TUCSON, Ariz. — Russell County (Seale, Ala.) remains in the No. 1 spot for the fifth consecutive time in the Easton Sports National High School poll after finishing with a 38-1 record and winning the Alabama 5A state title.

Russell County was led by a superb pitching staff which ended with a 0.77 ERA and 429 strikeouts, both Alabama state records.

The four top pitchers on the team — Kasey Kiker, Cory Rasmus, Justin Dutton and Cody Dykes — return to the team next year.

Colby Rasmus’s 24 home runs and 69 runs scored were the second most in a season in the state. His 66 RBI was the seventh highest total in state history.

Several drastic changes were made in this week’s poll. Many states have changed their regional, playoff and final formats to single elimination in order to reduce the time it takes to get to a state champion. This new format has wreaked havoc with the poll for the end of the season as numerous No. 1 regular season teams have gotten knocked off early. Some states ended up with a team that has 6 or 7 losses as the state champion.

No. 2 Brownsburg, Ind., No. 5 Ann Arbor Pioneer, Mich., No. 8 Deering, Maine, No. 22 Lockport, Ill., and No. 27 Bishop Hendricken, RI are still playing their seasons. Brownsburg remains undefeated with 32 wins so far.

No. 3 Millard North (Omaha, Neb.) was the state’s first unbeaten baseball team in Nebraska in their division since 1984. Millard North beat Omaha Westside, 10-6, for the state title.

No. 4 La Cueva (Albuquerque, NM) chalked up another 5A state championship and finished its season with a 28-1 record.

Moving up to No. 6 is Nova (Davie, FL) that won the 5A Florida state championship beating Gaither, 3-0.

No. 7 Northwest Rankin, Miss. swept Gulfport, 6-3 and 5-4 in the 5A Mississippi state championships. The Cougars won 14 of their last 15 games of the season and set a school record for wins at 36.

Rancho Bernardo (San Diego, Ca.) captured the CIF San Diego Section Div. I title over Granite Hills, 8-2.

The Broncos had 20 straight victories to end the season. They come in at No. 10

No. 11 Columbia (Hickman, MO) defeated DeSmet, 17-7 for the Missouri Class 4A championship. The Kewpies finished the season with a school record for victories at 28 and their second state baseball title. The last title was won in 1990.

Also Hickman’s 17 runs batted in was the second-most in a championship game.

No. 14 Elder (Cincinnati, OH) beat Toledo Start, 3-0 for their state title. It was the school’s 12^th baseball title.

No. 15 Maize, Kan. beat Manhattan, 3-0 for the 6A Kansas state title while No. 16 Niwot (Longmont, CO) won its second consecutive 4A state title by defeating Pueblo South, 7-0.

Punahou (Honolulu, Hawaii) defeated Kailua, 3-1 to win its state championship and moves in at No. 17. James Monroe (Bronx, NY) lost in the quarterfinals and ended their season 33-2. They dropped to No. 18.

Mills Godwin (Richmond, Va.) was stunned by an early playoff loss and dropped to No. 19. They were undefeated for 23 games until the loss.

Calallen (Corpus Christi,Tex.) became the 4A Texas state champs and moves in at No. 21.

St. John’s High School (Washington, DC) won the Catholic League title for teams from DC, Virginia and Maryland. They have won 20 or more games for 12 straight years.

No. 29 Tattnall Square Academy (Macon, GA) won the 3A GISA state championship for the third time in six years. They outscored opponents 91-10 during the playoffs sweeping every series. In the regular season they outscored opponents 324-55, posting a team batting average of .367 and a team ERA of 1.39.

Clovis West (Fresno, Ca.) dropped to No. 30 after losing in their sectional final to Buchanan, 8-1.