1. Rockford: The Rams take the top spot with the experience they bring back on the offensive line and at running back. They have a defense led by senior linebacker Brett Egnatuk.

2. East Grand Rapids: Chasing football history are the East Grand Rapids Pioneers. All the pieces are set for their fifth consecutive state championship. Returning quarterback Ryan Elble has plenty of weapons and a strong offensive line.

3. Muskegon: The Big Reds have several explosive weapons around quarterback Ka’Vonte Keyes either by air or on the ground. Lowell knocked them out of the playoffs last year, but every indication points to the two meeting again.

4. Lowell: We should see junior quarterback Gabe Dean running through opponents deep in the playoffs again this year. The Red Arrows made it look too easy against Inkster last year. They lost some pieces, but like several teams on our top ten list, they retool every year.

5. Grand Haven: With their speed and physicality, the Buccaneers sit at number five. Running back Dalton Stenberg is a load to take down, and wide receiver Alec Smith gels well with quarterback Adam Poel. Grand Haven also has its former defensive coordinator now as head coach so their defense is not a concern.

6. East Kentwood: The only team to give Rockford trouble (besides Holt) were the Falcons. They lost a lot from last year’s squad, but they have plenty of athletes to fill the gaps.

7. Caledonia: Caledonia and East Kentwood face off in week one, and it’ll definitely be a nail bitter. Cal has two many weapons in their backfield to not be a solid program this year. An experienced offensive line should help the Fighting Scots rack up the rushing yards.

8. Kenowa Hills: The Knights aren’t a sleeper team but newcomers at several positions keep me reserved. Junior running back Kitwana Clark and senior Tito Wingfield are explosive, game changing players who could set some records this year. The talent is there at all positions so a slide up the rankings is possible.

9. Byron Center: A nice run in 2009 has the Bulldogs on the radar. With Derek Sievers, Zac Cross, and Austin Haight all returning this year, The ‘Dogs could have another break out season.

10. Ottawa Hills: Rounding out our top ten are the Bengals led by speedy Devon Ivy. Ivy is an outstanding athlete who can carry an offense. Big Danzell Maze also returns on the offensive and defensive line.

Surprise teams: Grand Rapids Christian, Forest Hills Eastern, Zeeland East, and Zeeland West.

I like to think of myself as one of those guys, which would put me squarely in the company of WestMichiganHighSchoolBaseball.com (bookmark the URL so your fingers don’t cramp typing it). Now there’s a group of sports nerds in the best sense of the term. We should all be so lucky.

After the jump, we’ll discuss WMHSB’s Top-10 teams in West Michigan, and compare them to the Grand Rapids Press’s Top-10 teams.  The goal here is to paint a clear, yet perhaps dividedly so, picture of the high school baseball landscape in the greater Grand Rapids area.

Read on, gentle reader.  Read on.

West Michigan High School Baseball (dot) com (May 16)

1. Portage Northern – 25-0-1 and continuing to roll over their opponents
2. Grand Ledge – 23-0 after sweeping Williamston on Saturday
3. Portage Central – Fell to 20-2 with a split on Friday with Lakeshore
4. Hamilton – 19-2 with a possible tie with Unity Christian in a game that may be completed later
5. Forest Hills Central – 17-2 flat in the Jon Hooker Memorial after they’re idle for 8 days
6. Forest Hills Eastern – 19-2 and in control of the OK Gold
7. Hudsonville – 15-4 and they are always ready to compete with anyone
8. Kenowa Hills – 18-3 with only losses to FHC (twice) and Hudsonville
9. West Catholic – 17-2 with sweep of OK Blue rival Forest Hills Northern
10. Climax-Scotts – 23-0 and ranked #1 in the D4 Coaches poll

Grand Rapids Press (May 13)

1. Forest Hills Central
2. Hudsonville
3. Forest Hills Eastern
4. Rockford
5. Hamilton
6. Grand Rapids Christian
7. Jenison
8. Kenowa Hills
9. East Grand Rapids
10. Forest Hills Northern

WMA’s take:

Forest Hills Central suffered a relatively significant dropoff in the WMHSB.com rankings, thanks to a less than thrilling performance at the Jon Hooker Memorial.  They still went 2-1 over the tournament, but the 4-3 loss to Grandville was worth the drop.  That said, the inherent parity in the game of baseball is mostly responsible for the loss, as opposed to anything the matter with the Rangers.  They’ll be fine.  It’s a minor hiccup in the grand scheme of a season.

