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College  | Rankings | 2/28/2018

DII, NAIA, DIII rankings: Feb. 28

Photo: North Greenville Athletics




February 21 Rankings

With the season still in its infancy, the latest updated rankings are, for better or worse, still grounded much more on preseason prognostication rather than on-the-field results. It’s difficult to determine if a team’s lopsided defeat was due to a bad day on the diamond, of if they simply were outmatched.

For example, in D-II Catawaba, the preseason No. 15 team looked ghastly out of the gate, losing their first seven contests, two of which by a combined score of 6-36. Since then they’ve gone 7-2 with a win over perennial power Mount Olive and five against Coker and Shippensburg, two teams which were recently in the D-II Baseball Championships. So which team are the Indians, the sputtering patsy or a club looking to make their third trip to the final eight in six years? That question is still very much in the air.

Accordingly, if the records look a little unreasonable and askew, like how NAIA’s LSU Shreveport is ranked despite being only a mediocre 9-8 or Cortland State is second in D-III despite being 3-2, remember that the rankings are not based on winning percentage, but something more akin to win probability. That is how the teams are believed to finish should they play to their potential. Check out the preseason predictions for help deciphering where some teams are where they are.

As games continue to be played the hypothetical forecast fraction of the rankings will diminish and instead boxscores and strength of schedule will rule the formula. Until then, following are the latest and greatest predictions of who are the top teams in small school college baseball.

Rankings are based on games through Sunday, February 25.


NCAA Division II

In 2014 the North Greenville Crusaders were not good. In fact they were pretty awful. They finished the season 8-35, dead last in their conference with just a pair of wins in 20 contests and their head coach unceremoniously resigned after the season. It was a discouraging result for a team which had won 46 games and captured the National Christian College Athletic Association just four years prior.

In hopes of reversing their exponentially diminishing results, NGU took a flyer on Landon Powell. While Powell had a tremendous pedigree as a player as a former South Carolina All American, first round draft pick and MLB player, his experience as a coach was minimal. He had only been a volunteer assistant coach at nearby Furman for less than a year when he was hired to take over the program. However what he was missing in experience, he made up in character, contacts and motivation, which made him perfect for the position.

In less than a handful of seasons under Powell’s direction NGU has become one of D-II baseball’s teams to beat and, after taking two from highly ranked Northwoods last week, are in the doorstep of being ranked in the top 10. The position could be solidified this week as they visit Belmont Abbey in a clash of nouveau powerhouse teams positioned in the top 15.

While they are plenty of players to pour kudos on, a extra special tip of the hat must go to Canaan Cropper and John Jones, a pair of transfers from Landon’s alma mater USC. Cropper had mixed success in Columbia, but never quite found his groove or earned the innings he’d hoped for after being the second rated high school prospect in Maryland. Jones had an explosive start with the Gamecocks, twice earning SEC Player of the Week, but his stats suffered after his torrid beginning.

Both have admirably resurrected their careers and showcased their talent in a North Greenville uniform. Crooper has earned three wins and a save in seven appearances with a 0.56 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 16 innings while Jones is leading the team in batting at .473 as well as total bases.

Connor Grant, who played previously at the College of Charleston, and Tucker Burgess, who previously played at Clemson, are also contributing greatly, as is Ethan Garner, the 2016 conference freshman of the year, who redshirted last season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery.

Continue to watch UNC Pembroke whose offense is putting up monster number at the plate. The Braves swept Lander last weekend, averaging 15 runs per contest. UNCP has scored double-digit runs in nine of 12 games this season.

New to the rankings this week is Wingate who swept three games from Lincoln Memorial. Their inclusion makes for three South Atlantic Conference teams as they join Catawba and the Railspliters in the Top 25.


