Edenton, Hyannis Jockey For Top Spot As Post-Season Play Gets Underway

The Cape Cod League’s Hyannis Harbor Hawks and Coastal Plain League’s Edenton Steamers have traded the No. 1 spot in Perfect Game’s weekly ranking of the nation’s Top 25 summer college league teams for most of the 2011 season, and both clubs are fittingly playing their best baseball of the summer as post-season play is set to get underway in most leagues.

The Steamers occupy the top spot for the third week in a row, even though they recently had a 12-game winning streak snapped. They have won 14 of 15 and are 19-2 in the second half of the CPL schedule. Overall, the Steamers are 38-10 on the season.

Hyannis held down the No. 1 position early in the season and continues to be the top team in the Cape Cod League, acknowledged as the nation’s top summer league. With a nine-run outburst in the sixth inning of their 9-5 win over Bourne Wednesday, the Hawks stretched their latest winning streak to seven games. Overall, they are 26-12.

Playoffs in both the Cape Cod and Coastal Plain leagues get underway next week, and the Steamers and Harbor Hawks will be favored to close out the 2011 schedule in style.

Post-season play in several other summer leagues, meanwhile, begins on several fronts today, and the Cal Ripken League’s No. 3-ranked Bethesda Big Train, which finished the regular season with a 33-9 record, will be gunning for its third straight playoff title.

Also on today’s agenda is the New England Collegiate League all-star game, being played in Lynn, Mass. On Friday, the Cape Cod League will host its annual all-star game at Boston’s Fenway Park (Perfect Game’s Allan Simpson will have reports from both games).

With post-season play lurking in most summer leagues, we have expanded this week’s ranking of the nation’s top teams by 10, from a Top 25 to a Top 35.