Hamilton took advantage of FHC’s slip, becoming the first greater Grand Rapids team to be ranked higher than the Rangers in WMHSB.com’s rankings.

A couple interesting discrepancies between the two lists are worth mentioning as well.  Hudsonville is atop the Grand Rapids Press’s rankings, but is behind Forest Hills Central/Eastern as well as Hamilton in the WMHSB.com rankings.  I tend to lean more toward the fourth spot for the Eagles, but the top four or five teams of the greater Grand Rapids area are pretty darn close, so to a certain extent it’s a matter of opinion (or allegiance).

On top of that, Rockford has been a stalwart on the GRPress’s rankings, but has yet to even appear on WMHSB’s.  There’s something to be said for a program’s history, and this may be playing into their fourth place ranking in the case of the Grand Rapids Press.  Still, Ian Hearn knows how to get it done, so it’s really tough to count the Rams out of contention long term.  Remember how quickly an entire  regular season full of worse things than the Rams can be overshadowed by a couple stellar postseason games.

What do you think?  Where should the Eagles and the Rams be ranked?

Keep up with the latest action and analysis by becoming a WMA fan on Facebook, or join the conversation by following WMA on Twitter.

This is the last week of these rankings, and the top-5 in each division will now be extended an invitation to compete in the MITCA Team State Championships on Saturday, May 29. Teams ranked 6-10 will be “on the bubble” and will be offered a spot if a team above them qualifies in the MHSAA Regional Championships this weekend, or if a team declines their invitation.

The full fields will be announced on Monday, May 25 along with details regarding the schedule of events and locations of the meets. Thank you again to all the coaches who helped make these rankings what they are.  We are looking forward to building this bigger and better next year.

Without further delay, the rankings:

Division 1 Girls

1. Rockford — 563
2. East Kentwood — 552
3. Macomb Dakota — 360
4. Hartland — 324
5. Farmington — 281
6. Oxford — 250

Division 2 Girls

1. Williamston — 979
2. Hamilton — 865
3. Zeeland West — 850
4. Middleville Thornapple Kellogg — 769
5. South Christian — 721
6. Milan — 719
7. West Catholic — 635
8. Mason — 583
9. Cedar Springs — 578
10. Lakeshore-Stevensville — 505
11. Otsego — 478

Division 3 Girls

1.    Kent City — 1016
2.    Frankenmuth — 984
3.    Lansing Catholic — 945
4.    Maple Valley — 932
5.    Delton-Kellogg — 902
5.    Benzie Central — 902
6.    Shepard — 800
7.    Madison — 748
8.    Allendale — 709
9.    Bronson — 680
10. Clare — 630
11.  Vandercook Lake — 621

Division 4 Girls

1. Hillsdale Academy — 528
2. Sand Creek — 461
3. Centreville — 440
4. McBain — 413
5. Morrice — 291
6. Alcona — 139

Combined Girls Top-20

1. Rockford
2. East Kentwood
3. Williamston
4. Hamilton
5. Zeeland West
6. Kent City
7. Middleville-TK
8. Frankenmuth
9. Macomb Dakota
10. South Christian
11. Milan
12. Lansing Catholic
13. Hartland
14. Farmington
15. Maple Valley
16. Delton-Kellog
17. Benzie Central
18. West Catholic
19. Hillsdale Academy
20. Shepard

Division 1 Boys

1. East Kentwood — 1328
2. Saline — 1014
3. Farmington — 989
4. Lansing Eastern — 980
5. Davison — 975
6. Kenowa Hills — 966
7. Plymouth — 955
8. Swartz Creek — 860
9. Woodhaven — 840
10. Greenville — 812
11. Macomb Dakota — 710
12. Grand Haven — 692
13. Bay City Western — 691
14. Wyandotte Roosevelt — 690
15. Oxford — 572