Rk. Prev. School ST Record Week
1 2 Delta State Statesmen MS 11-1 4-0
2 3 Tampa Spartans FL 10-2 3-0
3 6 Mercyhurst Lakers PA 2-0 2-0
4 4 Minnesota State Mavericks MN 0-0 0-0
5 5 Colorado Mesa Mavericks CO 8-4 2-2
6 1 West Chester Golden Rams PA 2-2 2-2
7 7 Cal Baptist Lancers CA 7-3 2-2
8 8 UNC Pembroke Braves NC 11-1 3-0
9 9 Florida Southern Moccasins FL 11-1 2-1
10 10 Lubbock Christian Chaparrals TX 7-4 5-0
11 11 St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans NY 4-0 4-0
12 14 Azusa Pacific Cougars CA 14-0 4-0
13 22 North Greenville Crusaders SC 11-3 5-0
14 15 Georgia College Bobcats GA 9-4 3-0
15 16 Belmont Abbey Crusaders NC 15-2 5-0
16 17 New Haven Chargers CT 4-0 4-0
17 18 Nova Southeastern Sharks FL 6-4 3-0
18 NR Wingate Bulldogs NC 13-2 3-1
19 20 UC San Diego Tritons CA 9-4 3-1
20 13 Northwood Wolves MI 4-5 3-4
21 21 St. Cloud State Huskies MN 2-1 0-0
22 12 Emporia State Hornets KS 6-6 0-2
23 25 Catawba Indians NC 7-9 4-0
24 24 Oklahoma Baptist Bison OK 9-3 1-1
25 19 Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters TN 10-5 2-3

Dropped out: Angelo State (23).



NAIA

Faulkner continued their stranglehold on the NAIA’s top position in the rankings by earning a pair of lopsided wins over previously ranked Clarke as well as a well-earned win on the road against Georgia Gwinnett. With the victories the Eagles can now claim seven wins over teams that were in the preseason Top 25 as they swept Northwestern Ohio the week before. With upcoming games against Talladega, Brewton-Parker and Stillman, Faulkner should have no problem continuing their winning ways.

Kudos to head coach Patrick McCarthy for his fearless non-conference scheduling. The Eagles will be well prepared when they face a stacked Southern States Athletic Conference schedule featuring Mobile, William Carey, Middle Georgia State and Blue Mountain, who are currently a combined 56-13.

The early season results have not been kind to ranked teams from the Midwest, namely Clarke, Missouri Baptist and Bellevue. Each of the trio started the season in the top 15, but the Pride and Spartans have already been abruptly removed and the Bruins aren’t looking quite up to snuff either.

It wasn’t until April 29 when Clarke lost their 10th game of the season last spring – this year they did it in just their 11th game of the season. Again, high praise to the head coach for setting up a testing pre-conference schedule, but while they shouldn’t have been expected to be undefeated at this point, they certainly weren’t forecast to be 10 games underwater.

At Missouri Baptist, head coach Eddie Uschold thought this year’s club was going to be one of the deepest he has had the past few seasons. While they indeed may be deep, they’re not producing as the Spartans have a 5-10 record so far this young season. Things are not looking promising for either of these clubs, but fortunately they both plenty of time to turn it around.

That leaves the Bellevue Bruins, the most enigmatic of the three, left to discuss. The Bruins have six position players and three starting pitchers back from a team that won 51 games last season which earned them the No. 3 position in the preseason rankings, but their results so far are as up and down as an electrocardiogram chart. They started the season with a lopsided 21-0 spanking at the hands of second-ranked Oklahoma City, but rebounded to defeat the Stars the next day. However then BU lost a game to perpetually woeful Texas College by practically gift-wrapping the Steers the win by committing six errors and issuing wild pitches which cost them the game.

Bellevue next took two of three on the road from a good, but not great Tabor team which evened their record at 3-3, a mark which doesn’t look good by any means, but typically wouldn’t be cause for too much alarm this early in the season. However their current ranking consideration does not include a Tuesday loss this week which unquestionably would have tanked their position in the table.

