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Revisiting our 2014 Preseason Team Rankings: PIAA Class AAAA

December 12, 2014

By Jacob Gill
Philadelphia Region Director of Scouting

This week have revisited our preseason team rankings to see what we got right and where we were off base in 2014. So far this week we have examined the PAISAA, PIAA Class A, PIAA Class AA, and PIAA Class AAA. Today we will finish up the series with the largest schools in the state.

2014 Pre-season PIAA Class AAA Super 16

1. Parkland
2. Conestoga
3. Lower Dauphin
4. Red Land
5. Seneca Valley
6. Hazleton Area
7. Pennridge
8. Stroudsburg
9. Council Rock North
10. North Allegheny
11. Council Rock South
12. Spring Grove Area
13. Governor Mifflin
14. State College
15. Spring-Ford
16. Mt. Lebanon

What We Got Right

District XI champion Parkland (20-6) and District VI champion State College (16-6) were among seven teams ranked in our pre-season poll that reached the state tournament. District II champion Hazleton Area (18-6) and District III third place Red Land (16-10) reached the quarterfinals, District I fourth place Spring-Ford (20-8) and District VII champion Seneca Valley (12-12) were semifinalists, while District I third place Conestoga (20-8) lost an extra-inning heart-breaker in the state championship game. Take Seneca Valley's overall record with a large grain of salt, as they played the majority of the season without ace pitcher Connor Coward due to a back injury (with Coward returning to bolster the staff, the Raiders went 6-1 in post-season play, outscoring their opponents 35-13).

Three of our pre-season ranked squads finished a lone win short of a state tournament berth. 2013 state semifinalist Pennridge (13-8) fell to Boyertown Area and SOL National regular-season champion Council Rock South (15-7) lost to Methacton in the District I quarterfinals, while Mountain Valley regular-season champion Stroudsburg (18-7) was knocked off by Parkland in the District XI championship.

Where We Were Off Base

Defending state champion Lower Dauphin (18-4), which won the Mid-Penn Keystone Division by five games, suffered its four losses by a combined five runs. A one-run loss in the District III quarterfinals hardly diminishes another stellar season for the Falcons.

After a slow start, Council Rock North (14-6) won eight of nine games to end the regular-season, but had its run cut abruptly short in the first round of the District I tournament. York-Adams Division I and tournament champion Spring Grove Area (15-7) fell to eventual state quarterfinalist Red Land in the District III tournament first round.

We expected Philadelphia Catholic League Red champion La Salle (21-6) to contend for the District XII title, but the Explorers run from a fourth place finish in the Catholic League tournament to a AAAA state championship was remarkable. Kudos to coach Joe Parisi, who won his second state title in three seasons and then announced his retirement from atop the high school baseball mountain!

It was a banner year for the Pioneer Athletic Conference, as Spring-Ford was joined in the state tournament by two conference foes who were on our Pre-season Others to Watch list: PAC-10 regular-season champion Boyertown Area (20-6) and PAC-10 tournament champion Methacton (22-7). The three schools beat up on each other during the spring, with Boyertown Area gong 2-0 against Spring-Ford, Spring-Ford finishing 3-0 against Methacton, and Methacton posting a 3-1 record over Boyertown Area (not to mention a composite 4-4 record for the trio against PIAA class AAA champion Pope John Paul II).

Where We Swung and Missed

North Allegheny (13-8) and Mt. Lebanon (12-10), which was under-.500 most of the season until a late six-game winning streak, each won a WPIAL regular-season section title, but got bounced early from the District VII tournament by teams that ultimately did not advanced to state. Following a strong start, Governor Mifflin (14-9) couldn't string together more than two wins in a row over the second half of the season, finished tied for third place in Berks Division I, and saw its season end in the District III quarterfinals.

Off the radar to start the season, District III champion Cedar Cliff (17-8), District III runner-up Hempfield (17-11), District VII runner-up Baldwin (16-4), and District VII third place Moon Area (16-5) all made runs to the state tournament, while District IX champion DuBois Area (19-4) reached the state quarterfinals.

Final Thoughts

We will certainly take three of the state semifinal slots being filled by teams in our pre-season rankings. While seven pre-season ranked teams reaching the state tournament is solid, five teams who weren't even on our Others the Watch list doing the same is less impressive (for us). District III and District VII proved to be the toughest to figure out, not wholly surprising given the sheer number of teams in each district.

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