Division 2 Boys

1. Zeeland West — 1502
2. Hamilton — 1432
3. Vicksburg — 1419
4. Hastings — 1415
5. Carleton Airport — 1323
6. Cedar Springs — 1276
7. Alma — 1244
8. Gull Lake — 1238
9. Mason — 1181
10. Linden — 1174
11. West Catholic — 1118
12. Waverly — 1090
13. Grand Rapids Christian — 1038
14. Sparta — 980
15. Parma Western — 894
16. Ogemaw Heights — 766
17. Belding — 726
18. Tri-County — 529

Division 3 Boys

1. Frankenmuth — 1125
2. Allendale — 1103
3. Ida — 1088
4. Charlevoix — 972
5. Clare — 966
6. Benzie Central — 922
7. Bronson — 891
8. Delton-Kellogg — 866
9. Kent City — 771
10. Maple Valley — 743
11. Madison — 699
12. Lansing Catholic — 687
13. Napoleon — 670

Division 4 Boys

1. McBain — 240
2. Webberville — 170
3. Alcona — 151

Combined Boys Top-20

1. East Kentwood
2. Saline
3. Zeeland West
4. Farmington
5. Hamilton
6. Vicksburg
7. Frankenmuth
8. Lansing Eastern
9. Davison
10. Hastings
11. Kenowa Hills
12. Plymouth
13. Swartz Creek
14. Allendale
15. Carleton Airport
16. Cedar Springs
17. Ida
18. Woodhaven
19. Alma
20. Charlevoix

Keep up with the latest action and analysis by becoming a WMA fan on Facebook, or join the conversation by following WMA on Twitter.

Division 1
1. Portage Northern (21-0 -1)
2. Portage Central (17-1)
3. Grand Ledge (19-0)
4. Midland (18-4)
5. Livonia Stevenson (17-4)
6. Lake Orion (16-3)
7. Rochester Adams (16-3)
8. Novi (18-4)
9. Bedford (14-3)
10. Canton (15-4)

Division 2
1. Madison Heights Lamphere (18-3)
2. St. Clair (15-1)
3. Pinconning (18-1)
4. Dearborn Divine Child (21-4)
5. Grand Rapids West Catholic (15-2)
6. Forest Hills Eastern (16-2)
7. Mt. Pleasant (17-5)
8. Orchard Lake St Mary (16-9)
9. Harper Creek (17-4)
10. Hamilton (15-2)

Division 3
1. Ann Arbor Gaberial Richard (24-1)
2. Shepherd (20-1)
3. Jackson Lumen Christi (18-2)
4. Madison Heights Bishop Foley (17-3)
5. Wyoming Lee (14-2)
6. Montrose (18-3)
7. Mason County Central (20-1)
8. St. Charles (14-1)
9. Michigan Center (18-4)
10. Allen Park Cabrini (17-5)

Division 4
1. Climax Scots (20-0)
2. Beal City (15-4)
3. Rudyard (14-2)
4. Mt Pleasant Sacred Heart (16-1)
5. Portland St Patrick (18-2)
6. Hillman (19-0)
7. Harbor Beach (14-1)
8. Ottawa Lake Whiteford (16-4)
9. Frankfort (13-3-1)
10T. Decatur (18-4)
10T. Breckenridge (14-4)

Keep up with the latest action and analysis by becoming a WMA fan on Facebook, or join the conversation by following WMA on Twitter.

Click the links below for the latest (5/10) rankings from around the state.

• Softball
• Boys Golf
• Girls Soccer
• Boys Lacrosse
• Girls Lacrosse
• Baseball (WMHSB.com & Grand Rapids Press)
• Track & Field

And then there’s the baseball coaches association, who had to go and release their rankings on Wednesday.  Geesh.  I guess we’ll be checking back tomorrow.

Keep up with the latest action and analysis by becoming a WMA fan on Facebook, or join the conversation by following WMA on Twitter.

I like to think of myself as one of those guys, which would put me squarely in the company of WestMichiganHighSchoolBaseball.com (bookmark the URL so your fingers don’t cramp typing it). Now there’s a group of sports nerds in the best sense of the term. We should all be so lucky.

After the jump, we’ll discuss WMHSB’s Top-10 teams in West Michigan, and compare them to the Grand Rapids Press’s Top-10 teams.  The goal here is to paint a clear, yet perhaps dividedly so, picture of the high school baseball landscape in the greater Grand Rapids area.

