The 2018 Louisiana high school season is in full swing now, as teams enter their third week of play. Although the season is still young, some teams have already begun to make moves, causing plenty of shakeup in the updated Power 25 team rankings.

On opening night, our scouting staff traveled to the Baton Rouge area, and caught a matchup between Zachary and Holy Cross. The Broncos would claim their first victory of the year on that night and were incredibly impressive in the contest. Heading into week three, Coach Jacob Fisher and the Broncos sit at 10-0, and haven’t given up more than three runs in a contest yet. With that, the Broncos jump up to the No. 1 slot in the updated rankings. A talented and experienced club, the Broncos have shown to be the most complete team in the state to this point in the season. As noted earlier, the Broncos have talent and depth on the mound, and they can beat you in multiple ways offensively. The separator, however, is the strength of their defense, especially in the middle of the field. LSU-Eunice recruit, 2018 OF River Town covers a lot of ground in centerfield and has the ability to take away would-be extra-base hits with consistency. The duo of 2019 SS Collier Cranford and 2018 2B Rhett Hebert, give the Broncos one of the strongest defensive middle infield combos in the state, as both show quality range, and fluid actions. And of course, Louisiana State recruit, 2019 C Alex Milazzo, is a difference maker behind the dish. Not only in how his throwing arm can essentially eliminate an opponent’s running game, forcing teams into a station-to-station game, but also in his ability to steal strikes for his pitching staff, which only bolsters an already talented and deep pitching staff.

Sulphur HS checks in at No. 2 in the updated Power 25, and is another talented, experienced club that has jumped out to a 10-0 start in 2018. Offensively the Tors have an explosive, athletic lineup with guys like 2018 3B Haydn Stutes, LSU-Euncie recruit, 2018 IF Scott Jones, Louisiana-Lafayette recruit, 2018 OF Connor Cooke, and 2019 OF Nick Vallette, that can beat you in several different ways. Louisiana Lafayette recruit, 2018 RHP/3B Chance Stone, and McNeese State recruit, 2018 LHP Will Dion, give the Tors’ pitching staff one of the best one-two punches in the state, and both also play significant roles in the Tors’ explosive offense.

The defending Division-1 state champions, John Curtis HS, checks in at No. 3 in the updated Power 25, as the Patriots have jumped out to a 5-1 start. Last season the Patriot lineup was the most feared in the state, as they could beat you up and down the lineup. Although the Patriots virtually return every starter from last year’s club, the offense has scuffled somewhat to this point, having yet to score more than four runs in a contest. But, it would be hard to imagine such a talented offense struggling for much longer, especially considering it took a few weeks last season before they began to click on all cylinders offensively. Even with the struggles on offense, the Patriots find themselves at 5-1, which speaks to their equally talented pitching staff. Louisiana State recruit, 2018 RHP Will Ripoll has been dominant this far, running his fastball up to 90 mph with a sharp, devastating breaking ball to put away hitters. Mississippi Gulf Coast CC recruit, 2018 RHP Ian Landreneau has won a hundred games over the last decade for the Patriots. Okay maybe that is slightly exaggerated, but it sure feels that way, and Landreneau has already picked up a couple victories early in the 2018 season. Louisiana-Lafayette recruit, 2019 OF/LHP Dax Ford played a huge role in last season’s state championship run, as he collected double-digit strikeouts in the semi-final matchup with district rival Rummel HS.

After an 0-2 start, the Acadiana Rams have caught fire and reeled off eight consecutive victories in an extremely difficult early season schedule. The Rams check-in at No. 4 in the update, after an impressive 15-2 road win against the state’s premier program, Barbe HS. A veteran lineup, the Rams showed their offensive firepower in the Barbe matchup by blasting three home runs, and plating 13 consecutive runs at one point. LSU-Eunice recruit, 2018 3B Hunter Tabb has provided serious thunder in the middle of the order, while Panola JC recruit, 2018 2B Mateo Beltran has been a tone setter at the top of the Ram lineup. In addition to the victory against Barbe, the Rams have also picked up wins against perennial powers Catholic(BR) HS and St. Thomas More HS during their eight-game win streak.

Barbe HS checks-in at No. 5 in the updated Power 25 after a 7-3 start to the 2018 season, and although they took one on the chin this past Thursday to a good Acadiana team, it’d be a tad premature to start discounting the Bucs. Barbe’s youth and experience has caused some early season struggles in an extremely tough 10-game stretch against teams like: West Monroe HS, Catholic(BR) HS, Acadiana HS, St. Louis HS, Neville HS, and Teurlings Catholic HS, but the Bucs will get 2018 SS Bryan Lawerence, a Southeastern Louisiana recruit, back from injury soon, and young prospects like Louisiana State recruit, 2020 OF/LHP Brody Drost, and Mississippi State recruit, 2020 IF/RHP Davis Meche, will likely only get better with experience. 2019 LHP Dylan Beier gives the Bucs a quality top of the rotation arm for a talented, deep, but young pitching staff that includes guys like Drost and 2021 RHP Jack Walker.

Below is a look at the top ten of the Power 25. For PBR+, ProspectPlus, or ScoutPlus subscribers: the complete Power 25 rankings update can be found HERE.

Preseason	3/5/18	Team	Class	Record
5	1	Zachary	5A	10-0
4	2	Sulphur	5A	10-0
2	3	John Curtis	5A	5-1
9	4	Acadiana	5A	8-2
1	5	Barbe	5A	7-3
15	6	Sam Houston	5A	10-0
8	7	Catholic(BR)	5A	7-3
16	8	St. Thomas More	4A	6-3
6	9	Central(BR)	5A	7-2-1
18	10	St. Paul's	5A	7-2

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