ThunderRidge, Mountain View among preseason No. 1s in baseball
Defending champions lead CHSAANow.com’s preseason baseball rankings in four of the five classifications heading into the 2014 season.
Those No. 1 teams: ThunderRidge (5A), Mountain View (4A), Holy Family (3A) and Denver Christian (2A). Stratton (1A) is the lone preseason No. 1 to not win a title last season; defending champ Fleming opens at No. 5.
ThunderRidge received 11 of the the 17 first-place votes in the 5A poll, and topped the ranking with 154 overall points. The Grizzlies return a number of key pieces, including shortstop Brody Westmoreland, pitcher/outfielder AJ Jones, pitcher/outfielder Tyler Loptien and infielder Josh Brown.
Regis Jesuit got three first-place votes, and is No. 2. Rocky Mountain is No. 3, Cherry Creek is No. 4 and Grandview rounds out the top five.
Mountain View, No. 1 in 4A, returns the bulk of its team from last season’s title team, including star shortstop and pitcher Adam Baumann.
The rest of the 4A top five includes No. 2 Valor Christian, No. 3 Air Academy, No. 4 Montrose and No. 5 Pueblo West.
Holy Family leads the 3A poll and is followed by No. 2 Eaton, No. 3 Faith Christian, No. 4 Lamar and No. 5 Brush.
In 2A, Denver Christian leads the way. Resurrection Christian is second, and is followed by Lutheran, Las Animas and Paonia.
Stratton is on top of the preseason 1A poll. No. 2 Caliche, No. 3 Elbert, No. 4 Eads and No. 5 Fleming compile the top five.
Complete rankings for all classes are below.
CHSAANow.com Baseball Polls
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Coaches and media members looking to vote should email rcasey@chsaa.org.
| Class 5A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | ThunderRidge (11) | 0-0 | 154 | – | 0-0 |
| 2 | Regis Jesuit (3) | 0-0 | 139 | – | 0-0 |
| 3 | Rocky Mountain (2) | 0-0 | 137 | – | 0-0 |
| 4 | Cherry Creek (1) | 0-0 | 108 | – | 0-0 |
| 5 | Grandview | 0-0 | 72 | – | 0-0 |
| 6 | Legend | 0-0 | 50 | – | 0-0 |
| 7 | Ralston Valley | 0-0 | 41 | – | 0-0 |
| 8 | Chaparral | 0-0 | 38 | – | 0-0 |
| 9 | Mountain Vista | 0-0 | 34 | – | 0-0 |
| 10 | Brighton | 0-0 | 24 | – | 0-0 |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Fairview 21, Pine Creek 18, Dakota Ridge 14, Chatfield 12, Monarch 12, Legacy 11, Columbine 10, Fossil Ridge 8, Northglenn 8, Cherokee Trail 6, Smoky Hill 6, Arapahoe 5, Rock Canyon 4, Heritage 2, Mullen 2. | |||||
| Class 4A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Mountain View (10) | 0-0 | 113 | – | 0-0 |
| 2 | Valor Christian (2) | 0-0 | 76 | – | 0-0 |
| 3 | Air Academy (1) | 0-0 | 58 | – | 0-0 |
| 4 | Montrose | 0-0 | 56 | – | 0-0 |
| 5 | Pueblo West | 0-0 | 49 | – | 0-0 |
| 6 | Durango | 0-0 | 38 | – | 0-0 |
| 7 | Windsor | 0-0 | 37 | – | 0-0 |
| 8 | Cheyenne Mountain | 0-0 | 34 | – | 0-0 |
| 9 | Longmont | 0-0 | 29 | – | 0-0 |
| 10 | Green Mountain | 0-0 | 25 | – | 0-0 |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Pueblo South 22, Canon City 21, Evergreen 19, D’Evelyn 18, Ponderosa 17, Wheat Ridge 17, Erie 12, Broomfield 11, Palmer Ridge 11, Northridge 10, Mesa Ridge 8, Fort Morgan 7, Falcon 6, Thompson Valley 6, Centaurus 5, Pueblo East 5, Widefield 3, Thomas Jefferson 2, Niwot 1. | |||||
| Class 3A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Holy Family (7) | 0-0 | 70 | – | 0-0 |
| 2 | Eaton | 0-0 | 63 | – | 0-0 |
| 3 | Faith Christian | 0-0 | 53 | – | 0-0 |
| 4 | Lamar | 0-0 | 42 | – | 0-0 |
| 5 | Brush | 0-0 | 33 | – | 0-0 |
| 6 | La Junta | 0-0 | 27 | – | 0-0 |
| 7 | Kent Denver | 0-0 | 18 | – | 0-0 |
| 8 | Olathe | 0-0 | 15 | – | 0-0 |
| 9 | Bayfield | 0-0 | 12 | – | 0-0 |
| 10 | Bennett | 0-0 | 10 | – | 0-0 |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Basalt 7, Peak to Peak 7, Manitou Springs 5, The Classical Academy 5, St. Mary’s 4, Sterling 4, Valley 4, Platte Valley 2, Strasburg 2, Trinidad 2, Gunnison 1. | |||||
| Class 2A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Denver Christian (3) | 0-0 | 57 | – | 0-0 |
| 2 | Resurrection Christian (2) | 0-0 | 49 | – | 0-0 |
| 3 | Lutheran (1) | 0-0 | 44 | – | 0-0 |
| 4 | Las Animas | 0-0 | 34 | – | 0-0 |
| 5 | Paonia | 0-0 | 26 | – | 0-0 |
| 6 | Swink | 0-0 | 23 | – | 0-0 |
| 7 | Holyoke | 0-0 | 21 | – | 0-0 |
| 8 | Rye | 0-0 | 19 | – | 0-0 |
| 9 | Kiowa | 0-0 | 18 | – | 0-0 |
| 10 | Limon | 0-0 | 17 | – | 0-0 |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Yuma 7, Peyton 6, Front Range Christian 3, Byers 2, Sargent 2, Burlington 1, Del Norte 1. | |||||
| Class 1A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Stratton (4) | 0-0 | 53 | – | 0-0 |
| 2 | Caliche (1) | 0-0 | 43 | – | 0-0 |
| 3 | Elbert | 0-0 | 40 | – | 0-0 |
| 4 | Eads | 0-0 | 36 | – | 0-0 |
| 5 | Fleming | 0-0 | 32 | – | 0-0 |
| 6 | Granada | 0-0 | 30 | – | 0-0 |
| 7 | Holly | 0-0 | 28 | – | 0-0 |
| 8 | Community Christian (1) | 0-0 | 20 | – | 0-0 |
| 9 | Baca County | 0-0 | 13 | – | 0-0 |
| 10 | Cheyenne Wells | 0-0 | 11 | – | 0-0 |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Dove Creek 7, Briggsdale 6, Peetz 4, Pawnee 3, Walsh 2, Cotopaxi 1, Weldon Valley 1. | |||||
