), and senior righthanders Gregory
Conver (6-1, 1.00) and Juan Carlos Sulbaran (10-0, 1.28) leading
the charge. Coming out of the bullpen, Hosmer (0-1, 0.42, 5 SV) has been dominant
with a fastball that has peaked at 96 mph.
Bishop Gorman
While American Heritage’s offense has put up some impressive
numbers so far, it has an equal in Bishop Gorman. The Gaels are averaging more than
12 runs per contest while hitting .422 as a team. They have slugged 58 home runs.
Eight players with more than 100 at-bats on the year are posting batting averages
in excess of .350. A pair of juniors lead the way in first baseman Jeff Malm
(.577-7-70) and outfielder Joey Rickard (.508-11-52, 84 runs).
Two senior righthanders, Donn Roach (8-1, 1.54) and
Paul Sewald (6-0, 1.73), pace a pitching that has a team ERA of 1.98. Rickard
(7-0, 1.97) and Malm (7-2, 2.73) also have played key roles for Bishop Gorman’s
pitching staff.
Florida
The Final 4 is set in the Florida 6-A ranks with No. 4 Lake
Brantley High of Altamonte Springs (27-3) and No. 7 Park Vista High of Lake Worth
(30-1) sitting on opposites sides of the bracket, poised to play each other in the
final. In just its fourth year of existence, Park Vista is hoping to become the
first Palm Beach County school in more a decade to win a state title.
Louisiana State-bound lefthander Chris Matulis (10-0)
and Eric Rice (9-1) are the mainstays of the Park Vista pitching staff. Lake
Brantley will face No. 48 Goleman High of Hialeah (26-3) in one semi-final, while
Park Vista will take on Lakeland High (24-9) in the other semi-final. Lakeland claimed
the biggest upset in the 6-A tournament to date when it knocked out 2007 state champion
and No. 19 Sarasota High (25-3) 6-5 in the regional semi-finals.
The chase for the Florida 5-A championship should also be
a very interesting one with four fairly even teams set for the Final 4. Entering
the year, Niceville High (22-10) had big expectations with one of the best 1-2 pitching
punches in the country in lefthander Brett Devall and righthander Austin Wood
fronting their rotation. Both pitchers could be significant draft picks in June,
Devall possibly as high as the first round.
Niceville was nationally-ranked entering the season, but
had to forfeit its first seven games. The Eagles appear be the favorite to win the
5-A title. No. 44 Dunedin High (24-6), however, played the role of giant-killer
by knocking off No. 29 Plant HS of Tampa (25-4), which was ranked third in the PG
Crosschecker pre-season ranking. Dunedin will face off against Brandon High (25-6)
in one semi-final, while Niceville will take on South Fork (26-5) in the other.
Texas
At the beginning of the 2008 season, Houston’s Cy Fair High
and No. 20 Moody High of Corpus Christi (27-4) both looked like solid bets to repeat
as state champions as they each had deep and experienced rosters returning. Two
weeks into the Texas state playoffs, both teams have been eliminated.
Moody was stunned by Alice High, 9-6, in the second round
of the playoffs. With Moody gone, local rival and No. 9 Calallen High (34-1) and
No. 34 Highland Park High of Dallas (32-6) now rank as favorites to win the state
4-A championship.
Nine Texas schools in the Top 50 are still alive in the
state tournament. No. 5 Plano West High (32-0) leads the group of 5-A schools, but
it will be sure to see lots of competition from the schools in the Greater Houston
area. No. 13 Alvin High (30-4) might have scored the most impressive playoff victory
by sweeping No. 40 Atascocita High (29-5) in the second round of the playoffs.
One team to keep an eye on that is presently outside the
Top 50 is Georgetown High (23-8), which was 11th in the PG Crosschecker
pre-season poll. The Eagles struggled during the regular season, but swept a strong
Klein Collins squad in the second round and have two Texas-bound pitchers, including
potential early-round pick Taylor Jungmann to make serious noise in the playoffs.
California
California is not quite as far along as Florida and Texas
in the playoffs, but one team that has consistently been near the top of the rankings
all year is No. 6 Los Alamitos High (24-3). The Griffins continue to be impressive
on the mound, posting a 1.80 team ERA. Junior Beau Wright (8-0, 0.90) and
senior Kyle Simon (8-2, 1.15) lead the way for the Griffins, who will be
gunning for a sectional championship. California does not have a formal state championship.
No. 23 Patriot High of Riverside (24-2) has been moving
up in the rankings all year and much of that surge can be credited to the impressive
offensive years from two seniors. Likely first-round pick Kyle Skipworth
(.580-13-47) has been breaking state records all spring, starting with a state-best
18 consecutive hit streak. Senior first baseman Matt Lollis (.527-7-43) teams
with Skipworth and a Patriots pitching staff that has posted a 2.08 team ERA to
form one of Southern California’s best teams.
Rest of the Country
Defending state champion Owasso High (33-3) will be making
its 11th appearance in the Oklahoma state championship game in the last
12 years and will be looking to capture the school’s 10th state championship overall.
The Rams were scheduled to play Moore High May 13 in the championship game.
The Georgia 5-A state tournament should be one of the most
interesting in the country as it includes several teams that have been in the national
rankings throughout the year. Defending state champion Walton High of Marietta (21-7)
started the year ranked 10th in the country, but has struggled at times.
Two other Georgia schools that have been in the rankings since the second week are
No. 8 Brookwood High of Snellville (26-2) and No. 45 Kell High of Marietta (23-6).
One other Marietta school to keep an eye is perennial power
Lassiter High (20-8), led by Aflac All-American Michael Palazzone. Lassiter
is in line to meet Brookwood in the semi-finals, while Kell and Walton also could
meet as they are both on the same side of the bracket.
It is rare to see New Jersey with a national championship
contender for the second year in a row, but that is the case with third-ranked Don
Bosco Prep of Ramsey (20-0) hoping to duplicate the feat of Seton Hall Prep in 2007.
The Ironmen flexed their muscle on May 3, handling Mamaroneck High of New York and
its ace Sean Hagan, 7-0. Boston College-bound righthander Mike Dennhardt
threw a complete-game three-hitter and was up to 92 mph on the radar gun. Don Bosco,
with four potential picks in this year’s draft, has the ability to be one of the
best high school teams to ever come out of the Northeast.