Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Day Two...National Classic Showdowns


The battle for position in the National Polls has started to heat up. The Anderson Bat National Classic boasts 5 teams in the top twenty with three of those is the top ten.

Mater Dei showed why they are ranked 6th in the nation in a Baseball America Poll with a dominating 7-0 win over the nations #4 team, Notre Dame Prep of Arizona. Tenth ranked Archbishop Mitty of San Jose, CA finished off a 10 inning marathon by downing Northview, CA 9-8...but then dropped the nightcap 10-3 to Esparanza. Fourteenth ranked Palm Beach Central, FL went 2-0 and handed Notre Dame it's second straight loss with a 7-6 victory.

The most interesting match-up of the day was seventh ranked Don Bosco Prep of New Jersey vs. DeLa Salle of Concord, California. Both schools are dominant in just about every sport they compete in. Both have been ranked by Sports Illustrated as one of the Top 10 High School Sports Programs in the nation.

Earlier this year the two met in a nationally televised football game with Don Bosco winning a thriller 23-21, handing DeLa Salle it's only loss of the regular season. Don Bosco won it's third straight New Jersey State title and finished the season ranked 15th in the nation in the USA Today poll. DeLa Salle, winner of the USA Today National Championship 5 out of 6 years from 1998 to 2003 was the California state runner up and finished the season ranked 18th. DeLa Salle also has more active players in the NFL than any other high school with 6. They are Matt Gutierrez, NE; Maurice Jones-Drew, JAX; Derek Landri, JAX; Amani Toomer, NYG; Demetrius Williams, BLT and D.J. Williams, DEN.

After that heartbreaking loss in the fall, the Spartans were out for revenge and came up big with a 7-4 victory, handing DB Prep it's second straight loss of the tournament.

Here is Tuesday's recap:

Game #9 Aptos, CA - 0 vs Norco, CA - 10
Game #10 Northview, CA 7 - vs Mamaroneck, NY- 3
Game #11 Spanish Fork, UT - 9 vs Jesuit, CA - 11
Game #12 Don Bosco Prep, NJ - 4 vs De La Salle, CA - 7
Game #13 Mater Dei, CA - 7 vs Notre Dame, AZ - 4
Game #14 Arch Bishop Mitty, CA 3 - vs Esperanza, CA - 10
Game #15 Palm Beach Central, Fl - 7 vs Notre Dame, CA - 6
Game #16 El Dorado, CA - 3 vs El Toro, CA - 17

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