With the 74th annual National Baseball
Congress World Series in full swing, the Cape Cod League regular season winding
down and several summer league championships already decided, teams are
jockeying for position at the top of PG Crosschecker’s weekly Summer 16 ranking
of summer college league teams.
The Cape Cod League’s Orleans Cardinals had held the No.
1 spot the last two weeks and still have the best record in the nation’s most
prestigious summer college league, but seven losses in their last eight games
have sent the Cardinals tumbling out of the top position to No. 4 overall. The
Alaska League champion Anchorage Glacier Pilots, currently unbeaten at the NBC
World Series, assumed the No. 1 position. The Pilots have won the NBC World
Series five times in their history, most recently in 2001.
Like we did a week ago and will continue to do so the
remainder of the 2008 summer season, we’ve super-sized our Summer 16 rankings
to include 32 teams—a reflection of the growing national interest in the
rankings and summer ball in general.
Despite its recent swoon, Orleans has already clinched
first place in the Cape’s Eastern Division and earned a place in the league’s
playoffs. The Western Division is very much up in the air with four teams
within three points of each other with two regular-season games remaining. The
top two teams in each division advance to the playoffs. Five Cape teams are
ranked on the attached list.
The 42-team NBC World Series, meanwhile, could have a
significant impact on the final Summer 16 ranking as eight PG
Crosschecker-ranked teams are participating.
The PG Crosschecker rankings are based, in part, on
overall record, league dominance, legitimate pro-level talent and the relative
overall strength of the league compared to other leagues around the country. No
teams with sub-.500 records are considered. The team rankings serve as a warmup
to our individual league rankings of the top prospects, which we will unveil
later in August.
Here are this week’s PG Crosschecker Summer 16 (32)
summer college baseball rankings, with records through Aug. 5 (last week’s
ranking noted in parentheses).
| Rank |
Team (Last Week) |
League |
Record |
Current Status |
| 1. |
*Anchorage Glacier Pilots (2) |
Alaska |
31-11 |
Alaska champs 1-0 at NBC World Series |
| 2. |
Youse's Maryland Orioles (3) |
Cal Ripken Sr. |
46-7 |
Ripken champs seek 6th AAABA title in row |
| 3. |
Luray (Va.) Wranglers (7) |
Valley |
37-15 |
Valley champs win 7 straight playoff games |
| 4. |
Orleans (Mass.) Cardinals (1) |
Cape Cod |
24-16 |
Clinched first place in Cape's East Division |
| 5. |
*Vienna (Va.) Senators (6) |
Clark Griffith |
38-12 |
Senators are 1-0 at NBC World Series |
| 6. |
Cotuit (Mass.) Kettleers (26) |
Cape Cod |
22-18 |
Kettleers cling to top spot in West Division |
| 7. |
Newport (R.I.) Gulls (17) |
New England Collegiate |
29-16 |
Gulls in NECBL playoffs, on 9-game win streak
|
| 8. |
Cincinnati Steam (9) |
Great Lakes |
31-10 |
Steam won regular season, unbeaten in playoffs |
| 9. |
Thomasville (N.C.) HiToms (10) |
Coastal Plain |
37-19 |
Defending CPL champs are 21-7 in second half |
| 10. |
Corvallis (Ore.) Knights (13) |
West Coast Collegiate |
28-10 |
Knights open big gap in WCCL standings |
| 11. |
Falmouth (Mass.) Commodores (4) |
Cape Cod |
22-19 |
Lost Jimmy Cesario (.387), best hitter, to pro ball |
| 12. |
*Santa Barbara Foresters (12) |
California Collegiate |
33-16 |
2006 NBC champs surging at right time |
| 13. |
*Hays (Kan.) Larks (15) |
Jayhawk |
32-16 |
Jayhawk champs are 1-0 at NBC World Series |
| 14. |
*Beatrice (Neb.) Bruins (16) |
MINK |
29-7 |
MINK season champs primed for big NBC run |
| 15. |
Wisconsin Woodchucks (25) |
Northwoods |
38-23 |
Woodchucks move to NWL's best overall record |
| 16. |
Sanford Mainers (8) |
New England Collegiate |
30-15 |
Mainers move on to second round of playoffs |
| 17. |
*Havasu (Ariz.) Heat (NR) |
Pacific Southwest |
44-1 |
Defending NBC champs no longer a surprise |
| 18. |
Waynesboro (Va.) Generals (5) |
Valley |
32-17 |
Season champs bowed quickly in Valley playoffs |
| 19. |
Hyannis (Mass.) Mets (11) |
Cape Cod |
22-20 |
Mets may be hard pressed to make post-season |
| 20. |
Mat-Su Miners (22) |
Alaska |
26-15 |
Miners made big late push for Alaska crown |
| 21. |
*Kenai Peninsula Oilers (27) |
Alaska |
31-17 |
Three-time former NBC champs are 2-0 |
| 22. |
Mankato (Minn.) MoonDogs (14) |
Northwoods |
38-24 |
C Carlos Ramirez (.315-10-43) swinging big stick |
| 23. |
*Derby (Kan.) Twins (21) |
Jayhawk |
26-15 |
Twins dropped opener at NBC World Series |
| 24. |
Peninsula (Va.) Pilots (NR) |
Coastal Plain |
32-24 |
RHP Deck McGuire (7-0, 1.28) leads Pilots staff |
| 25. |
Keene (N.H.) SwampBats |
New England Collegiate |
27-17 |
Bats move on to second round of NECBL playoffs |
| 26. |
Glens Falls (N.Y.) Golden Eagles (NR) |
New York Collegiate |
35-10 |
Eagles (4-0) on roll in post-season play |
| 27. |
Thunder Bay (Ont.) BorderCats (19) |
Northwoods |
37-25 |
Cats in cat fight for top spot in North Division |
| 28. |
Harwich (Mass.) Mariners (18) |
Cape Cod |
22-20 |
Mariners in position to advance to Cape playoffs |
| 29. |
Wilson (N.C.) Tobs (30) |
Coastal Plain |
31-24 |
Tobs on 19-9 second-half surge
|
| 30. |
Lehigh Valley (Pa.) Catz (28) |
Atlantic Collegiate |
26-13 |
ACBL's best team lost opener of playoffs |
| 31. |
Stark County (Ohio) Terriers (32) |
Great Lakes |
26-15 |
Great Lakes No. 2 team dropped playoff opener |
| 32. |
McKinney Marshalls (29) |
Texas Collegiate |
26-20 |
Marshalls are best club in balanced TCL |