Baseball FAB 50 Rankings
Editor's note: The ESPN RISE FAB 50 baseball rankings are compiled by Doug Huff, Mark Tennis, Jon Mahoney, Matt Remsberg, Andrew Drennen and Chris Lawlor. This is the final ranking for the 2009 season.
Andrean High (Merrillville, Ind.) won the Indiana Class 3A state title with a 6-3 victory over West Vigo (West Terre Haute) this weekend and put the icing on a 33-2 season, including a 31-game win streak.
The victory also gave the 59ers' 30-year coach Dave Pishkur his second state crown in five years.
The fact that West Vigo was 28-1 entering the contest and owned a 26-game win streak provided more than enough ammunition for Andrean to jump into the final ESPN RISE FAB 50 national baseball rankings.
Andrean?s final ranking ended up at No. 33, as the 59ers essentially replaced previous No. 24 Crown Point of Indiana in the final rankings. Crown Point was eliminated in the Class 4A semifinals early last week, 4-3, by Snider of Fort Wayne.
Snider provided another interesting story line: The Panthers (24-5) rallied from a 3-2 deficit to beat Crown Point and in the state final they did it again to beat Westfield, 4-3, in eight innings. In fact, Snider?s last four games on its way to the state title saw the team rally from deficits, including back-to-back contests in which the Panthers were down by six and seven runs, respectively.
The other team to grab attention in Indiana during the final week of the season was Class 1A playoff participant Rivet (Vincennes). That team was only 11-10 entering the playoffs and needed a "membership drive" to field the roster, but had posted a series of upsets and was trying to win the first state team title in any sport in school history. In the Class 1A final, though, Lafayette Central Catholic posted a 14-1 win over Rivet.
With Indiana's champions crowned, the ESPN RISE FAB 50 rankings have also come to their completion.
Naples (Fla.) High moved up to the No. 1 position two weeks ago after two teams from Texas lost in the state playoffs. The Golden Eagles won their first 30 games of the season before taking two-of-three from Lake Wales in the state playoffs. In that series, their only loss was 4-3 and that ended up being their only loss of the season.
Coach Rick Turner?s squad then won its first Class 4A state title with a 3-2 win in the final over Bishop Moore of Orlando. That came after a 7-3 triumph over Archbishop McCarthy of Fort Lauderdale in the semifinals.
Other than Naples, the only other teams to hold the No. 1 ranking in the FAB 50 this season were Bellaire of Texas (twice), Jesuit of Tampa, Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas (preseason) and Moody of Texas.
Results through June 20.
| Final Rankings | |||||
| Rank | School | Record | Prev. Rank | Notes/Comments | |
| 1 | Naples (Naples, FL) | 33-1 | 1 | Senior pitcher/first baseman Josh Patton was recently named the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 4A Player of the Year after going 11-0 with a 0.90 ERA and 97 strikeouts while batting .355. The Golden Eagles also were led by junior third baseman Brad Fieger with a .452 batting average, while Kyle Zech batted .447. | |
| 2 | Owasso (Owasso, OK) | 35-4 | 2 | Like Naples, the Rams were coached by a Turner -- in their case, legendary Sooner State skipper Larry Turner. Owasso won the Oklahoma Class 6A crown when it topped Edmond Santa Fe, 10-1. It was the Rams' third consecutive state title. Austin Kirk was the Rams' ace on the mound, going 9-1. He won three games in the state tournament and was drafted in the third round by the Chicago Cubs. | |
| 3 | Sumrall (Sumrall, MS) | 36-0 | 3 | The Bobcats won their second consecutive Class 3A state title and became the first Mississippi team since 1996 to finish the year undefeated. Sumrall ran through its 2009 schedule in convincing fashion. In particular, the Bobcats outscored South Pontotoc, 21-5, in their two-game sweep of the state finals. Junior third baseman/pitcher Jackson Posey batted .505 on the season with 10 homers and 60 RBIs. | |
| 4 | Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, NV) | 40-4 | 5 | The Gaels won their fourth straight state championship, which is the second-best streak in Nevada history behind Green Valley's six in a row from 1993-98. Jeff Malm led a pitching staff that combined to allow just two runs in the final three games. Malm was the state's player of the year after hitting .564 with 69 RBIs and 17 homers while going 11-1 with a 1.50 ERA. | |