On Tuesday Bellevue was manhandled by fellow Nebraska club Doane, as they were endured a 15-1 drubbing. The Bruins need to fix their wagon quick because they’re headed to Florida this weekend to play 10 games in eight days. Their performance there will go a long way to demonstrate if their lackluster start is simply an inability to shake the winter rust off or if there is something flawed about this year’s team.

Two teams that are exponentially rocketing up the rankings are Southeastern and Middle Georgia State. Both teams had solid seasons last year, but lost a lot of their prime performers in the offseason, especially SEU. Head coaches Adrian Dinkel and Paul Knight deserve mad props for reloading their rosters with ready-to-go talent and meshing the incoming recruits with the established players. The two teams were a combined 34-4 after last week with no end in sight for their wining ways.


Rk. Prev. School ST Record Week
1 1 Faulkner Eagles AL 15-0 3-0
2 2 Oklahoma City Stars OK 9-1 0-0
3 3 St. Thomas Bobcats FL 13-3 3-1
4 4 Georgia Gwinnett Grizzlies GA 14-2 3-1
5 5 Bellevue Bruins NE 3-3 0-0
6 6 Texas Wesleyan Rams TX 9-2 1-0
7 7 William Carey Crusaders MS 12-3 4-1
8 8 Oklahoma Wesleyan Eagles OK 12-2 3-0
9 9 USAO Drovers OK 10-1 0-0
10 14 Southeastern Fire FL 19-0 5-0
11 11 Concordia Cardinals MI 10-2 2-0
12 18 Bryan Lions TN 14-1 2-1
13 12 The Master's Mustangs CA 13-7 1-3
14 NR Middle Georgia State Knights GA 15-4 3-0
15 20 William Jessup Warriors CA 19-5 3-1
16 16 Northwestern Ohio Racers OH 11-8 2-1
17 17 Lewis-Clark State Warriors ID 8-2 0-0
18 21 Cumberlands Patriots KY 8-3 4-0
19 19 Madonna Crusaders MI 16-1 3-1
20 10 Tennessee Wesleyan Bulldogs TN 8-8 1-3
21 23 Point Park Pioneers PA 3-1 3-1
22 22 Indiana Southeast Grenadiers IN 5-4 1-0
23 13 LSU Shreveport Pilots LA 9-8 1-3
24 24 Indiana Tech Warriors IN 6-6 0-0
25 25 Antelope Valley Pioneers CA 12-7 3-1

Dropped out: Clarke (15).


NCAA Division III

With most teams still only playing a limited number of games so far (over half of the Top 25 has played two or less games), it’s still too early to put too much stock in any team’s performances so far this season. Accordingly, there has only been a slight jostling of the rankings with nothing particularly of interest so far. No team has looked partially impressive or lackluster, although Randolph-Macon looked legit in their three wins last week, including a pair over Alvernia, who is a preseason favorite.

Individually, Greg Schneider of Frostburg State is looking absolutely brilliant on the mound. In 13 innings he’s only allowed four hits and a walk, which is pretty dang stunning by itself, but most impressively he has struck out 30 batters for a 20.76 K/IP ratio. If he were to somehow keep up that pace it would surpass the 19.1 strikeouts per nine inning record established by future MLB seven-time All Star Billy Wagner when he pitched for Ferrum back in 1992.

Another improbable statistical occurrence happened in the doubleheader between Hood College and Penn State Brandywine over the weekend. During the pair of games the Hood Blazers stole 19 bases, 13 of which were in the opening game. The six stolen bases in the second game would have set a school record had they not had the baker’s dozen in the first game. So far this season the Blazer have out-swiped their opposition 28-to-1.