Read on, gentle reader.  Read on.

West Michigan High School Baseball (dot) com (May 10)

1. Portage Northern – 21-0-1 and ranked #1 in the D1 Coaches Poll and #10 in the Midwest by USA Today
2. Portage Central – 17-1 and now ranked #2 in the D1 Coaches Poll
3. Forest Hills Central – 15-1 and a sure bet to wrap up the OK Black
4. Grand Ledge – 19-0 and likely to be unchallenged until the Diamond Classic
5. Hamilton – 15-2 and sitting alone atop the OK Green standings
6. Forest Hills Eastern – 15-2 and control their own destiny in the OK Gold
7. Hudsonville – 11-4 after beating Grandville twice
8. St. Joseph – 13-5 with two losses to Mattawan last week
9. East Grand Rapids – 9-6, probably the best 6-loss team in the state
10. Grand Rapids Christian – 10-3, lost 2 of 3 to East Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids Press (May 6)

1. Forest Hills Central
2. Hudsonville
3. Forest Hills Eastern
4. Hamilton
5. Rockford
6. Grand Rapids Christian
7. Jenison
8. Kenowa Hills
9. East Grand Rapids
10. Forest Hills Northern

WMA’s take:

As it has been all season, it’s Forest Hills Central at one level, and everyone else in the greater Grand Rapids area at various points of another level.  These guys are sick at every position.  Thing is, in baseball all it takes is one not-quite-excellent day and you can lose to anyone.  As good as they are, don’t let anyone fool you into thinking that they are immune to this fact.

In their most challenging week of the season to date, Grand Rapids Christian met with a buzzsaw in East Grand Rapids.  The Pioneers uncorked their bats during the three-day doubleheader, but the Eagles managed to stave off the sweep in game-3.  Either way, WMHSB is right about East Grand Rapids — their record is incredibly deceiving.  These guys are as good as most anyone.  The scary thing is that they’re young, and steadily getting better.

Forest Hills Northern makes an appearance on the GRPress list, and rightfully so.  They’ll have a big test in front of them this Thursday, when they take on West Catholic in the high school baseball equivalent of a mid-major, heavyweight bout.  WMA bloggess HeatherASmith will be there to make sure everyone is on their best behavior.

Also, if you live in Portage, you’re one lucky sonofagun.  Two of the top teams in the state, right in your backyard.  Good stuff there.

Keep up with the latest action and analysis by becoming a WMA fan on Facebook, or join the conversation by following WMA on Twitter.

Starting with the boys side, East Kentwood remains the top team in D1 and in the combined rankings with some outstanding times across the board. The Bulldogs from Vicksburg continue their strong showing on WMA with a number one ranking in D2 as well as a number 2 overall ranking. This is spurred largely by the distance team, led by Mark Beams and Danny Hughes. Newcomer, Davison, sits in the 2 position in D1, due largely in part to hurdler Ken Pierson. Coming in at number 4 overall, and number 3 in D1 is Lansing Eastern. Led by an outstanding sprint crew and middle distance leader Tavarrio Davis the Quakers are poised for a strong finish. Rounding out the Top 5 is another new face and Division 3 leading Frankenmuth. Combining a balanced running attack across the board with a field event marks that lead D3 in almost all categories, this team is set-up very nicely to contend in a very competitive D3 race.

On the girls side, while numbers are slightly lower, the quality is still overwhelming. East Kentwood and Rockford are locked in a tight race, which is nothing new to these OK Red rivals, who will be competing for bragging rights on the track Monday at Ted Carlson Memorial Stadium in Rockford. OK Green power, Hamilton sits in the 3rd spot overall and number 1 in D2. Their top ranking can be attributed to top times posted by sprinter Kaila Gentz and middle distance leader Cathy Coryell. Like their male counterparts, the Eagles of Frankenmuth boast a top 5 overall rankings and a number 1 ranking in D3. This can be largely credited to the Eagle Throwers, who have the top 3 Discus marks and top 2 Shot Put marks in D3. Lansing Catholic comes in as the 5th team in the overall standings. Led by one of the top distance teams in the state, the Cougars look to compete for the top spot in D3.