| 5 | Socorro (El Paso, TX) | 35-4 | 4 | Senior Cory Falvey came through again and again with big hits as the Bulldogs won the Class 5A state title and became the first team from El Paso to win a state crown since 1949. Socorro wasn't too high on the state's radar screen most of the season, but won its last four playoff games, starting with a two-game sweep of Flower Mound Marcus in the regional final and then wins at the final four against Austin Westlake and Lufkin. | |
| 6 | Northshore (Slidell, LA) | 34-2 | 6 | The Panthers outscored their opponents, 338-111, on the season and picked up their first-ever state title with a 7-2 victory over Dutchtown in the Class 5A finals. Senior catcher Chad Gough-Fortenberry was a key reason Northshore earned the crown. He batted .534 with 16 homers, 38 RBIs and a .612 on-base percentage. | |
| 7 | Alonso (Tampa, FL) | 30-3 | 7 | A 4-3 victory over Columbus of Miami in the Class 6A state final gave the Ravens their first state title. And Alonso has a good shot at defending its crown next year with the return of junior left-hander Thomas Dorminy and sophomore right-hander Jose Fernandez, both of whom pitched brilliantly during the postseason. Dorminy tossed a three-hitter against 2008 state champ Lake Brantley in the state semifinals. | |
| 8 | Farragut (Knoxville, TN) | 39-5 | 8 | Farragut's senior class capped a remarkable run of three state titles in four years by defeating Mt. Juliet, 2-1, in the Class AAA state title game.Senior Curt Powell, a Vanderbilt signee, led the charge in four state tournament games with a .500 average, five runs scored and five RBIs. Sophomore pitcher Philip Pfeifer leads the way for the next wave of Farragut stars. | |
| 9 | Richland (Richland, WA) | 24-2 | 9 | Coach Ben Jacobs and his son, Brett, led the Bombers to their third state title in the last five years. Brett, a shortstop headed to Washington State, was one of four Division I standouts who led the team. The other headed to the Pac-10 is pitcher Cody Shepherd, bound for Washington. | |
| 10 | Capistrano Valley (Mission Viejo, CA) | 26-6 | 10 | Led by pitchers Tyler Matzek and Kevin Chambers, the Cougars nailed down the CIF Southern Section Division I championship with semifinal and final shutouts against Riverside Poly and Edison of Huntington Beach. Matzek set single-season school records with 13 wins and five complete games while hitting .404 with nine homers and 32 RBIs, which helped him get picked 11th overall in the Major League Draft by the Colorado Rockies. | |
| 11 | Chatsworth (Chatsworth, CA) | 29-4 | 11 | The Chancellors had a chance to end the season as the top team in California but were edged out by Capistrano Valley. They do stake claim to being the state's team of the decade as they have now won six section championships since 2000, including one mythical national title. | |
| 12 | Desert Ridge (Mesa, AZ) | 29-5-1 | 12 | After blowing a huge lead, the Jaguars claimed the top spot in Arizona with a come from behind win over Horizon to win the Class 5A-II state championship. Senior shortstop Jerry Kleman led an offense that averaged over 9.5 runs a game with 49 hits while Jake Barrett hit 17 homers and Steven Bier hit 12 homers. | |
| 13 | Texas (Texarkana, TX) | 30-7 | 13 | Like Class 5A champ Socorro, the Tigers weren't too high in the various Class 4A state rankings, but they ended up on top after beating Moody, 4-3, in the title game. Senior Slade Heathcott hit three homers and had eight RBIs in the final two games of the regional finals vs. McKinney North. He then had four RBIs in the state semifinals against Brenham. | |
| 14 | Foy H. Moody (Corpus Christi, TX) | 37-4 | 14 | If the Trojans had been able to get past Texas High in the Class 4A state final they would have had an argument to be No. 1 in the final rankings. We would have still ranked Naples higher, but Moody was No. 1 until it lost one game in a three-game series against Calallen in the regional finals. Before that series, coach Corky Gallegos' team was 34-2 and had a shot to finish 38-2. | |
| 15 | The Bolles School (Jacksonville, FL) | 31-4 | 16 | The Bulldogs delivered arguably the most surprising performance of the postseason when they throttled defending state champion American Heritage, 14-4, in five innings in the Class 3A state finals. Bolles has a good shot at its sixth state title overall next year with the return of sophomore shortstop Austin Slater and junior right-hander Mark Lumpa. | |
