Prep Baseball Report

Utah Power 25 Rankings: Week 7 (April 18-23)


Jeff Scholzen
Utah Scouting Director

Week 7 of the Utah HS baseball season, was a DRAW for the first 14 teams in the Power 25, as they all held serve, with all the things that could go right to remain at their previous ranking. There was some movement from 15-25, with the Taylorsville Warriors taking the biggest jump from 21 to #16! The Warriors also jumped 4 spots in the 6A RPI poll from 12 to #8. 

Fremont Silver Wolves

The  Silverwolves who as you will see below, remained at #1 in the 6A RPI, and after losing their opening game of the season to Skyridge, have reeled off 15 wins in a row, the longest such streak in the state and are a perfect 9-0 in Region 1 play! With a lineup boasting a .382 team batting average, the Silverwolves also have a team OPS of 1.035. The pitching staff also sports a 2.92 ERA and the defense behind them has only committed 22 errors, which equates to 1.38 per game for a .937 team FLD%. So the Silverwolves smash the baseball, hold teams at bay, by pitching and missing bats, as well as catch the baseball. The team FLD is the equivalent of most of the avg fielding schools at the collegiate level! 

American Fork Caveman 

I know we mention the Cavemen quite a bit and for good reason, the Cavemen remain at #10, only because of some lackluster play upon returning home from the prestigious Boras Classic in AZ, while playing against some of the better highly ranked AZ and nationally ranked teams, where they went 4-1 and reached the semi finals. Their only loss was to one of the biggest powerhouses in the country in Hamilton HS by a score of 5-3, who boast “9” yes 9 Division 1 commits. Hamilton is the #1 ranked team in AZ, with a 21-3 record. The Cavemen have been on a scoring spree of late and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them jump significantly in the next two weeks, if they continue doing what they did last week to a beleaguered Westlake team. All they did was outscore Westlake 52-3 and pitch 2 shutouts. They scored 20+ runs twice and hit 11 HR’s! Many of those HR’s were hit by the state and regions best double play combination up the middle as TCU commits 2B-Ryder Robinson and SS-Fisher Ingersoll combined for 7 of those HR’s, with the #1 ranked ‘23 in Robinson hitting 4 on the week, with 3 in one game and in a row! The #1 ranked ‘22, Ingersoll had 3 HR’s and the two middle infielders combined for 14 RBI’s with 10 combined in one game. With MLB scouts in attendance at most of the Cavemen games, watching draft eligible seniors, Ingersoll and OF-Kaden Carpenter, while getting an early read for next year on Robinson. Ingersoll and Carpenter were also in attendance representing the Beehive state at the prestigious PBR Super 60 in Chicago on Feb 5th. It’s safe to say that Robinson will make the journey to Chicago next February as well! 

Jordan Beetdiggers 

The Beetdiggers are also sporting a gaudy .385 team batting average and have virtually the same, pitching and defensive numbers of American Fork, as they boast a staff ERA of 3.94 and field the baseball at a .935 clip. What makes this team run on all cylinders, is a star studded Utah commit in 2023 Cole Kershaw, along with sure fire next level bats, in 2023 catcher, Cade Nalder, 2024 SS-Bo Williams a transfer from Riverton, 2023 CF-Stockton Mathis and 2023 LF-Hunter Gatti. Kershaw the reigning 6A triple crown winner in AVG, HR and RBI, is not posting quite the gaudy numbers of a year ago, but has really good numbers nonetheless. Sporting a .473 AVG with 3 HR’s, 20 RBI’s with 10 2B’s. Nalder, the high energy backstop, is having a big year at .446 with 6 2B’s, 2 HR’s and a team leading 25m RBI’s. Mathis, the table setter up top, is having a breakout year at the plate, with a .418 AVG, to go along with 2 HR’s, 6 2B’s and 13 RBI’s. The unequivocal hitting machine, not only for the Beetdiggers, but the whole state, is sporting a .518 AVG with 6 extra base hits, 26 runs scored and 15 RBI’s. What makes his bat so special, is a knack for putting the ball in play at an alarming rate. Over his last 171 plate appearances, Gatti has only gone down on K’s, an absurd 4 times, yes 4 K outs! When you put the ball in play that much it's easy to see why he hit .462 in 2021 and now .518 currently. Transfer SS-Bo Williams, who got off to a slow start has started to heat up and hence his selection and invitation to the prestigious PBR Future Games this coming July at the PBR LakePoint complex in Emerson, GA. Williams is hitting .378 with 3 2B’s, a HR and 9 RBI, after missing the first four games of the season, waiting for his transfer to go through. 