Again, WMA wants to thank all the coaches that participated this week and we encourage you to spread the word about the MITCA Power Rankings this week. The MITCA Team State Meet is less than 3 weeks away and we want to make sure we are creating the most competitive field possible.

Division-1 Girls

1. East Kentwood — 266
2. Rockford — 241
3. Oxford — 112

Division-2 Girls

1. Hamilton — 260
2. West Catholic — 183
3. Cedar Springs — 175

Division-3 Girls

1. Frankenmuth — 455
2. Lansing Catholic — 421
3. Maple Valley — 419

Division-4 Girls

• Coming Soon!

Combined Rankings (Girls)

1. East Kentwood
2. Rockford
3. Hamilton
4. Frankenmuth
5. Lansing Catholic

Division-1 Boys

1. East Kentwood — 563
2. Davison — 441
3. Lansing Eastern — 360
4. Grand Haven — 329
5. Wyandotte Roosevelt — 323

Division-2 Boys

1. Vicksburg — 731
2. Carleton Airport — 680
3. Cedar Springs — 639
4. Linden — 624
5. West Catholic — 589

Division-3 Boys

1. Frankenmuth — 569
2. Allendale — 552
3. Charlevoix — 488
4. Claire — 481
5. Maple Valley — 382

Division-4 Boys

• Coming Soon!

Combined Rankings (Boys)

1. East Kentwood
2. Vicksburg
3. Lansing Eastern
4. Frankenmuth
5. Carleton Airport
6. Cedar Springs
7. Grand Haven
8. Allendale
9. Linden

Keep up with the latest action and analysis by becoming a WMA fan on Facebook, or join the conversation by following WMA on Twitter.

Division 1
1. Portage Northern (18-0-1)
2. Portage Central (14-1)
3. Livonia Stevenson (15-2)
4. Lake Orion (15-3)
5. Canton (13-3)
6. Rochester Adams (15-3)
7. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (11-1)
8. Temperance Bedford (15-3)
9. Novi (12-3)
10. Farmington (15-3)

Division 2
1. Madison Heights Lamphere (14-3)
2. St. Clair (13-1)
3. Pinconning (16-1)
4. Dearborn Divine Child (17-4)
5. Mt. Pleasant (13-5)
6. St Joseph (14-4)
7. Hamilton (14-2)
8. Orchard Lake St. Mary (14-6)
9. Battle Creek Harper Creek (17-4)
10. Milan (14-5)

Division 3
1. Ann Arbor Gaberial Richard (24-1)
2. Shepherd (18-1)
3. Jackson Lumen Christi (16-2-1)
4. Madison Heights Bishop Foley (16-3)
5. Blissfield (18-3)
6. Allen Park Cabrini (16-4)
7. Wyoming Lee (13-3)
8. Parchmont (14-4)
9. Kalkaska (12-2)
10. Montrose (10-2)

Division 4
1. Climax-Scots (18-0)
2. Rudyard (12-0)
3. Harbor Beach (11-1)
4. Beal City (11-4)
5. Mt Pleasant Sacred Heart (14-1)
6. Portland St. Patrick (14-2)
7. Decatur (16-3)
8. Breckenridge (11-3)
9. Frankfort (11-3-1)
10. Ottawa Lake-Whiteford (10-3)

Keep up with the latest action and analysis by becoming a WMA fan on Facebook, or join the conversation by following WMA on Twitter.

I like to think of myself as one of those guys, which would put me squarely in the company of WestMichiganHighSchoolBaseball.com (bookmark the URL so your fingers don’t cramp typing it). Now there’s a group of sports nerds in the best sense of the term. We should all be so lucky.

After the jump, we’ll discuss WMHSB’s Top-10 teams in West Michigan, and compare them to the Grand Rapids Press’s Top-10 teams.  The goal here is to paint a clear, yet perhaps dividedly so, picture of the high school baseball landscape in the greater Grand Rapids area.

Read on, gentle reader.  Read on.