| 16 | Edison (Huntington Beach, CA) | 23-6 | 15 | The Chargers were one win away from ending the year ranked No. 1 in California as they entered their section championship game in the top spot before losing 1-0 to Capistrano Valley. Josh Leshinski batted .360 with 28 RBIs while Donald Sneed hit .344 with seven homers and 21 RBIs. Kurt Heyer led the pitching staff with 11 wins and a 0.80 ERA with 116 strikeouts in 100 innings. | |
| 17 | Calallen (Corpus Christi, TX) | 35-5 | 18 | We'll give the Wildcats a slight boost in the final rankings since the team they lost to in the playoffs was No. 14 Moody and that was in a three-game series in which they won the second game. Calallen also earned an impressive series win earlier in the playoffs against Lake Travis of Austin, which was in the FAB 50 at the time. | |
| 18 | Mater Dei (Santa Ana, CA) | 24-6 | 17 | As part of a nine-game winning streak to open the season, the Monarchs defeated FAB 50-ranked Capistrano Valley by a 4-3 score in their only meeting of the year and also defeated Matt Hobgood and FAB 50-ranked Norco in the quarterfinals. Aaron Northcraft led the pitching staff with 10 wins and 70 strikeouts in 103 innings pitched. | |
| 19 | Bellaire (Bellaire, TX) | 33-4-1 | 20 | Coach Rocky Manuel's team was riding high at No. 1 in the nation after a much-hyped playoff series sweep against Houston Memorial. That series matched the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Houston metro area. The Cardinals, though, couldn't keep up their momentum and were eliminated from Class 5A state title contention the following week with two losses in three games against Brazoswood of Clute. | |
| 20 | Madison Central (Madison, MS) | 27-5 | 19 | The Jaguars took home the Class 5A state title after sweeping Petal in the Class 5A state finals. Juniors L.J. Hollins and Peyton Johnson will make Madison Central a formidable opponent once again next year. | |
| 21 | Carl Albert (Midwest City, OK) | 37-4 | 21 | It was the second Class 5A state title in three years for Carl Albert, when the team topped Chickasha in the title game, 4-1. The Titans played that same Chickasha team two times earlier in the season and split the meetings. | |
| 22 | De La Salle Collegiate High (Warren, MI) | 36-5 | 22 | The Pilots won their third state title, and first since 2000, with a 3-2 victory over Saline (34-5) in the Division 1 title game. De La Salle also captured its first Catholic League title in 12 years and defeated rivals and defending state champions Dearborn Divine Child and Brother Rice along the way. A four-year starter at shortstop or center field for coach Brian Kelly's team was John Martinez. | |
| 23 | Alan C. Pope (Marietta, GA) | 31-8 | 23 | The Greyhounds claimed their first Class AAAAA state championship with a two-game sweep of South Forsyth. Senor hurlers Matt Lane (Mississippi State) and Jake Montgomery (Georgia) led a team that featured eight college signees. Pope's run to the title wasn't easy on the faint of heart as three of its five playoff series went to a deciding third game. | |
| 24 | South Fork (Stuart, FL) | 29-3 | 25 | South Fork went into the season looking to avenge last year's loss to Dunedin in the state finals. The Bulldogs did just that by capturing the Class 5A state title with a 13-3, five-inning win over Tallahassee Chiles for their first state championship. Senior left-hander Kyle Hunter was perfect on the season at 10-0 and earned his final high school win in the finals. | |
| 25 | Cartersville (Cartersville, GA) | 30-5 | 26 | The Hurricanes rode a 22-game winning streak into their clash with Columbus for the Class AAA state crown. That streak came to an end with a 9-4 loss in Game 1, but Cartersville stormed back to put together a crucial two-game winning streak and take the title. Leading the charge for the Hurricanes was outfielder Donavan Tate, who was selected third overall earlier this month in the MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres. | |
| 26 | Greenbrier Christian Academy (Chesapeake, VA) | 28-2 | 27 | Virginia's top-ranked team captured the Virginia Independent School Athletic Association title with a 4-3 finals' win over Steward of Richmond. The Gators also advanced to the semifinals of the TCIS Tournament where they bowed to Cape Henry Collegiate of Virginia Beach, 5-3. They earlier routed Cape Henry, 14-1, in regular season play. | |
| 27 | Hartselle (Hartselle, AL) | 50-9 | 28 | It was a banner year for one of Alabama's most prestigious high school baseball programs. The Tigers set a state record with 50 wins and went a perfect 28-0 at their home field en route to winning the Class 5A state championship, the seventh title in school history. Senior Luke Bole (Mississippi State) paced the team's offense with a state-record 20 home runs, six of which came in the postseason. Fellow senior and MSU recruit Chad Girodo set school records for wins (17) and ERA (0.47) and went 5-0 in the playoffs. | |
