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Each week, azcentral sports will rank the Super 10 Arizona high school baseball teams.
Through March 18
No. 1 Phoenix Pinnacle (13-1)
Showed no weakness en route to Between The Lines national invitational tourney title at Horizon.
No. 2 Phoenix Horizon (13-1-1)
Lost its first game last week to a tough Stillwater team that Pinnacle beat by one in the final.
No. 3 Queen Creek (14-0)
This 5A team won the Bob Everett Classic last week, scoring 41 runs in four games.
No. 4 Tempe Corona del Sol (10-4)
Won its last four with most impressive coming against defending 6A champion Hamilton, 5-3, in eight innings.
No. 5 Chandler Hamilton (8-3-1)
Rough week, tying Glendale Mountain Ridge (2-2 in eight innings that was stopped due to darkness) and lost to Corona del Sol (5-3 in eight innings).
No. 6 Buckeye Verrado (8-1)
5A team had last week off, but has won five in a row that included a nine-inning, 5-1 win over Peoria Liberty, the only team to beat Pinnacle. Has given up just one run in four games.
RELATED: Arizona’s best high school baseball programs
No. 7 Glendale Mountain Ridge (9-2-2)
Starting to make its move with the 2-2, eight-inning tie vs. Hamilton, the team it lost to in last year’s 6A final.
No. 8 Scottsdale Chaparral (10-2-2)
Only losses were in blowouts — to Verrado (11-0, five innings) and unbeaten Broken Arrow (Okla., 10-1).
No. 9 Nogales (13-1)
This 4A team lost its only game to Chaparral.
No. 10 Peoria Liberty (12-4)
First-year coach Chris Raymond has 5A team on the right track, scoring 33 runs in the last three games and beating a tough Scottsdale Desert Mountain team 10-8.
Through March 11
No. 1 Phoenix Pinnacle (9-1)
Climbs to No. 1 on strength of 7-3 victory over Hamilton.
No. 2 Phoenix Horizon (9-0-1)
A slugfest 12-12 tie with Mountain Ridge causes Huskies to lose grip of No. 1.
No. 3 Chandler Hamilton (7-2)
Losses were to Horizon and Pinnacle.
No. 4 Queen Creek (9-0)
Has been the surprise team in the state so far with outstanding pitching.
No. 5 Vail Cienega (8-0)
Will need to show pitching depth with four games this week after having last week off.
No. 6 Buckeye Verrado (8-1)
This 5A team showed it belongs after run-ruling Chaparral 11-0 last week.
No. 7 Oro Valley Canyon del Oro (9-1)
This 4A team has won four in a row.
No. 8 Glendale Mountain Ridge (9-2-1)
Should get big boost with return of pitcher Tommy Lowe.
No. 9 Phoenix Sandra Day O’Connor (6-3)
Nolan Gorman’s hot bat gives the Eagles optimism in 6A.
No. 10 Scottsdale Chaparral (9-1-1)
Jacob Gonzalez had a pair of two-run homers in a rout of Page last week.
Through March 4
No. 1 Phoenix Horizon (8-0)
Went 3-0 on the week with impressive pitching, hitting and defense to remain No. 1.
No. 2 Chandler Hamilton (6-1)
Doesn’t move spots after winning three games. Huskies now yet to lose since dropping season opener to Horizon.
No. 3 Queen Creek (5-0)
Former Arizona State player and assistant coach Mikel Moreno has a special group in 5A.
AM-FAM: Top baseball hitters and pitchers
No. 4 Vail Cienega (8-0)
This 5A team is hitting .422 and has a 2.80 ERA.
No. 5 Scottsdale Chaparral (6-0-1)
Gave Nogales its first loss Saturday behind strong pitching from senior Casey Candiotti, who had a no-hitter through 6 2/3 inning.
No. 6 Gilbert Campo Verde (2-0)
Started season with wins over fellow Gilbert schools, Gilbert (8-3) and Highland (5-4).
No. 7 Peoria Liberty (6-2)
Has won five in a row since dropping a 3-1 decision to No. 1 Horizon.
No. 8 Phoenix Pinnacle (5-1)
Bounced back from a 5-4 loss to Liberty with a 10-0 rout of Glendale Mountain Ridge.
No. 9 Tempe Corona del Sol (5-2)
Climbs back in after winning five in a row by a combined score of 46-12.
No. 10 Oro Valley Canyon del Oro (5-0)
This 4A team has outscored its opponents 33-7.
Through Feb. 25
No. 1 Phoenix Horizon (5-0)
Beat defending 6A champion and then-No. 1 Chandler Hamilton 4-2 during a 5-0 week to open the season.
No. 2 Hamilton (3-1)
Bounced back from the Horizon loss with three straight wins and allowed a total of six runs in four games.
No. 3 Queen Creek (4-0)
The only team to go undefeated in Brophy Prep’s Adam Donnenfield Baseball Tournament.
No. 4 Vail Cienega (6-0)
Moves into the Super 10 after winning the Cowboy Up tournament, beating Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge and Tucson Salpointe in the final two games.
No. 5 Phoenix Pinnacle (3-0)
Beat Gilbert Perry and Phoenix Shadow Mountain twice, allowing a total of four runs.
No. 6 Scottsdale Chaparral (3-0-1)
The tie came in the opener in a 2-2 game shortened by darkness, facing arguable the best pitcher in the state, Mesa Skyline’s Boyd Vander Kooi.
No. 7 Glendale Mountain Ridge (3-1)
Will bounce back from the 9-5 loss to Scottsdale Desert Mountain that left a sour taste to end the first week.
No. 8 Gilbert Campo Verde (0-0)
Season gets going Tuesday at Gilbert.
No. 9 Ironwood Ridge (3-1)
Only loss was to unbeaten Cienega in the Cowboy Up tournament.
No. 10 Nogales (5-0)
This 4A team outscored its first five opponents 59-10.
MORE: Final high school baseball Super 10 rankings for 2016 season
This is the initial rankings for the 2017 season.
Preseason
No. 1 Chandler Hamilton
The defending 6A champs return Big Schools Player of the Year Nick Brueser and everybody from the pitching staff but ace Zane Strand (now at ASU).
No. 2 Phoenix Sandra Day O’Connor
Great offensive team, led by All-Arizona junior third baseman Nolan Gorman.
No. 3 Glendale Mountain Ridge
Will miss pitcher Tommy Lowe to start the season, but still has big lefty Matthew Libertore to shut down offenses.
No. 4 Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge
Won 22 games last season behind Jacob Allen’s big bat. Expect more of the same in 5A.
No. 5 Tempe Corona del Sol
Experienced team that should give Hamilton a run in 6A.
RELATED: Hamilton’s Brueser driven by high baseball expectations
No. 6 Scottsdale Chaparral
Moves down to 5A, where it will have a good chance at winning state, behind All-Arizona infielder Jacob Gonzalez.
No. 7 Gilbert Perry
Very strong up the middle and possesses as good a middle infield (Trevor Hauver and Tommy Sacco) as you will find in Arizona.
No. 8 Phoenix Pinnacle
Top level pitching with Calvin Schapira and Jake Holmes.
No. 9 Chandler Basha
Gage Workman reclassified up a year, ready to break out with his best year yet for a team that struggled down the stretch last year because of injuries to the pitching staff.
No. 10 Gilbert Campo Verde
Stacked pitching staff hopes to lead Coyotes to the 5A crown.
Suggest human interest stories to Richard Obert at [email protected] or 602-316-8827. Follow him at twitter.com/azc_obert.
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