GA Power 25: April 8

April 8, 2019
By Andy Sroka
Staff Writer

The sixth edition of the GA Power 25 update is live.

There was plenty of movement up and down the rankings in this week’s update and it also pushed a couple of teams off the board and subsequently had a pair of programs earn their debuts on the GA Power 25 this spring.

Let’s break it down.

TOP DOGS

+ No. 1 Blessed Trinity (19-5): The state's No. 1-ranked team represented Georgia honroably at the prestigious NHSI tournament in Cary, N.C., last week by downing both Illinois' and Florida's top-ranked teams, Marist and IMG Academy. For Blessed Trinity, their quarterfinals victory over IMG was a redeeming one, making up for their 5-0 loss in Hoover, Ala., back at the start of March. They ultimately feel to the tournament runners-up, California's Harvard-Westlake, in the semifinals, but it was a great showing for the Titans as a team. They ended their visit to Cary with a narrow 5-3 loss to Florida's Monsignor Pace in the consolation bracket, but did more than enough throughout the week to stick to the state's top spot.

+ No. 2 Parkview (20-4): The Parkview Panthers took a spring break trip to Florida last week and dropped two of their three contests to tough programs south of the stateline. All three of their games were within a two-run margin, opening the trip with a 6-4 loss to Venice, beating Sarasota 3-2, and losing to Jesuit 2-1 to close out the trip. Weather permitting, Parkview gets back to normalcy this week, beginning tonight, with a visit to Lakeside.

TOP 10 NOTES

+ No. 4 Pope (18-5): With two big wins last week, Pope is getting back to their winning ways at an ideal time. The Greyhounds kicked off their week with a win over a 14-4 Westminster team and backed it up with a shutout win over a top-10-ranked Walton squad. Pope's back in action again this evening to take on North Atlanta, a team that pushed them to an 8-6 loss the last time they met back on March 12.

+ No. 5 Winder-Barrow (18-3): The 'Doggs comfortably swept Lanier last week, outscoring them 14-4 in three games, shutting them out in the last two. This sets up a critical three-game series, starting tonight, with Habersham Central on the calendar. The Raiders are 6-3 in the division while Winder is a perfect 9-0, so disaster would have to strike in order for the Bulldoggs to relinquish their strong grip on the region standings. But still, Central is 18-6 this spring, so it's going to be a heavyweight bought in Mt. Airy.

+ No. 6 Cartersville (19-4): Three sub-.500 teams on the scheduled allowed Cartersville to score a few wins to steady themselves ahead of last stretch of the regular season. The Canes took care of business this week and can look forward to seeing Chapel Hill again this evening before meeting Sandy Creek for a couple games later on.

+ No. 9 Etowah (16-8): The Eagles had three difficult games on the calendar this past week – as usual – and took two of three. They kicked off a win over the former No. 3-ranked squad Loganville before dropping a 12-5 contest to one of the state's hottest teams, Hillgrove, and ending the week with a 7-6 win against an under-the-radar Harrison team on Friday. Etowah has had one of the strongest schedules in 2019 and they have a really respectable 16-8 record to show for it. After starting the spring off the GA Power 25, they're firmly entrenched at the top half of the rankings with a couple weeks to go before we start the postseason.

+ No. 10 Loganville (15-6): The Red Devils hadn't allowed a run in nearly two weeks when they took a trip to Etowah on Thursday, and that unblemished streak was quickly erased when the giant-slaying Eagles put 10 runs and 13 hits on to Loganville pitching. This time, the Red Devils bats proved they could hang and they actually helped produce a 9-3 lead on Etowah headed into the bottom of the sixth. However, scrappy as ever, the Eagles marched all the way back, completing the comeback in the bottom of the seventh on a walk-off. The tough, late loss had some after effects, too. Loganville just didn't look right the next day against Marietta and dropped their second game of the week, 4-0. The two-game slide hurts the former No. 3 on the rankings.

CRITICAL CONTESTS

+ No. 3 North Gwinnett (20-4) & No. 21 Mill Creek (16-8): The Bulldogs swept a talented Collins Hill team with relative ease last week, helping them continue a streak in which they've won 16 of their last 17 games. They have a tough three-game assignment with Mill Creek this week, a team that has spent some time on the GA Power 25 this spring.

As for the Hawks, they’re ranked on the board for the first time since Week 4. So, welcome back, Mill Creek. Taking two of three from Mountain View helped the Hawks get back onto the rankings, considering they have the kind of quality wins earlier in the spring to help justify the re-introduction into the top 25.

