Check out photos of your favorite Ripken Sr. League players and teams in action! Visit Brenda Dunham's Eye on the Ball Photography.
Power Rankings: June 25
Story by Michael Stamatos | 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 three weeks of play, here are the CRSCBL staff’s consensus top teams.
1. Gaithersburg Giants (13-6, 1st in North)
At the time of these rankings last week, the Gaithersburg Giants had six losses. One week later, the Giants still have six losses. The league’s hottest team is riding a six-game win streak, and although they haven’t been blowing teams out (average margin of victory of 2.83 runs scored), they just keep finding ways to win.
AJ Martin’s (Undecided) hot streak has been a big factor in the Giants’ recent success. A two-run homer in yesterday’s 6-5 win over the Grays gave Martin hits in 11 consecutive games, and he currently leads the team in home runs (2) and RBIs (12). Another big offensive contributor for Gaithersburg as of late is Landon Runyan (UC San Diego), who played his first game for the Giants on June 16 - they’ve gone 6-1 since. In only six games played, he’s picked up eight hits, five runs, and four RBIs.
Their starters have also done an excellent job going deep in games as of late. In two of their last three, they’ve had starters cover over five innings – Liam Diehl (High Point) went for seven innings of two-run ball in a 10-3 win over the Braves on June 21, and Ashton Chronister (Xavier) gave coach TJ Brockway six innings against the Grays on June 23, only allowing one run.
2. Alexandria Aces (13-6, 1st in South)
The Alexandria Aces drop down to the No. 2 ranking this week, though their movement in the rankings is more of a statement on how the Giants have been playing. The Aces’ offense is still as prolific as ever - they lead the league in team batting average, hits, total bases, and stolen bases.
Over the last week, Jonathan Peltier (Wright State) and Tim Nicholson (George Washington) have led the offense. In his last four games, Nicholson is 9-for-20, with three doubles, five RBIs, and seven runs. Peltier is 8-for-18 in his last five games, and he’s been an on-base machine, drawing seven walks over that span. When he’s gotten on as of late, it’s almost been an automatic double - he’s stolen a ridiculous eight bases in the last five contests.
Their pitching has been up and down of late, however. The Aces are 3-2 in its last five, but in the two losses they’ve allowed nine and 14 runs, and in one of those wins their opponents scored 11. However, the Aces still have some of the league’s best arms in Ethan Houghtaling (Undecided) and Zach Kwasny (Ball State), who have combined to allow eight earned runs over 37 innings this season, good for a 1.94 ERA.
3. D.C. Grays (9-9, 2nd in South)
The Grays make their first appearance in the Power Rankings this season, slotting in the three spot after a 3-1 week with impressive victories over the Cropdusters and the Aces and a narrow 6-5 loss to the Giants.
D.C.’s pitching staff has been the driving force behind the 4-1 week. Over those five games, the Grays have a team ERA of 2.00, with 44 strikeouts and only 30 hits over the last 45 innings.
Champ Davis (Wofford) and Tyler Kelly (William and Mary) are coming off phenomenal weeks. Davis has thrown 10 innings over the last five games, allowing only one run with no walks while striking out nine. Kelly had a great outing against the Senators last Thursday, going six strong innings while only allowing one earned run, three hits and no walks.
Opposing pitchers have had a tough time dealing with the one-two combo of Matt Colella (Lafayette) and Michael Lavanga (William and Mary). Colella has been the tablesetter - he was 10 for his last 19 with two walks last week - and Lavanga has been one of the many contributors to Colella’s 10 runs scored over a five game period, with six extra-base hits and eight RBIs over that same span.
Previous Power Rankings
