High school baseball rankings: For the third week in a row, MaxPreps Top 25 has a new No. 1

For the first four months of the season, there were only two teams that held the top spot in the MaxPreps Top 25 high school baseball rankings. In the last three weeks, three teams have been No. 1.

Trinity (Louisville, Ky.) is the new No. 1 this week as it advanced to the semifinals of the Kentucky Sweet 16 tournament with a pair of wins. The Shamrocks replace Calallen (Corpus Christi), which held the top spot for one week before falling to Pleasant Grove (Texarkana) in the Texas Conference 4A Division 1 championship game.

Tomball (Texas), which dropped from No. 1 to No. 4 two weeks ago after suffering its first loss of the season, moved back to No. 2 after winning the Conference 6A Division 2 state championship and a loss by No. 3 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) in the regional playoffs.

The national championship picture is down to just two teams – Trinity and Tomball. The Shamrocks control their own fate as they play Apollo (Owensboro) in the Kentucky semifinals on Friday. A win puts Trinity in the final against either McCracken County (Paducah) or Boyd County (Ashland).

Tomball’s season is over but a loss by Trinity would put the Cougars back at No. 1.

Only one team entered the MaxPreps Top 25 this week. Center Grove (Greenwood) moved in at No. 25 after advancing to the semifinals of the Indiana 4A state tournament.

Game of the Week

Pleasant Grove def. Calallen, 2-1. The Hawks rallied from a 1-0 deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning with two runs to claim the state championship. Pleasant Grove scored the two runs without the benefit of a hit as it got a walk, an error, a fielder’s choice and an intentional walk to make the score 1-1 with the winning run at third base. Walker Wright scored the winning run on a passed ball.

Game to Watch

No. 1 Trinity vs. Apollo , Friday. With the No. 1 national ranking on the line, Trinity needs just to wins to finish the season as the national champions. Trinity must first face Apollo, which is 23-12 on the year.

Grayson Willoughby of Trinity threw a shutout for the Shamrocks in a 5-0 win over Bullitt East. He had nine strikeouts and gave up two hits and two walks. The win was the 11th of the season without a loss for Willoughby,

Hitter of the Week

Nolan Rush of Tomball went 3-for-3 and drove in four runs in the Cougars’ 9-1 win over Houston Memorial.

Streaks

Lakewood (Hebron) lost to Shaker Heights in the Ohio state playoffs to see its win streak end end at 27 games. Calallen also saw its streak end at 26 straight games with the loss to Pleasant Grove. That leaves Germantown (Wis.) with the nation’s longest streak at 27 in a row. The Warhawks are in the second round of the Wisconsin Division 1 state tournament and play Fond du Lac on Tuesday.
 
MaxPreps Top 25 baseball rankings

1. Trinity (Louisville, Ky.)
Record: 39-3 | Last week: 2
Scores: Def. Bullitt East 5-0, def. Beechwood 11-0  
Next: Friday vs. Apollo

2. Tomball (Texas)
Record: 43-1-1 | Last week: 4
Scores: Def. Memorial (Houston) 9-1
Season complete. Conference 6A Division 2 state champion.

3. Stoneman Douglas (Parkland, Fla.)
Record: 28-6 | Last week: 5
Season complete. Class 7A state champion.

Record: 30-4 | Last week: 6
Season complete. Class 3A state champion.

5. Catholic (Baton Rouge, La.)
Record: 37-5 | Last week: 7
Season complete. Select Division I state champion.

Record: 27-6 | Last week: 3
Scores: Lost to Cathedral Catholic 4-2
Season complete.

7. Pleasant Grove (Texarkana, Texas)
Record: 39-4 | Last week: 14
Scores: Def. Calallen 2-1
Season complete. Conference 4A Division 1 state champion.

8. Aledo (Texas)
Record: 39-3 | Last week: 23
Scores: Def. Lake Creek 3-1
Season complete. Conference 5A Division 1 state champion.

9. Keller (Texas)
Record: 40-4-2 | Last week: 18
Scores: Def. Lake Travis 2-1
Season complete. Conference 6A Division 1 state champion.

10. Norco (Calif.)
Record: 28-5 | Last week: 9
Season complete.

11. Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.)
Record: 23-6 | Last week: 10
Season complete.

12. Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.)
Record: 25-6 | Last week: 11
Season complete.

13. Venice (Fla.)
Record: 32-2 | Last week: 12
Season complete.

14. Magnolia Heights (Senatobia, Miss.)
Record: 36-4-1 | Last week: 13
Season complete. MAIS Class 4A Division 1 state champion.

15. Calallen (Corpus Christi, Texas)
Record: 38-3 | Last week: 1
Scores: Lost to Pleasant Grove 2-1 
Season complete.

16. Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.)
Record: 28-6 | Last week: 15
Season complete. Class 4A state champion.

17. IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)