They're two games behind North Gwinnett on the Region 6 standings, too, and with three games against the Bulldogs on the calendar this week, they can make up all the ground they need – but it'll be tough against the state's No. 3-ranked program.

+ No. 7 North Paulding (18-4) & No. 8 Hillgrove (20-4): The Wolfpack cruised this week and earned three quality wins to further strengthen their standing on the GA Power 25. Victories over Westminster, Sequoyah, Dunwoody, and Centennial bolstered what's become a strong climb up the rankings. As for Hillgrove, we're almost up to a full month since the last time the Hawks lost. That's 11 straight wins, including a few real big ones over that stretch, downing a pair of Power 25 opponents last week, Milton and Etowah.

Both teams’ success last week sets the table for an enormously important three-game series with each other, two of the hottest teams in the state. The Wolfpack trail the Hawks by a single game on the Region 3 standings, too.

+ No. 14 Decatur (19-4) & No. 15 Riverwood (18-1): The most compelling series on the schedule in class 5A this week is very clearly the two-game set between the Bulldogs and Raiders, starting tonight. Decatur split their two games last week, including a narrow, extra-inning loss to a talented Wesleyan team, while Riverwood hasn’t lost since February 16. The Raiders have battled some really talented teams of late, and have obviously come out on top, making this match-up among the most interesting across the state this week.

The two are both undefeated in Region 6 action as well, adding an extra bit of intrigue to the series – not that it needed much to begin with.

ON THE RISE

+ No. 13 Brookwood (18-6): The Broncos are the primary benefactors of the rough stretch of a handful of teams ahead of them on the GA Power 25, with the help of their own big week, too. Brookwood bested a skilled Flowery Branch team, a hard-nosed Harrison squad, and began the week with a 3-0 win over top-10 Buford. They made up a lot of ground on the teams previously ranked ahead of them with a momentus week of play. They have Norcross on the schedule (twice) and will meet Loganville on Thursday.

+ No. 17 Marist (19-5): The War Eagles earned a climb up the GA Power 25 with their 3-0 week, featuring wins over ranked Milton and two over a well-rounded Cambridge team. They'll be tested again right away, with a contest against a Loganville team that's looking to get back on track after two uncharacteristic losses last week.

+ No. 20 Starr’s Mill (21-3): Three clutch wins boost Starr's Mill all the way to No. 20 in the state, including a huge 4-0 victory over the team previously ranked a spot over them: Thomas County Central. The Panthers also defeated Flowery Branch and Denmark last week, to respectable programs, to help strengthen the argument to push them hard up the board. They have a three-game series with Jonesboro on the calendar next, starting tonight.

WELCOME…

We’ve already welcomed on Mill Creek in the section above, as they’ll be tested immediately by No. 3 North Gwinnett, but there’s also a couple other programs earning a spot on the GA Power 25 in the Week 8 edition.

+ No. 23 Heritage-Conyers (16-5): Sweeping ranked Greenbrier and shutting them out in three straight contests gets our attention and it's more than enough to help them land a top-25 spot. After opening the season as our No. 19-ranked team, a couple losses in late February and early March pushed them off the board and they've been grinding their way back onto the rankings ever since. They've won nine of their last 10 games and those three wins over the Wolfpack were quite the loud statement. They'll meet highly skilled Calhoun on Wednesday to put their new top-25 status to the test.

+ No. 25 Ringgold (19-4): With a win streak up to 12 games, it's impossible to avoid the 3A Tigers for any longer. Ringgold debuts on the GA Power 25 at No. 25 and hasn't lost since they battled 3A rivals Redan back on March 7, over a month ago now. Their victory over a talented Calhoun team helped really seal themselves a spot on the rankings, provided they took care of Haralson and Sonoraville, which they did. The three wins last week to extend their win streak get them onto the board.

SO LONG…

+ Mountain View (16-7): The Bears have struggled in back-to-back weeks and with so many teams on the border of the GA Power 25, they just couldn’t cling to the edge of the board in Week 8. Their series against Peachtree Ridge could help them climb back on, however.

+ Greenbrier (18-6): The Wolfpack bats were dead quiet in their series against Heritage, where they were swept in three games. They failed to score a run in the series and it was enough to push them all the way off the rankings in the Week 8 update.

+ Grayson (16-7): The Rams haven’t had the strongest schedule this spring, so a 1-2 slip-up on a trip to Florida was enough to prevent them from keeping their Power 25 status. They’re 1-5 against GA Power 25 opponents in 2019, which hurt their case to snag one of the last spots in this update.