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Power Rankings: June 18
Story by Tim Wilcox | Photo by Brandon Lauchnor
Each Tuesday throughout the season, the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League will release power rankings of the top three teams.
Through two weeks of play, here are the CRSCBL staff’s consensus top three teams.
1. Alexandria Aces (10-4, 1st in South)
After earning the No. 2 ranking in Week 1 of the Power Rankings, the Aces won five games this week, including topping the Giants, propelling them to the No. 1 spot. Each of Alexandria’s two losses this week came by one run, showing a capability to compete in every game. The Aces picked up a signature win on Sunday, defeating the Giants on the road 11-9 in extra innings.
Hitters Riley DeCandido (VCU) and Ethan Plyler (Charleston) paced the Aces offense this week. DeCandido collected 6 RBI and crushed a grand slam in the win over Gaithersburg while Plyler tallied three extra-base hits against Silver Spring-Takoma on Monday. The Aces’ lineup is littered with .300 hitters and players who field their positions at elite levels. On the mound, Ethan Houghtaling recorded seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts to defeat the Cropdusters on June 14, earning him CRSCBL Pitcher of the Week honors.
2. Gaithersburg Giants (8-6, 1st in North)
Despite playing four of six games against South Division opponents this week, the Giants took home three wins. Gaithersburg proved that even against unfamiliar teams, it is still a force. After beginning the season as the No. 1 team, the Giants started the week slow, dropping their first two games. But when they returned home, the Giants’ bats got hot, leading them to wins in three of the last four.
On Sunday in a battle of the league’s top teams, the Giants found themselves trailing 9-3 to the Aces in the eighth inning. In response, Gaithersburg rallied for a six-run frame and forced extra innings, but ran out of steam in the 10th to fall 11-9.
Through two weeks, Danny Sheeler (Salisbury) has cemented himself in the middle of the Giants lineup, and recorded three hits in the Giants win over the Senators on June 14. Meanwhile, Hank Lippman (William & Mary) has led Gaithersburg’s pitching staff with a 0.79 ERA across 11.1 innings.
3. Cropdusters (7-7, T-2nd in North)
The Cropdusters went 2-1 against last week’s top three teams, earning them their first appearance on the Power Rankings. After a 1-3 start to the season, the guys in Olney found their groove, winning three-straight games from June 10-13 while outscoring opponents 24-10. During the stretch, the Cropdusters walloped the Giants 8-0 on June 13 behind a combined two-hitter.
Pavlos Piperakis (Troy) has paced the Cropdusters pitching staff, totaling 18 strikeouts over 12 innings in five appearances. At the plate, the Cropdusters have attacked opponents in many ways as Jimmy Kirk (Millersville) continues to lead the league with three home runs while Josh Reinhold (Christopher Newport) has reached base at a .528 clip. At the top of the lineup, Carter Hinds (Shippensburg) ranks fourth in the CRSCBL with 13 runs scored.
Previous Power Rankings
