Last week, the baseball blog looked at the No. 1-ranked teams over two articles – Locust Grove, Blessed Trinity and Wesleyan, then Milton, Gainesville and King's Ridge Christian.
This week, there are three new No. 1 teams – Walton (AAAAAA), Holy Innocents’ (AA) and Hebron Christian (A).
Here’s a little info on them.
-Walton (12-3), the preseason No. 2 pick of Baseball America, is ranked No. 8 nationally now by Perfect Game and No. 10 in MaxPreps' Excellent 25. A couple of losses this week to Region 5 rival Pope and to Chaminade Prep of California on Thursday in Cary, N.C., could lead to a drop. But no reason to worry about Walton's staying power. The 2015 Class AAAAAA runner-up returned almost every key player. That includes 2B Parker McCoy, CF Michael Guldberg and RF Jason Rooks, all committed or signed with Georgia Tech. They typically bat first, second and fourth. Batting third is SS Carter Kieboom, a Clemson signee who is projected to go in the first three rounds of the MLB Draft. USA Today wrote a story on Kieboom on Thursday from Cary, where Kieboom is 3-for-5 with two doubles, four runs and three RBI in two games at the USA Baseball National High School Invitational. Chris Hummel pitched a four-hit shutout with five strikeouts against Bingham of Utah on Wednesday. Another top Walton pitcher, Zak Kristofak, is committed to Georgia. Regardless of their position in the rankings or playoff bracket, most will consider Walton the team to beat in AAAAAA if they enter the playoffs healthy.
-Holy Innocents' is 14-1, its only loss to Beaufort, S.C., earlier this month. That matches last season's win total (14-11) record from a team that lost in the first round of the state playoffs. But, Holy Innocents' is no stranger to going deep in the state playoffs, with several quarterfinal-or-better appearances since 2007, when the school won a Class A title. This season, junior Hugh Chapman has pitched 25 innings and still sports a 0.00 ERA. Chapman pitched a four-inning perfect game and struck out 11 of the 12 batters he faced against KIPP Atlanta Collegiate on Tuesday. Chapman has committed to Georgia Tech. The leading hitters have been catcher John Pardue (.467) and left fielder John McNair (.391).
-Hebron Christian (16-2) reached the Class A private-school final in 2015, losing a tight three-game series to King's Ridge Christian. (One loss was 6-5 in nine innings, the other 2-0 in seven). Pitching is strong point. Jake Hershman (6-0, 1.35 ERA) is committed to Wofford. Ben Coker (4-0, 1.78) is committed to Berry. Infielder Tyler Calvert, also committed to Berry, is hitting .439 (25-for-57) with seven doubles. He's one of four batters hitting over .390. IF/OF Shane Smith, a Truitt-McConnell recruit, is at .435. Landon Jones (.434) and Spencer Johns (.393) are the others. Hebron's coach is new. Ben Drust had been director of baseball operations for UAB and was looking to move to Atlanta. He's been impressed with what he inherited. ''They stay within themselves and they do not try to be someone they are not,'' Drust said. "The resilience of this team is a fantastic asset they have. There have been multiple instances this year we have gotten down, but the players are confident that they will always come back. There is no quit in them, which isn't something you usually see in a high school team.''
