Cotuit Hangs on to Top Spot
As Teams Jockey for Position

Some leagues are finished, some are in the midst of playoffs and some haven’t even begun post-season play.

As teams from some 30-plus summer college leagues around the country continue to navigate through the most critical stages of the 2012 schedule, the Cape Cod League’s Cotuit Kettleers remain the No. 1 team in Perfect Game’s weekly ranking of the nation’s Top 30 summer clubs.

Cotuit continues to play at a fast pace with 20 wins in its last 24 games, and has both clinched the Western Division regular-season title in the Cape, along with the league’s best record overall. The Kettleers have just two regular-season games remaining before the first round of the Cape’s eight-team playoff kicks off Thursday.

If the Kettleers continue their hot pace in post-season play and win their second Cape League title in three years, it may be difficult for any other summer club to overtake them in the chase for No. 1. But it has been four years since the last Cape team with the best regular-season record went on and won the league playoffs.

Should the Kettleers falter, there are plenty of other contenders from some of the nation’s other top summer leagues that are lurking.

Chief among them are the No. 2-ranked Newport Gulls, a perennial New England Collegiate League power; the red-hot and No. 3-ranked Wisconsin Woodchucks of the Northwoods League and the No. 4-ranked Edenton Steamers of the Coastal Plain League.

Both Newport and Edenton finished with the best records in their respective leagues during the regular season, and have earned first-round wins in the opening round of playoffs, while Wisconsin continues its torrid pace in the second half of the Northwoods League schedule with a 25-3 record. The NWL playoffs aren’t slated to begin for another week.

Meanwhile, champions have been determined in a number of summer leagues, chief among them the Anchorage Glacier Pilots (Alaska), North Jersey Eagles (Atlantic Collegiate), Baltimore Redbirds (Cal Ripken), Humboldt Crabs (Far West), Licking County Settlers (Great Lakes), Hawaii Aliis (Hawaii), Syracuse Junior Chiefs (New York Collegiate), Top Speed Baseball (Pacific West), Ballantyne Smokies (Southern), Palm Springs Power (Southern California Collegiate) and Harrisonburg Turks (Valley). Several of those teams made strides in PG’s latest Top 30 ranking, but none cracked the top 10 overall.

The 78th annual National Baseball Congress World Series is also underway in Wichita, Kan., and that 32-team tournament includes several teams ranked in the top 30. Chief among them is the No. 7-ranked Santa Barbara Foresters, the defending champion. The Foresters are unbeaten in their first three games.

Teams in Perfect Game’s Top 30 are ranked on the following criteria: won-loss record, league dominance, depth and quality of professional-level talent and the overall strength of the league. To receive consideration, teams must have at least a .500 record overall.