College Baseball Poll - Collegiate Baseball Newspaper

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Wednesday (May 5, 2003)

A&M CONSOLIDATED NO. 1 IN EASTON SPORTS COLLEGIATE BASEBALL NEWSPAPER (www.baseballnews.com) POLL

TUCSON, Ariz. — A&M Consolidated High School (College Station, Tex.) has been ranked No. 1 for the second straight time in Easton Sports’ National High School poll. The Tigers, off to a 28-1 record with 18 consecutive wins, have scored 217 runs while limiting its opposition to only 56.

Opponents are only hitting .174 against the Tigers since A&M Consolidated has a microscopic team ERA of 1.97. With 11 shutouts this season, the pitching staff has struck out 227 batters while walking 80. The offense has been superb with the team hitting .345 along with 77 extra base hits. The Tigers have a team on-base percentage of .430.

The Tigers have been healthy for most of the season but may have suffered a huge blow when catcher Grady Norton went down with a knee injury during a recent game. "He singled in this particular at-bat and twisted his back (right) knee as he came out of the box. He made it to first base, but we quickly took him out of the game." He was expected to receive an MRI on his knee to see if he can continue on or not in the playoffs.

Poll Notes: After winning the prestigious Toyo Tires National Classic in Fullerton, Calif., No. 2 Taylorsville, Utah has won six straight and now has a superb 19-1 overall record. No. 3 Oviedo High School (Oviedo, Fla.) is still rolling along with a 26-2 record. The team is led by 2B Bridger Hunt (.483, 17 SB), Brian Brooks (9-1, 1,10 ERA, 77 Ks), Corey Bevis (8-0, 1.13 ERA), CF Barry Baxter (.410, 26 runs scored, 13 SB) and Matt Lopez (.385, 3 HR, 22 RBI). Brooks, Baxter and Hunt are all going to the University of Central Florida. Lopez is looking to go to Jacksonville University.

No. 4 Riverside High School (Greer, S.C.) is still red-hot with a 24-1 record. The team recently captured the District 3 championship on the class AAA level by defeating Newberry, 9-3. Warrior pitcher Brad Chalk struck out eight batters in five innings and also picked off three runners. Riverside is hitting .376 as a team and has pushed across 235 runs while limiting opponents to only 32. The pitching staff has thrown 10 shutouts.

Farragut H.S. (Knoxville, Tenn.) has rolled to a 39-1 record as the team is ranked 10th in the nation. The offense averages over 10 runs a game. The team’s top pitcher is Craig Cobb who is 9-0 on the season. La Cueva H.S. (Albuquerque, N.M.), ranked 12th, has hit 74 homers in 26 games this season.

No. 13 ranked John Curtis H.S. (River Ridge, La.), 32-1, has been nothing short of sensational. Recently Troy Naquin threw a no-hitter and struck out 13 for the Patriots in a district contest against Karr. As a hitter, he was 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs in the same game.

New Hope H.S. (Columbus, Miss.) is ranked 19th in the nation with a 32-3 record. The team is hitting .356 while the pitching staff has a superb 1.61 ERA. The staff has struck out 323 batters while walking only 54. Another team that has been superb is 23rd ranked Omaha Westside (Omaha, Neb.) which is off to a 17-2 record. Recently Max Fearnow hurled a complete-game one-hitter against Papillion-La Vista in an 8-0 victory.