West Michigan High School Baseball (dot) com (May 3)

1. Portage Northern - 18-0-1 and ranked #1 in the D1 Coaches Poll and #10 in the Midwest by USA Today.
2. Portage Central - 14-1 with only loss coming at the hands of # 6 St. Joseph.
3. Forest Hills Central - 13-1, ranked #2 in D1. Found the bats to go with the pitching and are on a 4-game mercy streak.
4. Grand Ledge - 16-0, continuing to win after getting Coach O’Keefe’s 1000th victory a week ago.
5. Hamilton - 14-2 and sitting alone atop the OK Green standings
6. St. Joseph - 13-3 with a loss to a top Indiana team this week
7. Forest Hills Eastern - With Wilkerson, Westdorp and McCready they have the pitching to keep winning.
8. Grand Rapids Christian - 9-1 with only loss to D1 #4 Bay City Western.
9. West Catholic - Off to a blazing start at 14-1 with only loss coming from Grand Rapids Christian
10. Hudsonville - Beat a good Jenison team twice, but lost twice to Hartland

Grand Rapids Press (Apr. 29)

1. Forest Hills Central
2. Hudsonville
3. Forest Hills Eastern
4. Jenison
5. Hamilton
6. Kenowa Hills
7. West Ottawa
8. Rockford
9. Grand Rapids Christian
10. Middleville

WMA’s Take:

Forest Hills Central should have their name changed from the “Rangers” to the “Unmerciful Strong Armed People.”  Just saying.

After newly-renamed Forest Hills Central, it’s really a toss up between Forest Hills Eastern and Hamilton for the second spot in greater Grand Rapids.  Forest Hills Eastern has pitching for days (incl. WMA interviewee Zak Wilkerson), which has and will carry them a long way.  Hamilton is more of an offensive threat, lead by the double-de’s (Andrew DeGood and Carter DeBoe), but will be tested in the toughest conference in the area, the O-K Green.  So far so good.

Hudsonville is the cause of the biggest discrepancy between the rankings, their consecutive losses to Hartland on Saturday causing them to drop a ways on the WMHSB list.  Expect the Eagles to experience a similar drop in the next edition of the GRP polls.

Grand Rapids Christian is one team to keep an eye on.  9-1 overall and rolling.  They’ve been maximizing their production so far, what remains to be seen is if they can keep it up.  Jordan Zylstra and Christian Potter are two big reasons why they can.

The other team to watch is West Ottawa.  They’ve been on a roller coaster ride of a season so far, and are currently in the middle of one of the dips.  But they’re exactly the type of team who can flip the switch in a hurry.

Keep up with the latest action and analysis by becoming a WMA fan on Facebook, or join the conversation by following WMA on Twitter. Heck, even start your own topic over at Allstars Among Us.

Division 1

1. Portage Northern (14-0-1)
2. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (10-1)
3. Rochester Adams (12-2)
4. Saline (7-2)
5. Novi (11-1)
6. Portage Central (10-1)
7. Jenison (11-2)
8. Midland (12-2)
9. Lake Orion (11-3)
10. Birmingham Groves (9-0)
11. Hudsonville (7-2)
12. Traverse City Central

Division 2

1. Madison Heights Lamphere (10-3)
2. Mt Pleasant (13-2)
3. St. Clair (10-0)
4. St Joseph (10-2)
5. Pinconning (9-1)
6. Battle Creek Harper Creek (15-2)
7. Hamilton (11-2)
8. Freemont (8-0)
9. Orchard Lake St. Mary (11-5)
10. Milan (12-4)

Division 3

1. Ann Arbor Gaberial Richard (14-0)
2. Shepherd (12-0)
3. Jackson Lumen Christi (12-1)
4. Madison Hts.Bishop Foley (12-2)
5. Wyoming Lee (8-1)
6. Jonesville (8-0)
7. St. Charles (8-0)
8. Blissfield (14-3)
9. Allen Park Cabrini (11-3)
10. Parchment (11-4)

Division 4

1. Climax-Scots (14-0)
2. Breckenridge (10-0)
3. Harbor Beach (7-1)
4. Frankfort (8-2-1)
5. Grosse Pointe University Liggett (8-2)
6. Portland St Patrick (9-1)
7. Decatur (12-3)
8. Beal City (7-4)
9. Mt Pleasant Sacred Heart (8-1)
10. Ottawa Lake-Whiteford (7-3)

Keep up with the latest action and analysis by becoming a WMA fan on Facebook, or join the conversation by following WMA on Twitter.  Heck, even start your own topic over at Allstars Among Us.