Rk. Prev. School ST Record Week
1 1 UW-Whitewater Warhawks WI 0-0 0-0
2 2 Cortland State Red Dragons NY 3-2 1-2
3 3 Wooster Fighting Scots OH 1-0 1-0
4 4 Centenary Gents LA 7-2 0-0
5 5 Concordia University Chicago Cougars IL 0-1 0-1
6 6 Shenandoah Hornets VA 3-2 3-2
7 7 La Roche Redhawks PA 0-0 0-0
8 8 UT Dallas Comets TX 7-3 3-0
9 9 Cal Lutheran Kingsmen CA 5-4 3-2
10 10 UMass-Boston Beacons MA 0-0 0-0
11 11 St. John Fisher Cardinals NY 1-1 1-1
12 12 North Central Cardinals IL 2-0 2-0
13 13 Southern Maine Huskies ME 0-0 0-0
14 14 Roanoke Maroons VA 4-2 3-1
15 15 St. Thomas Tommies MN 0-0 0-0
16 18 Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets VA 5-0 3-0
17 17 Concordia Tornados TX 6-4 0-0
18 21 Tyler Texas Patriots TX 7-3 4-0
19 19 Babson Beavers MA 0-0 0-0
20 24 Christopher Newport Captains VA 8-2 4-0
21 20 Salisbury Seagulls MD 0-2 0-0
22 22 Salve Regina Seahawks  RI 0-0 0-0
23 25 Trinity Tigers TX 5-0 0-0
24 23 Mount Union Raiders OH 0-1 0-1
25 16 Alvernia Golden Wolves PA 0-2 0-2

Dropped out: None.



College | Recruiting | 12/15/2025

Recruiting Notebook: December 15

John McAdams
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Steve Fiorindo
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MVPitcher: Duncan McLeod The uncommitted junior toed the slab in three of the four games for Team Mick, tossing 3 2/3 innings.  Zero walks, zero hits and 6 punchouts for the lefty who was used both as a starter in the series clinching game 4 and he closed out game 3 on Friday in quick fashion.  McLeod was very efficient as well, needing just 42 pitches over all his outings.  In the game 4 start, over two innings he punched out 3, with one strikeout with all of his offerings.  The mid 80’s fastball regularly played up, set up with efficient use of the secondaries, with the breaking ball 73/74 and fading change-up 72-74.   Owen Bone (2026) at it again... Solo shot in the 5th to tie things up. Back to back days with a home run for Bone. #PGHS pic.twitter.com/2JC9qETI5h — Perfect Game California (@California_PG) December 13, 2025 MV Hitter: ...
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13u Tourney All-American Team

Jheremy Brown
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What a year it was in 2025 on the national landscape at the 13u level as Perfect Game continues to expand its reach around the country, providing an even bigger schedule of events coast-to-coast which has allowed players all over show out and gain their deserved recognition. Whether in Texas for the Houston 1000 or the 13u WWBA in West Palm Beach, we saw huge, eye opening performances from the players placed below, knowing that we could EASILY build a third team and likely a fourth without much effort.  As we do every year with this exercise, it's worth pointing out the trickiness of this age group and putting the teams together with the 13u group. While the players are all members of the Class of 2030, some are younger for the grade, which allowed them to play at the 12u level where's it's a smaller field, shorter mound distance and different bats, so we'll separate them out and...
Tournaments | Story | 12/18/2025

14u Tourney All-American Team

Tyler Russo
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Player of the Year: Asher Williams It was an incredible year for Williams that was rewarded with a trip to the 14U Select Fest, before some more impressive play in the fall. He came to the plate almost 250 times in PG tournaments throughout 2025 and reached base in well over half of them, hitting to a .500 AVG while slugging a 14U circuit best 12 bombs and driving in 113 runs. The numbers on the surface are ridiculous, but when you look at the high-level events he put them up in, it makes it even more impressive. Pitcher of the Year: Tristan Blalock Blalock earns this honor after a dominant 2025 where he struck out 85 batters in just 48.2 innings of work with a minuscule 1.58 ERA. This included several strong performances at many national level tournaments and showcases where he was able to bully some of the best hitters in the country. It’s hard not to fall in love with...
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PG Draft: Gut Feel Guys

