South Texas- It’s once again that time of the year, time to single out the 10 teams who I believe would be arriving to the pacific northwest to play baseball in late May. These 10 to Lewiston’s are usually pretty hard to make, and to narrow down so far out who you think the best 10 are. The final power ranking of last season had a 60% success rate, so I’d definitely like to do better this year.
What factors into the rankings?
I use a combination of the following factors: overall record, conference record, record vs current Top 25, home/away/neutral splits, last 10, record vs NCAA, record vs USCAA/NCCAA, overall competition played, strength of wins, and worst losses. Understand these are just my thoughts, there’s reasoning but no wild formula other than a spreadsheet where I keep information. 9 of these teams were easy to rank, the 10th spot was difficult as I thought there were maybe 3 teams that could of fit in there. But lets rank these teams as of the overalls on 3/21 when we update data-
#1 Southeastern (FL) 30-1
No one should be shocked that SEU is #1. They're 30-1 overall and against Top 25 competition they're 11-1 this season. #1 nationally in hits, runs, and homers, all while being #2 nationally in ERA. SEU is a good team and a clear cut #1. That’s all.
#2 LSUS 23-6
The Pilots were ranked 4th by the coaches poll and the two teams ahead of them are 4-7 combined vs T25 & LSUS is 6-3 going 2-1 vs those same teams. Ryan Major is having a great year and Bobby Vath has been solid with a 2.01 earned run average. The Pilots seek a third plane ride out west this season.
#3 Georgia Gwinnett 26-3
Georgia Gwinnett is coming off a very strong 2-1 weekend/midweek versus good opposition. One of those includes a run rule of a top 10 team. Unfortunately due to weather we wont see them vs TWU for a third matchup but the first two have been great. Lets see it happen in Idaho.
#4 Lewis Clarke State (ID) 18-4
The midweeks are done for the LC Warriors and the attention turns to the CCC. LC is the heavy favorite to stay at home through the end of May. Nick Seamons has been a star offensively & 2 of the 3 regular pitchers in Hope & McGill have sub 2 ERAs. LC State is 1-2 versus the current Top 25.
#5 Tennessee Wesleyan 22-5
Credit to Billy Berry for his scheduling, all 5 of the Bulldogs losses are to Top 25 teams. TWU has won the games we expect them to & in 8 ranked vs ranked matchups been 3-5. This team will continue to challenge themselves, as their midweeks for the next month should all be ranked games. It’ll all help in the long run of things.
#6 Hope International (CA) 17-6
HIU dropped its first game and bounced back in a big way. 6-2 vs the current Top 25 the Royals have already won series against 2 of the other ranked conference foes. Connor Martin has been electric on the mound with a 1era in 27ip all while striking out 38.
#7 Mobile (AL) 20-4
Mobile gets ANOTHER BSOW, and 3 more ranked games. That offense for the Rams is electric hitting over .350avg this season. Trevor Wells & Trevor Andrews are each hitting over .400avg with the team lead in homers. The offense holds the key for this team.
#8 Bellevue (NE) 17-4
Credit to Duane Monlux & staff for making sure the Bruins are relevant each year. BU has wins over St. Thomas & Southeastern this season already. The lineup is solid and still young enough to keep this team relevant for years to come.
#9 Webber International (FL) 24-7
The Warriors do take a step back after being swept by SEU but it is nothing drastic. WIU is a solid club who in the very challenging SUN conference can bounce back in a big way. Keep an eye on the next two weeks to see how this team responds with games versus Keiser & STU.
#10 Westmont (CA) 21-5
This was a tough one because there were 3 teams I considered and eventually decided on Westmont because they were in the best form and 4 ranked wins. The offense is hitting for a .268avg which is 139th nationally. The pitching led by Peck, Goddard, and Oseguera has been great and kept Westmont battling. This weekend should be a strong one for Westmont as well.
Nothing is set in stone. Likely this will look much different in April, but send all hate mail to Conner thanks.
-Robby Gutierrez