| 28 | Poquoson (Poquoson, VA) | 28-1 | 29 | The Islanders pocketed their second state title with a 4-3 win over Rustburg(21-7) in the Group AA finals. Chad Pinder (5-0) hurled a five-hitter and batted in two runs. Ross Hoogstraten's two-out, bases loaded infield single in the bottom of the seventh inning decided the outcome for coach Ken Bennett's team. | |
| 29 | Menchville (Newport News, VA) | 26-2 | 30 | Coach Phil Forbes' team captured its first state crown with a 7-1 title game win over a Hanover squad that was 24-1. Ethan Carter (11-1) pitched a six-hitter in that game while Devorn Lake went 4-for-4 at the plate, including a double. | |
| 30 | Norman Thomas (New York, NY) | 24-0 | 31 | The Tigers capped an unbeaten season by winning the Public School Athletic League Class A title with a 5-2 title game win over five-time champion Monroe(20-3) at Yankee Stadium. It was the first city title for the school. Pitching ace Mariel Checo, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound right-hander, struck out 14. The Tigers scored two runs in the seventh, keyed by a run-scoring single by Keith Herring. | |
| 31 | Hunterdon Central (Flemington, NJ) | 29-1 | 32 | New Jersey's top-ranked team captured a state Group 4 crown with an 8-3 title game win over Randolph. Jared Rogers pitched a complete game four-hitter and struck out nine batters. Josh Ake went 4-for-4 with a home run. | |
| 32 | Lake Brantley (Altamonte Springs, FL) | 28-4 | 33 | The Patriots weren't able to defend their Class 6A state title, but they still delivered a FAB 50-worthy season, which ended in a 1-0 loss to eventual state champ Alonso in the state semifinals. Senior shortstop Nick Franklin batted .538 with 11 homers and was drafted in the first-round by the Seattle Mariners. | |
| 33 | Andrean (Merrillville, IN) | 33-2 | NR | In the 59ers' 6-3 win over West Vigo in the Class 3A state championship, shortstop Ryan Dineen went 3-for-3, including a triple, with an RBI and scored twice in the first three innings as Andrean jumped out to a 5-0 cushion. Mike Pokers had an inside-the-park home run and Ken Mahala hit his 10th homer of the season. | |
| 34 | Charlotte Christian School (Charlotte, NC) | 29-3 | 34 | The Knights claimed their seventh NCISAA Class 3A state title in the past eight years this spring, finishing the season by winning 29 of 30 games after starting the year 1-2. Senior pitchers Luke Bard and Andy Clifford combined to go 19-1 on the mound, while junior outfielder Ty Linton led the offensive attack with 12 home runs and 50 RBIs. | |
| 35 | The Pendleton School (Bradenton, FL) | 31-1 | 35 | The Panthers don't compete in the Florida State High School Association playoffs. But if they did, there's no doubt they'd be one of the top contenders for a state title. This year, Pendleton only suffered one setback against a difficult schedule. | |
| 36 | Moeller (Cincinnati, OH) | 24-5 | 36 | Brett Cisper was the individual standout for the Crusaders, who won their fifth Division 1 state title and first since 2004 with a 5-2 win in the final over 30-4 Pickerington North. Cisper pitched out of a jam in the sixth inning and had a first-inning double to spark a three-run outburst. Cisper also won the semifinal, a 6-0 blanking of Cleveland St. Ignatius. | |
| 37 | Joliet Catholic Academy (Joliet, IL) | 32-5 | 37 | The Hilltoppers captured their second state title with a 3-2 triumph over Chatham Glenwood in the Class 3A finals. Steve Cservenyak belted a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning to decide the outcome and set a school season record with 12 home runs. Senior second baseman Nick Ratajczak, an All-Area Chicago honoree, batted .486 with 23 extra base hits, 36 RBIs and51 runs scored. | |
| 38 | Columbus (Columbus, GA) | 33-4 | 38 | The Blue Devils took Game 1 from Cartersville in the best-of-three Class AAA state championship series. The team then scored a combined 18 runs in the next two games but lost both (18-11 and 10-7) to lose the series. Senior Bryce Dial had a huge series in a losing effort, going 8-for-12 with four home runs and six RBIs. | |
| 39 | Cimarron-Memorial (Las Vegas, NV) | 33-7 | 39 | In most years, the Spartans might have been the top team in Nevada but they were second best this year as they lost to Bishop Gorman three times with the final loss coming in the Class 4A state championship game. Kris Kaplan was named the Sunset Region Northwest Division Player of the Year after hitting.528 with 12 homers, 60 RBIs, 62 runs and stole 17 bases. | |
