Power 25 Ranking: Week 2
March 5, 2019
TEXAS, USA - Two weeks in and there is plenty of movement among the Power 25, with three new teams coming into the ranking. The tournament season allows high school coaches to evaluate their clubs from top to bottom, with many playing six games in three days. In the first three weeks of the season, you can start to see pitching depth emerge, as well as a teams ability to score runs consistently, and clubs that simply “find a way” to win. Although ranking the Top 25 Teams in Texas is never going to be easy, our aim is to bring you the most comprehensive coverage with our “boots on the ground” scouting staff. Without further delay, here is the most up to date Power 25 Ranking.
TOP 5
#1 Colleyville Heritage - We saw these guys in action this week and the lineup has serious thunder. Love the move that Coach McDougal has made to put Bobby Witt Jr. in the leadoff spot, ensuring that teams will be inclined to pitch to him, especially starting the game. The Panthers went 4-1 this week, dropping a 4-1 decision to a strong Oak Ridge team on Saturday, but they came away with quality wins over Lubbock Coronado, and after giving up a seven spot early to North Crowley, they came back to win 9-7.
#2 Argyle - The Eagles are still undefeated at 9-0-1 and capped off another stellar week by running the table on a number of schools from the Frisco area. We saw them take down San Angelo Central 8-4 by a strong pitching performance from Chad Ricker (UTSA), and they won five games by a score of 42-15. This coming week will be one of the biggest tests for this salty group of gamers as they will play Keller, Prosper, Argyle, Southlake, Coppell, and Rockwall. We are going to know a lot more about how the Top 10 will look after this week. Good luck keeping these guys off the board.
#3 Lake Travis - The Caveliers are on a roll, thanks in large part to a strong senior class that is putting up a ton of runs, and not allowing any to score. They won a nail biter agains a solid Round Rock club 9-8, then outscored opponents 57-4 in the next five games. Here are some more numbers for those of you scoring at home…Brett Baty (Texas) in 10 games played, is 19/30, (.633), 22 R, 19 RBI, 9 BB, K, 2B, 6 HR, AND he has been playing in the HS Basketball State Playoffs during that same time.
#4 Cypress Ranch - The Mustangs went 3-1 last week with a tough 5-4 loss to Katy, but we like where they are for now with that stable of front line arms in the rotation.
# 5 Georgetown is now 10-0-1 and no longer flying under the radar with wins over Brenham, Cedar Park, Santa Fe, and a strong Coppell team last week. The Eagles go from No. 8 to No. 5 this week. Their offense is clicking, led by 2019 SS Cole Posey (Boise State) and 3B Jeffrey David (Paris JC). Posey and David are both hitting over .500 with RISP, and both are swiping bags at a rate that has allowed their offense to put up 42 runs in 5 games last week. This week is huge for Coach Foster’s club and hats off to him for putting his team in tough, early season tournaments. They match up with Sachse, Flower Mound, Rockwall, Keller, Southlake, and Jesuit this week.
MOVING UP
Flower Mound moves from No. 10 to No. 7 with a 6-0 week and marquee wins over Southlake, Wakeland, Denton Guyer, Aledo, El Paso Eastlake, and Lake Highlands. The key has been starting pitching and defense as the Jag’s have allowed 3 or less runs in 9 of their 12 games this season. 2019 LHP Austin Wallace (Texas) headlines a staff that along with a stable of young, talented arms including Cam Brown (TCU) and Tyler Talbert (DBU) will challenge any offense they play.
We saw Keller in person last week and Coach Stramp has a quality club with a veteran lineup and strike throwers on the mound. The Indians went 5-0 last week with a huge win over Burleson Centennial 2-1, as well as a win over Lubbock Coronado. At 8-1-1 Overall, they jump from 18 to 11.
Oak Ridge may have had the two best wins of the week, taking down The Woodlands in a 2-0 pitchers duel on Wednesday, and defeating No. 1 Colleyville Heritage 7-1 on Saturday. They also outslugged a strong Plano club 7-4 in the Metroplex, and beat Amarillo 7-6. They make the jump from 24 to 12 based off those quality wins.
CORPUS CHRISTI
Right now there are five teams from the deep south of Texas that are in the Power 25, which speaks volumes for the type of baseball they play down there. No. 13 Moody went 4-1 last week and is scoring runs at an alarming rate. No. 14 Veterans Memorial went 6-0 last week and these two high powered offenses will match up this week in a district game. No. 22 King went 6-0 last week and is now 10-2. No. 15 Calallen is 10-1, and although they are not scoring as many runs as Vets or Moody, they are winning close games that should add to their confidence down the stretch. Go a little further south and there is No. 16 McAllen (6A) that is now 9-2-1, and won 30 games last year, and you have some high powered clubs that will challenge anyone in Texas.
NEW TEAMS
Mansfield Legacy has quietly gone about their business and is now 10-0 through two weeks of play. Not an easy task for any club, but Coach McMullen has the Broncos firing on all the right cylinders. The offense is led by three returners, including 2019 C Nate Rombach (Texas Tech), 2019 SS Nate Rooney, and 2020 OF/C Nate Price (New Mexico).
Talk about quality wins, Prestonwood Christian Academy is now 15-2 with a challenging early season schedule where they have played several larger schools, and won. Coach Maack and the Lions took down Plano East, Dallas Jesuit, and Richardson last week. They have been young the past couple of year, and all those seeds they sewed are starting to bear fruit.
Not much is new here, as Prosper has started out 10-1 this season, rattling off ten straight after losing the opener to Coppell. The Eagles are one of the most fundamentally sound teams in the state, led by long time skipper Rick Carpenter. With seven seniors on the field every day, the jump from 5A to 6A doesnt look like its too much for these guys to handle.
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