Follow @PBRVirginiaDC
By John Nolan
Assistant Director of Scouting/Content Management 

As the end of the 2016 season approaches quickly, we give you our penultimate Power 25 rankings. After two weeks of Conference and Region Tournament action in Virginia, there has been a lot of carnage in the rankings.

The 6A Region Quarterfinals looked like the first Thursday and Friday of March Madness as six of the eight Conference champions were eliminated, including powerhouse Grassfield and the defending State Champions, James Madison. Chantilly and Battlefield would survive semifinal games against Patriot and Centreville respectfully, to meet in the 6A North Championship game, which new No. 4 Chantilly won, defeating No. 8 Battlefield for the second time this spring. The Chargers have not lost to a 6A opponent in 2016.

The 6A South was won by this week’s No. 11, C.D. Hylton, back in the rankings after a brief absence. The Bulldogs spent the first half of the season playing like a Top 15 team, and then the bats went cold and they suffered some losses, dropping them out of the rankings. With their run through the region, the Bulldogs got back to what made them successful during the first half of the season, dominant pitching. Hylton threw shutouts in each of its first two Region matchups and then held Cosby to just three runs.

At No. 21, Cosby is ranked for the first time this spring, and the Titans have had an interesting spring. They started the season with reasonably high expectations and lived up to them early, going 4-0, before a five game losing streak in late March and early April dropped the Titans to 4-5. Since that loss to Manchester, Cosby has gone 10-2, with its only losses coming in the Conference and Region Championship games.

The 5A North Region tournament had its own Cinderella story, as newly-ranked No. 23 Potomac knocked off Conference Champions Briar Woods and Marshall to lock up their first State Tournament bid since 2000. The Panthers nearly pulled the trifecta as they narrowly lost the 5A North Championship game to No. 10 Mountain View. The Wildcats worked their own magic, needing ten innings and another walk-off win in the semifinals to punch the program’s first State Tournament ticket ever. Mountain View is one of only two teams to beat Chantilly this spring.

In the 5A South tournament, the champions came full circle to what we had expected of them all season. Back in the rankings at No. 8 is Nansemond River. The Warriors started the season in our Top 10, then went through a rough patch early in the season with their top two arms out with injuries and ultimately fell out of our rankings. With their top arms back, a deep lineup, and some youngsters who gained confidence when thrust into fire early in the season, Nansemond River has surged down the stretch, and has ended up right where we thought they would be all along. No. 18 Mills Godwin has been the best 5A team in the Richmond area, and they were able to advance after defeating conference rival Glen Allen for the third time in four meetings this spring.

The 4A East featured some good games, but mostly went as expected, with a dominant No. 2 Hanover team winning the Region and No. 5 Jamestown capturing the other State Tournament berth. The 4A West Region will wrap up (we hope) Tuesday night as co-No. 2 Liberty Christian travels to No. 9 Kettle Run for the 4A West Championship game. This final four is going to make Friday and Saturday at Liberty University a lot of fun, as all four of the 4A Final Four will enter the weekend ranked in our Top 10.

The last team to enter the rankings this week has been knocking on the door for weeks, and finally got over the hump as it dominated on its way to the 3A West Championship. Checking in this week at No. 17 is Turner Ashby. The Knights have a rotation that would make most 6A schools very jealous and have a good core of position players to go with that group. They are easily the favorites in the 3A State tournament, and could very well compete at any classification.

In 3A East, Poquoson punched another State Tournament bid by beating William Monroe in the Championship game. In 2A East, Maggie Walker defeated Goochland to capture the Region Championship. Virginia High School has surged down the stretch and the Bearcats captured their third straight 2A West Championship as they look to win their third straight 2A State Championship. Eastside won the 1A West over Fort Chiswell and Windsor defeated Rappahannock to win the 1A East Championship.

 

Click here to see the Power 25