American Fork reacts to winning the 5A championship baseball game against Taylorsville at Kearns High School in Kearns on Friday, May 25, 2012.
Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
The conditions might be soggy, and many teams probably haven’t even practiced on grass yet, but the 2013 high school baseball season officially gets underway this week.
Two of last year’s state champions — Snow Canyon and Gunnison — begin the season ranked No. 1 in the Deseret News preseason coaches rankings, while Bingham gets the early nod at No. 1 in 5A while Maple Mountain checks at the top of the rankings in 4A.
Bingham, which is ranked 58th nationally according to MaxPreps, narrowly edged defending 5A champion and Riverton for the top spot in 4A.
Arik Mack is back for No. 1 Maple Mountain after posting a 10-0 record and 1.09 ERA last season, and he’s a big reason the Golden Eagles were the overwhelming preseason favorite ahead of Mountain crest and Salem Hills in 4A.
Defending 4A state champion Skyline finished seventh in preseason voting.
In 3A, Snow Canyon received 15 of 17 first place votes to begin the season ranked No. 1. The Warriors return first team all-staters Riley Gates and Brogan Secrist this year.
Defending 2A state champion Gunnison narrowly edged Millard to begin the season at No. 1 despite the graduation of its 2A MVP and two first teamers.
Here’s a look at the Deseret News preseason rankings as voted on by the coaches. Every coach was invited to vote in the preseason rankings, with over half choosing to participate. First place votes are in parenthesis along with last year’s record.
Class 5A
1. Bingham (4) … 24-6
2. American Fork (4) … 25-6
3. Riverton (5) … 14-15
4. Jordan … 17-10
5. Alta … 17-13
Class 4A
1. Maple Mountain (9) … 24-6
2. Mountain Crest (2) … 21-9
3. Salem Hills (4)… 19-10
4. Murray … 18-9
5. Timpanogos … 21-13
Class 3A
1. Snow Canyon (15) … 21-9
2. Spanish Fork (2) … 22-5
3. Juan Diego … 23-8
4. Canyon View … 20-7
5. Cedar … 13-12
Class 2A
1. Gunnison (4) … 24-2
2. Millard (2) … 28-8
3. San Juan (3) … 12-10
4. Emery … 16-9
5. Beaver … 16-8
The high school baseball rankings will be updated Monday each week.
Deseret News prep editor, follow on Twitter @DNewsPreps
DeseretNews.com encourages a civil dialogue among its readers. We welcome your thoughtful comments.
— About comments
James Edward is a sports writer at the Deseret News, serving as the prep editor and Real Salt Lake beat writer. A graduate of the University of Utah in 1998, he has been a full-time sports writer of the Deseret News since more ..
- High school boys track: Davis wins another 5A...
- If hired, Jeff Hornacek will face same...
- Dick Harmon: BYU coach Mike Littlewood...
- High school girls track: Davis wins...
- Amy Donaldson: LDS boxer B.J. Flores hopes...
- Mormon NFL safety Eric Weddle: Balancing...
- High school football: Orem player responds...
- The offseason status of NFL players with Utah...
Subscribe
Mobile
RSS
- USA Rugby: 'What BYU won ... was a...
76 - Mormon NFL safety Eric Weddle:... 67
- Ryan Teeples: Ziggy Ansah's story... 64
- Utes football recruiting: Polynesian... 62
- High school baseball: 5A, 4A state... 49
- Utah Utes football: Dr. Chris Hill... 30
- High school football: Riley Nelson... 27
- High school recruiting: Jackson Barton,... 20
Bingham, American Fork and Riverton....1,2 and 3 and all from Region 4. WoW!!! That makes for an exciting season in Region 4. I am sure as always PG and Lone Peak will not be a slouch either making 5 of the 6 teams in Region 4 all tough. And a More..
I can agree with this list of teams for 5A. All 5 of those teams have very good players still on their team from last year.
It will certainly be a battle with AF, Bingham and Riverton. I think that Jordan always seems to peak at the right times though. This weekend many are in St. George so maybe we can get a little coverage on how those games turned out. Let's More..