Lehi Pioneers

The Pioneers are rolling and having one of the better seasons’ in school history as they are led by 3 star QB recruit, 2023 Jackson Brousseau on the mound and at the plate. Brousseau is hitting .417 with 26 RBI’s, 8 2B’s and 3 HR’s. On the mound Jackson sports a 1.30 ERA in 32.1 innings pitched, with only 6 BB’s, to go along with 23 K outs. The pitching star has been former Utah Valley head coach, Eric Madsen’s son, 2022-Maddux Madsen (QB signee with Boise State), who sports a higher ERA of 4.43, but limits baserunner via the walk, of only 10 in 36.1 innings pitched, with 52 K outs. Madsen also is the leading overall hitter for the Pioneers, along with Brousseau, as he boasts a .412 batting average, to go along with 24 RBI’s, 4 2B’s, 3 3B’s and 2 HR’s. The glue defensively, along with his high contact bat, is 2023 SS-Jake Olsen, who has a .384 batting average to go with 24 RBI’s, 8 2B’s and a 3B and is 9-10 in SB attempts. With a staff of high caliber, working with the Pioneer players, in Head Coach, Jason Ingersoll, the brother of iconic American Fork head coach, Jarod Ingersoll. Ingersoll also has top flight assistants in Curtis Jacobsen, the brother in law to Jarod Ingersoll and the brother of Canyon View head coach, Jason Jacobsen, who is on my PBR event staff. Curtis is also the single season HR leader at Southern Utah University, and will hold that position forever, as SUU dropped its program after the 2012 season. 

Olympus Titans 

The Titans enter the rankings for the first time this season, and after a slow start to their season in the early St. George preseason tournaments, the Titans have caught their stride. The Titans are led on the field by former All-Conference catcher back in the day, from 1994-1997 at Utah, in Head Coach, Corland Felts, who was a HS MLB draft pick in 1993 out of Brighton HS. I coached against him, all 4 years he was up on the hill, as the Utes starting catcher, when I was the head coach at Southern Utah University. On the field, the Titans are led by next level type players in 2022 LHP/OF-Ashton Johnson (CSI commit), 2022 CF-Mic Paul, a PBR Super 60 alum and LSU commit, along with 2023 3B/OF-Jacob Faust, a 2021 PBR Future Games alum. Johnson, a PBR Utah 3 time Pitcher of the Week in 2021, has been spectacular on the mound and at the plate, as he has thrown 35 innings, giving up only 20 base hits, sporting a 1.00 ERA to go along with only 7 BB’s and has punched out 62 batters! At the plate, Johnson is hitting .472 with 12 2B’s and a 3B, to go along with 23 RBI’s. Johnson is a PBR West Coast Games alum and has signed with College of Southern Idaho and will enroll this coming fall. Mic Paul, the high energy and fleet footed CF, who will make his way to the LSU campus in Baton Rouge this fall, playing for the power 5 iconic university, has been squaring up the baseball after a slow start in St. George to start the season. The senior CF is hitting ..447 with 5 2B’s, 3 3B’s and 3 HR’s, to go along with 16 RBI’s, 28 runs scored and a 2 to 1 ratio of BB/SO of 18 to 9. The 6.5-6.6 / 60 yrd dash burner, also has not been caught stealing in 13 attempts! 3B/OF-Jacob Faust, a 2021 PBR Future Games alum, also has been swinging a hot bat as of late, sporting a .396 batting average, with 7 extra base hits, 16 RBI’s, 16 runs scored and is 6-7 in SB attempts. Look for Olympus to make a climb in the rankings as the final weeks of the season come to a close. The Titans were ranked as high as #5 a year ago!

