GA Power 25: March 25
March 25, 2019
The fifth edition of the GA Power 25 update is live.
This past week featured plenty of top-end teams dropping games, while the teams on back-end of the rankings began to gain some real momentum. This made for just one team bumped from the top 25 and one team welcomed aboard.
Let’s break it down.
TOP DOGS
+ No. 1 Blessed Trinity (14-3): The Titans played just once last week and shut out White County, 4-0. Starter Eric Moore tossed six clean innings and allowed just four hits and walked none. Blessed Trinity is rested up as they head into a big week, playing the second game of their two-game set with White County tonight before heading to Flowery Branch on Wednesday and hosting them on Friday. They're 8-2 this month despite having played games against four Power 25 teams and one of the top programs from Florida.
+ No. 2 Parkview (14-2): It was a huge, near-perfect week for the Parkview Panthers. They went 4-0,sweeping Norcross in their two-game series and defeated Berkmar and Hoover in lopsided results, too. They allowed just one run all week, in their last game against Hoover, and outscored their opponents by a 40-1 mark. The Panthers are going to stay busy this week with five games on the schedule – tonight against Berkmar, twice against Meadowcreek, once against top-10-ranked Buford, and one to close the week on Saturday against a tough Marist team. Their game against the Wolves is a shot at redemption for their 9-4 loss to Buford in Hoover, and that was the last time Parkview lost this spring.
+ No. 3 Pope (14-4): The Greyhounds cruised to a pair of wins last week in order to maintain their spot within the top three. After dropping three of four games in the week prior, Pope bounced back in a convincing manner with a 8-2 win over Centennial and a 13-3 win at Cambridge. Both are solid wins, especially after coming off a week in which they lost to a .500 and sub-.500 team. There are three more games on the schedule for Pope this week, and they'll start the first two on the road against Johns Creek and Chattahoochee, before hosting Alpharetta on Thursday.
+ Cartersville (14-3): The Canes extended their win streak to five with three more wins last week; two over LaGrange and one over Central. Preston Welchel went 5-for-5 in both games over the Grangers with two walks, three RBIs, and four runs scored. He added another couple of hits against Central, but it was Josh Davis who starred in that game, where he went 4-for-5 with two doubles, three runs, and two RBIs from the top of the order. They have three games on the schedule this week, another contest against Central and two more against Troup County. Cartersville is beginning to force its way into consideration for a top-three spot, breaking into a mix of three teams that have occupied those seats, in various orders, since the preseason.
ON THE RISE
+ No. 6 North Gwinnett (15-3): Since suffering back-to-back losses at the start of March to ranked Walton and Hillgrove, the North Gwinnett Bulldogs have won 11 straight games, and most of those games have really been dominant, one-sided performances. North Gwinnett's played five games against GA Power 25-ranked teams (and are 2-3 against them), which is a little light as compared to some of other teams slotted above them, but the Bulldogs have still earned credit for taking care of business on the rest of their schedule, and in such compelling fashion. They have three games on the schedule this week, however, against one of the state's hottest teams: Mountain View. The Bears and Bulldogs will put their lengthy win streaks on the line, starting at home tonight.
+ No. 9 Milton (14-2): The Eagles snagged three huge wins last week, starting with a pair to open the week against a ranked (but falling) South Forsyth squad, and ended the week with a 7-0 victory at Lambert. Even though the South Forsyth wins aren't as convincing as they were maybe two or three weeks ago, they're still a team with a ton of talent and Milton winning both contests says a lot, and they deserve a boost to their GA Power 25 status as a result. Three more games on the schedule, starting today: hosting Lambert, and splitting a road and home series with Forsyth Central.
+ No. 12 Redan (14-3): Redan's been virtually untested inside of their own region, with lopsided series wins earned over Cedar Grove and Stone Mountain last week. Four more wins helps prime them for a trip to Florida for the IMG National Classic tournament this week. They'll open tomorrow against Alabama's Pelham program and a win there would likely set them up with a meeting with hosts IMG Academy, among the most powerful programs in the country today, a team that is responsible for one of Blessed Trinity's three losses this spring.
