MIAA Baseball Top 25 Poll: Week 7

By Matt Feld (@Mattyfeld612)

In a week that tested a majority of teams, results raised eye brows across the board.

This week brings Wachusett back to the top spot while Lexington springboards into the top five. BC High’s three losses set the back down towards the bottom of the top 10 while North Attleboro, Masconomet, Walpole, and Xaverian’s hot play gives them the biggest jumps of the week. 

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

1. Wachusett (12-1; Last Week: 2) Outside of a loss to BC High the Mountaineers have been the top team in the Bay State all season long. 

2. Central Catholic (10-3; Last Week: 4) Central Catholic’s offense seems ready to break out and if that is the case, look out. 

3. Austin Prep (10-1; Last Week: 5) The Cougars showcased they could handle a Division 1 foe with a 5-3 win over Chelmsford. They now go back into Catholic Central League play this week with games against Arlington Catholic and Archbishop Williams on the docket. 

4. North Andover (9-2; Last Week: 3) Scarlet Knights continue to get terrific pitching out of Sebastian Keane, Anthony Sapienza, and Charlie Jodka. A quality non-league test in Catholic Memorial awaits on Thursday. 

5. Lexington (10-4; Last Week: 10) Sal Frelick continues to do it all as the Minutemen knocked off BC High, Wilmington, and Winchester as part of a 3-1 week.

6. St. John’s Shrewsbury (10-4; Last Week: 6) Defending champions with a chance to make a statement on Monday when they head to Danvers to take on St. John’s Prep. 

7. St. John’s Prep (9-4; Last Week: 13)The Eagles are as hot as anyone in the state right now as evidenced by their wins over BC High and rout of Peabody.  

8. Boston College High (8-5; Last Week: 1) Eagles had a bumpy beginning to a difficult week elevating the importance of the closing stretch. Monday against Lincoln-Sudbury is their only contest over the next eight days. 

9. Franklin (12-3; Last Week: 8) Franklin bounced back from a loss to Taunton with a win over Catholic Memorial on Thursday. A win over Mansfield on Monday is a near must to stay in the thick of the Super Eight discussion. 

10. Plymouth North (11-2; Last Week: 7) Blue Eagles had a mid-week stumble against Dennis-Yarmouth around wins over Scituate and Quincy.  

11. Beverly (11-2; Last Week: 14) The Panthers created a three-way tie atop the Northeast Conference with a 10-3 win over Medford on Wednesday. 

12. North Attleboro (10-1; Last Week: 19) A clean week for the Red Rocketeers keeps them in command of the Hockomock’s Davenport division. They have allowed more than three runs just one time and that came in an 11-5 win over Canton.

13. Masconomet(10-2; Last Week: 20) Masconomet has won nine in a row scoring double digit runs in every game. Andrew Manni has an eye opening six homers already this season. 

14. Mansfield (10-3; Last Week: 21) A win over Franklin on Monday would push the Hornets into first place in the Hockomock’s Kelly-Rex division.  

15. Walpole (10-3; Last Week: 24) Walpole kept the good times rolling this week extending their winning streak up to eight games including a victory over Braintree on Saturday night.

16. Xaverian (8-6; Last Week: NR) Hawks seemed poised to go on one of their classic second half runs after a walk-off victory against Newton North completed a sweep that included Catholic Memorial and BC High along with the Tigers. 

17. Andover (6-3; Last Week: 9) The Golden Eagles continue to lag behind in terms of games played due to poor luck with the weather. They certainly have a chance to prove themselves on Wednesday versus Central Catholic.

18. Belmont (9-3; Last Week: NR) Nate Espelin continues to step up when the lights shine brightest. Ryan Noone continues to be smooth behind the dish. 

19. Danvers (12-2; Last Week: 15) Falcons fell in a tough battle to Gloucester on Friday but quickly turned around and handed Malden a 10-0 loss in the “Pitching for Pete” event on Saturday.  

20. Reading (8-2; Last Week: 23) What was originally scheduled to be a three-game week turned into just one due to extenuating circumstnaces. The Rockets took care of business in that one matchup knocking off Arlington, 2-1, behind a terrific pitching performance from Matt McLaughlin. 

21. Wellesley (9-4: Last Week: 22) A three-win week for the Raiders have them one win short of tournament qualification with Walpole, Framingham, and Weymouth on the schedule for the upcoming week. 

22. Braintree (7-4; Last Week: 12) The Wamps seemed to be regaining their old form before a 5-3 loss on Saturday to Walpole. Braintree has a chance at redemption on Tuesday to go with tests against Mansfield and Brookline later in the week. 

23. Whitman-Hanson (9-1; Last Week: NR) The Panthers only set back so far this season is a loss to Plymouth North just over three weeks ago, which they can avenge on Monday when the two square off for first place in the Patriot League Keenan Division. 

24. Hanover (9-3; Last Week: NR) Indians jump into the poll behind a statement 5-0 win over Silver Lake. 

24. Silver Lake (9-3; Last Week: 11) Bumpy week for the Lakers who fell to Hanover 5-0 and Whitman-Hanson before salvaging a victory on Saturday versus Duxbury.