Utah Power 25 Rankings 

  1. 6A Fremont 15-1 (Took all 3 from Weber / 9-0 Region - #1 RPI) .382 Team BA. Lost their first game of the season and have reeled off 15 straight wins to remain at #1. 

2.  5A Lehi 18-4 (Took all 3 from Alta w/a run differential of 45-7, #2 RPI)

3.  4A Dixie 17-4 (Split 2 vs Snow Canyon - #2 RPI)

4.  6A Riverton 12-3 (Bye Week - #2 RPI)

5.  5A Spanish Fork 16-3 (Took all 3 vs Springville - #3 RPI)

6.  4A Crimson Cliffs 15-3 (SHO Canyon View in a non-region bye week - #1 RPI)

7.  5A Park City 12-3 (Split w/Murray and rescheduled Sat’s game w/weather to Monday. /7-1 in league play - #1 in RPI)

8.  5A Jordan 14-5 (Swept 3 from Mountain View w/run differential of 34-2 - #5 RPI)

9. 6A Bingham 13-3 (Bye Week - #3 RPI)

10.  6A American Fork 12-4 (Swept 3 from Westlake w/a run differential of 52-3! Jumped 4 spots to #5 in the RPI)

11. 6A Lone Peak 10-5 (Took 2 out of 3 from Pleasant Grove - #4 RPI) 

12. 6A Pleasant Grove 9-6 (Dropped 2 of 3 from Lone Peak - #7 RPI) Took 2 of 3 a week earlier from Skyridge to remain a step ahead in the rankings  

13. 6A Skyridge 11-5 (Took 2 out of 3 from Corner Canyon w/a total score of 7-3 - #6 RPI)

14. 5A Orem 16-3 (Swept 3 from Timpview w/run differential of 35-6  - #4 RPI)

15. 4A Pine View 17-4 (Swept 2 from Desert Hills - #3 RPI) Flipped spots with Snow Canyon

16. 6A Taylorsville 15-4 (Have won 13 straight - Moved up 4 spots to #8 in the RPI)

17. 4A Snow Canyon 14-8 (Split w /#3 Dixie. The Warriors feature the leading Gatorade & 4A POY candidate in Luke Anderson (BYU commit). They have also put up this record w/o the services of All-State RHP-Isaac Lyon (FB 88-94) due to a back issue for the last 8 games, as he has yet to play in all the Warriors Region 10 games to date  - #4 RPI)

18. 4A Bear River 15-4 (Took 2 out of 3 from Green Canyon to move from 19 to #17 in the rankings - #6 RPI)

19. 5A Olympus 13-4 (Defeated Murray and took 2 from Highland - #6 RPI)

20. 5A Woods Cross 11-4 (Took all 3 vs Bonneville by a run differential of 49-12, #7 RPI)

21. 4A Desert Hills 12-8 (Lost both games to Pine View - #5 RPI)

22. 5A Cottonwood 11-6 (Took 2 from Tooele by a run differential of 22-3, #9 RPI)

23.  5A Murray 9-5 (Split w/#7 Park City. 3rd game of series rescheduled due to weather for Monday - Lost 5 spots from #3 to #8 in RPI)

24. 3A Juab 15-5 (3 wins vs higher classes / Swept 3 from Union / 9-0 in Region,  #1 in RPI)

25. 3A Grantsville 18-5 (15-0 in league, defending 3A State Champs. 2-4 vs higher classifications - #4 in RPI)