+ No. 14 Hillgrove (14-4): Rivals McEachern has scuffled this spring and the Hawks took advantage last week to stretch their current win streak to five games. The three-game sweep of McEachern really just allows the Hawks to stay put on the rankings with for games on the schedule this week, three against Marietta and a mid-week game against Clarksville, a 5-0 program from Tennessee.
+ No. 15 Mountain View (14-3): That's 12 in a row, including one over ranked Brookwood last week. The Bears clung to the very bottom of the GA Power 25 in Week 3 but have only been on the ascent ever since. Mountain View began their week with that win over the Broncos and followed it up with a scrappy with over Sandy Creek and a 7-1 victory at East Jackson. Their GA Power 25 rank can get a huge boost after a three-game series with No. 6-ranked North Gwinnett, starting this evening.
+ No. 17 Decatur (15-3): Decatur is riding an eight-game win streak and can comfortably call themselves among the hottest teams in the state. Their high-powered offense helped them claim some one-sided wins over Banneker and North Springs and snuck past an under-the-radar Lovett team, 5-3, on Tuesday. This week, they'll battle Grady and Cambridge, two steady and solid programs that could help the Bulldogs assert their standing on the GA Power 25.
WELCOME…
+ No. 24 Riverwood (12-1): Led by pop-up prospect Brett Thomas, a big, hulking righty who has reportedly ventured into the mid-90s at times this spring, the Riverwood Raiders are one of two teams debuting on the GA Power 25 this week. They’ve lost just once this season, way back in mid-February, and have accrued some quality wins since then, over the likes of Cambridge, North Atlanta, and twice over Grady in the last 10 days. They’re winning games from both the batter’s box and from the mound, which has helped them earn a spot on the rankings. Riverwood has two games on the slate this week, against Carver and Lithia Springs, before they meet Decatur twice on April 10 and 12 in an enormous heavyweight 5A bout.
+ No. 25 Jefferson (13-0): The defending 3A champions are undefeated this spring, winning 13 games out of the chute, many of which have been one-sided wins for the Dragons. Senior Lane Watkins, a Georgia commit, has helped the Northwest Georgia program get off to a 6-0 start within its region, too. They don’t play the 9-0 Morgan County until April 16, but Jefferson is well on its way to challenging for another 3A title again.
ON THE BUBBLE
+ South Forsyth (7-9): The War Eagles could not get back on track this week, extending their losing streak to five games. It's another plummet down (and off) the GA Power 25 board, after suffering narrow losses to ranked Milton and North Forsyth to end the week. They have North back on the schedule this evening and then a two-game series with Lambert before setting off to Cary, N.C., to partake in the prestigious NHSI tournament.
+ Alpharetta (9-6): With losses to Johns Creek and Chattahoochee to start last week, the Raiders slip off the GA Power 25. Their 10-4 win over North Atlanta to close the week wasn't enough to keep them on the board, but they'll have a pair of opportunities to climb back on, with a game against a solid River Ridge squad, as well as a rematch with Pope, a team they walked off in extras at the start of the month.
+ Ringgold (14-4): Redan may have some 3A company on the GA Power 25 soon. Ringgold has won seven straight, and hasn't lost since meeting the aforementioned Raiders on March 7. They followed that loss with a win over ranked North Paulding and haven't been defeated since. Their quality of competition over that span isn't great, but Ringgold has the talent in the dugout to continue making noise on the GA Power 25 the rest of the spring.
+ Thomas County Central (15-1): The 5A Yellowjackets are 15-1 this season, 6-1 within their region. Their region is led by Harris County, presently, a team that TCC defeated 10-0 earlier in the year. They’re gaining a lot of momentum at this point in the spring, with some enticing games left on the calendar.