Tyler Henninger
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While we are nearing the turn of the calendar to the 2026 year, that means we are just inching closer to the beginning of the season for many high school players and college baseball is on the horizon. We are prepping for a reshuffle of the 2026 MLB Draft Board as well here amongst the PG Draft staff. But before we get to that, we sat down and have each picked a couple of players who are in the mix to get selected in a couple of different buckets.  We have prospects who could go into the Top 30 picks or so, prospects who could be selected in the Top 5 rounds, and prospects who could go inside of the Top 10 rounds. With the draft quite far down the road and a lot of re-shuffling to be done as these players play themselves into certain spots on the draft board, our scouts picked some players who fit into these “buckets” who are gut-feel guys. These are the guys that our PG...
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15u Tourney All-American Team

Jason Phillips
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Hitter of the Year: Landon Bonner The 2028 class saw many players from across the country take the next step in their development as they entered the High School ranks. There were huge performances from highly ranked players on the PG circuit as well as some under-the-radar guys who burst onto the scene. Landon Bonner came into Sophomore National as a Top 500 ranked player and after an impressive showing, left with all eyes on him as a rankings riser in the class. The left-handed hitting shortstop from The Colony, Texas, had a summer to remember with All-Tournament Team selections in three of his next four events culminating with a historic performance at the 2025 PG 15U WWBA National Championship. The Hebron High School prep went 20-for-24 in nine games for 5 Star Mafia 15U Black with four homeruns and 12 runs batted in. He also scored 17 runs and finished with a mind-boggling 2.500...
Tournaments | Story | 12/16/2025

16u Tourney All-American Team

AJ Denny
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Hitter of the Year: Koa Romero is the Hitter of the Year for the 16u group, as he would come to every premier event of the summer and earn All-Tournament honors (Beast of the East, 16/17u WWBA, Jupiter) in every single one. Over 82 plate appearances, Romero would pump ten homeruns with forty two RBI and sixteen walks, good for a .378 average and 1.339 OPS. The performance on volume at the best events of the year pushed Romero over the edge here, as he’d hit a pair of homeruns in Jupiter (one of them at 112 EV) as an underclassmen and collect double digit hits in BOTH WWBA events with a combined six jacks over the two tournaments. It was a summer that combined performance and winning on the biggest stages for Romero. It’s a quiet left-handed swing that packs a punch. He would reap the benefits of his performances, earning a commitment to LSU and jumping to the #74 prospect in...
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17u Tourney All-American Team

Vincent Cervino
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There’s a lot of talent throughout this 2026 class, filled with the big-name stars, to talent that spreads across the nation. It’s been a lot of fun seeing these prospects grow and develop over the years, from the days of watching some of these guys at the 13/14u days at events on the circuit, to now where they are all graduating seniors in 2026. There’s been new faces who have popped along the way over the years, even in 2026, where some players who were relatively undiscovered, have come out and made a name for themselves with a statement performance. Between the familiar and the new, there’s a lot of names on this list that are going to be quite regularly talked about on the circuit, and for good reason.  Whether it’s PG All-Americans or not, there’s a lot of names with superstar potential at the next level. We’ve got 14 PG All-Americans...
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Tyler Russo
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AJ Denny
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Best Game I Saw: The Dream NTL 18U vs. MBA Scout Team Murphy Jupiter always brings out the best, and we got fireworks from the jump. Turner Marshall gave The Dream an outstanding 4+ innings of work on the mound, holding a lethal MBA team at bay with Chance Dixon, Derrick Carter, and Ellis Appling providing an offensive spark out of the gate for the Georgia based boys. However, it was only a matter of time before the talent on the other side got going, as MBA erased a 3-run deficit in the 5th to take a 4-3 lead led by a Parker Loew HR. The Dream then took command again in the Top of the 6th, before MBA punched right back with a huge 5-run inning in the bottom half capped off by a clutch RBI single from Matthew Kerrigan, ending a wild sequence with tons of notable performances from two very competitive rosters. Best Tournament Performance I Saw: Surely someone has already brought this...
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