Repeat champions have a ranking of the highest order
For the second year in a row, a victory in the Division 1 state championship game earned BC High the top spot in the Globe’s final baseball rankings.
Led by returning starters Tyler Horan and Billy Kiley, BC High posted a 22-4 record en route to its third state championship under coach Norm Walsh, who also won one back in 2001.
Division 3 state champion Abington, led by the father-son duo of coach Stephen Perakslis and Steve Perakslis, came in at No. 7 with the first title in school history.
Plymouth North, meanwhile, finishes at No. 10 based on the strength of its tournament run, which culminated in the Division 2 EMass championship. Last year’s Blue Eagles finished 26-0, winning the state championship; this season, ace Joe Flynn and his team fell to Auburn in the title game, 2-1.
The rankings are dominated by Division 1 teams, including North champion Gloucester at No. 2, South runner-up Catholic Memorial at No. 3, and North runner-up St. John’s Prep at No. 4.
Nicole D’Argento never let up at the plate or on the mound, boasting a .703 batting average and finishing her high school pitching career with a 62-0 record. At 26-0, the Clockers repeated as the No. 1 team in the final rankings.
It was déjà vu as well for Lexington (24-2), which took the Division 1 title for the second consecutive season and is No. 2 in the rankings. Kiki Saveriano and her arsenal of pitches stifled the bats of the opposition.
Although the Minutemen had close calls in the postseason, winning three of six games by one run, they finished just ahead of Braintree (22-3), which they sent packing in the state semifinals.
No. 4 Concord-Carlisle (23-1) and No. 5 Coyle & Cassidy (17-7) were the grinders of the Division 2 postseason, each taking the Clockers to extras.
Though they had their in-state winning streak stopped at 99 games by St. John’s Prep (19-3), the Dragons got back at the No. 2 Eagles with a one-goal victory in the state final.
On the girls’ side, No. 1 Westwood (24-1) started a state title streak of its own, knocking off Longmeadow for the second straight year.
Globe correspondents Amara Grautski and Peter Martin contributed to this report. 
