MIAA Baseball Top 25 Poll: Week 6

Mansfield's pitching highlighted by Kevin Dow (Pictured) has the Hornets back in our top 25 poll.

Photo by Eamon Convey (@ConveyWEEI)

By SuiteSports' Staff

Teams began to ramp up their schedules this week with most playing four or even as many as five games over the last seven calendar days.

This week brings a new team in North Andover into the top five while Beverly and Danvers climb into the top 15. Masconomet enters the poll for the first time this season.

Courtesy of our panel of writers, correspondents, and editors, here is this week's updated MIAA Baseball Top 25 Poll. 

1. Boston College High (7-2; Last Week: 3) BC High retains the top spot after dethroning previously unbeaten and No. 1 Wachusett. The Eagles have scored 53 runs over their last four games behind sophomore Pat Roche and outfielder Matt Sullivan.

2. Wachusett (8-1; Last Week: 1) The Mountaineers week got off a strong start with big wins over Nashoba, Leominster, and Algonquin before running coming up short against BC High. Shortstop Mike Maher continues to impress as one of the top shortstops in the Bay State.

3. North Andover (7-1; Last Week: 9) Wins over Central Catholic and Andover on consecutive days move the Scarlet Knights into the top five for the first time this season. Anthony Sapienza has dominated on the mound. 

4. Central Catholic (8-3; Last Week: 2) The Raiders hit a bit of an offensive power outage early in the week scoring a combined one run in losses to both North Andover and Tewksbury. 

5. Austin Prep (9-1; Last Week: 4) After a week off due to rain, the Cougars showed little signs of rust winning all five of their games this week including victories over Catholic Central League foes St. Mary’s, Arlington Catholic and Bishop Fenwick. 

6. St. John’s Shrewsbury (8-3; Last Week: 12) The defending Division 1A Super Eight champions seem to be molding into form. It was an all around complete week for St. John’s as they took down Xaverian, St. John’s Prep, and New Bedford scoring 30 combined runs.

7. Plymouth North (8-1; Last Week: 14) The Blue Eagles fell for the first time this season on Wednesday but quickly bounced back with a 4-0 win over Xaverian behind a complete game shutout from Brendan Ferrell. 

8. Franklin (10-2; Last Week: 15) Franklin certainly looks to be heating up at the right time. Taking advantage of its league schedule, Franklin has won five in a row to qualify for the tournament. 

9. Andover (5-2; Last Week: 13) Andover was clipped by North Andover but bounced back with a statement, 14-2 Merrimack Valley Conference win over Lowell to finish the week strong.  

10. Lexington (7-3; Last Week: 5) The Minutemen had a win versus Reading slip away late before falling, 3-2. A test versus BC High is scheduled for Tuesday. 

11. Silver Lake (8-1; Last Week: 16) Silver Lake showcased some resilience with a six-run seventh inning for a come-from-behind 8-6 win this week. Jake Armstrong is consistently getting it done both on the mound at that the plate.  

12. Braintree (5-3; Last Week: 8) Braintree dropped a 3-0 contest to Wellesley early in the week before rebounding with wins over Natick, Weymouth, and Needham. The schedule begins to heat up this week when the Wamps host Newton North on Monday.

13. St. John’s Prep (7-4; Last Week: 10) A 17-8 loss to St. John’s Shrewsbury on Thursday halted what was a five game winning streak for the Eagles. A monster week for the Prep begins with a rematch with red-hot BC High on Monday afternoon. 

14. Beverly (9-2; Last Week: 21) Panthers continue to look as good as anyone in the Northeast Conference. Kyle Cravatis had a premiere performance throwing a two-hit shutout in Beverly’s 9-0 win over Salem on Tuesday. 

15. Danvers (8-1; Last Week: 17) A 5-1 win over Gloucester gave Roger Day his 500^thcareer win. Justin Roberto has thrown complete games in consecutive weeks.  

16. Brockton (8-1; Last Week: 20) The Boxers keep on rolling as they defeated Cardinal Spellman 5-1 on Saturday to enter the near midway point of their season with just one blemish.

17. Brookline (8-3; Last Week: 7) Brookline was on the verge of a season sweep of Bay State Conference rival Newton North before the Tigers rallied for seven runs in the sixth inning. The staff of Silas Reed, Casey Wisel, and Charlie Brown continues to shine. 

18. Newton North (4-4; Last Week: 11) For a while it looked like a tough stretch could have gotten even bleaker for the Tigers when they entered the bottom of the sixth against Brookline trailing 1-0. Justin Butera turned the tide, however, drilling a go-ahead pinch hit triple to give Newton North a big win.

19. North Attleboro (7-1; Last Week: 24) The Red Rocketeers fell for the first time this season on Wednesday, a 3-1 loss to Mansfield, around a pair of wins over Attleboro and King Philip.

20. Masconomet (10-2; Last Week: NR) The Chieftans enter the poll for the first time this season following a monster week that clinched a postseason berth. Andrew Manni did it all in a 10-0 win over Swampscott, throwing a four-hit shutout in which he struck out 11. Oh, and he hit a two run home run. 

21. Mansfield (7-3; Last Week: NR) Back into the poll are the Hornets after a 3-0 week that saw them take down previously undefeated North Attleboro behind a sterling pitching performance from Kevin Dow. A rematch with Taunton awaits on Monday.

22. Wellesley (6-4: Last Week: NR) After a week outside of our poll, Wellesley jumps back in as they took down Bay State Conference powers Braintree and Newton North on consecutive days. 

23. Reading (6-2; Last Week: NR) Reading started off the week with a dramatic come-from-behind win in the bottom of the seventh against Lexington and Matt McLaughlin capped it off by twirling a two-hit shutout in a 4-0 win over Melrose. 

24. Walpole (7-3; Last Week: 22) The Rebels have won four in a row, three of them by one run, to remain perfect in Bay State Conference action. 

25. Catholic Memorial (7-5; Last Week: 6) Injuries could not have hit the Knights at a worse time as a lack of pitching depth hurt in losses to St. John’s Prep and BC High. JP Kelley continues to be one of the top hitters in the Catholic Conference.