| 40 | Notre Dame Prep (Scottsdale, AZ) | 30-2 | 40 | The Saints fell just short of ending the season on a 15-game winning streak as they lost to Mingus of Cottonwood by a 7-4 final in the Class 4A Division II state championship. Showing they could play with some of the top teams in California, they went 3-1 at the Anderson Bat National Classic with one of their wins coming against Norco and Gatorade Player of the Year Matt Hobgood. Tony Piazza led the team in hits with 40 and RBIs with 45. | |
| 41 | Norco Senior (Norco, CA) | 25-5 | 42 | Led by Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year Matt Hobgood, the Cougars had their run for a section title in the tough California Southern Section end with a loss to FAB 50-ranked Mater Dei in the quarterfinals. Hobgood suffered the one loss on the mound to go with 11 wins and a 0.92 ERA. Wes Hatton led the offense with a .500 average and scored 45 runs while Hobgood led the nation in homers with 21. | |
| 42 | Rocky Mountain (Fort Collins, CO) | 22-4 | 41 | The Lobos rolled to their third straight Class 5A state championship as none of their seven playoff games were decided by less than five runs. Bryan Peters was the team leader and has been named the winner of the Fred Steinmark Award, which annually goes to the top multi-sport scholar athlete in the state. | |
| 43 | Junipero Serra (San Mateo, CA) | 30-6 | 43 | Tony Renda set a new school record for career hits, breaking the previous record held by former major leaguer Gregg Jefferies as the Padres won the CIF Central Coast Section Division I championship over Archbishop Mitty. Coach Pete Jensen couldn't have had a better send-off as the Padres won the section title and sent him into retirement after 23 years at the school. | |
| 44 | Jesuit (Carmichael, CA) | 27-5 | 44 | The Marauders were ranked as high as No. 1 in California but ended the season No. 7 in the state after defeating St. Mary's of Stockton to win the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship. Senior catcher Andrew Susac led the offense with 34 RBIs and eight home runs and will now have to decide between going to Oregon State or signing with the Philadelphia Phillies after being selected in the MLB draft. | |
| 45 | Poway (Poway, CA) | 28-7 | 45 | Behind an offense that scored at least 10 runs in a game 12 times, the Titans captured the San Diego Section Division I championship with a 4-3 win over Rancho Buena Vista. There were three players who had over 30 RBIs with Josh Anderson leading the way with 38. Junior Keegan Yuhl also went 11-1 on the year with a 2.51 ERA. | |
| 46 | Rio Grande (Albuquerque, NM) | 26-4 | 46 | Rio Rancho entered the Class 5A state playoffs as the second seed and rolled through the playoffs headed on a collision course with No. 1 La Cueva. The championship game did not disappoint as Rio Rancho edged out La Cueva, 6-5, to take the title. | |
| 47 | La Cueva (Albuquerque, NM) | 29-2 | 47 | Year in and year out, the Bears are the team to beat in New Mexico. With a storied tradition, La Cueva looked add yet another state title. This year's team was rolling along at 29-1 and was up to No. 13 in the FAB 50, only to fall to Rio Rancho in the state final. | |
| 48 | Benton (Benton, AR) | 28-2 | 48 | The Panthers won the Class 6A title this year with an 8-5 triumph over Searcy in the final game. Losing only twice all year, once to North Little Rock and once to Sheridan, the Panthers ended their season on a 12-game winning streak.During that run, the team's pitcher shut out five opponents and did not allow more than five runs in any one game. | |
| 49 | Brenham (Brenham, TX) | 32-6 | 49 | It was a strong season for the Cubs, who advanced to the Class 4A state semifinals before taking a 15-9 loss to eventual champ Texas High. They could be among the best in the state once again next year with returnees such as pitcher Chase Wellbrock and outfielder Jeremy Hall. | |
| 50 | Lufkin (Lufkin, TX) | 30-10 | 50 | That's a lot of losses for a top 50 team, but the Panthers made it to the Class 5A state final opposite No. 5 Socorro. To get there, Lufkin topped Pearland in the semifinals, 4-2, and beat district rival College Park of The Woodlands in the regional final. | |
|
Dropped From Rankings | |||||
Featured Profiles
Sneakersensei
- How do the Georgia Bulldogs find their way into the heart of a confirmed New York (and Syracuse) fan? Have at him! More
