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YAIAA baseball power rankings


With a month of the YAIAA baseball season in the books, the YAIAA picture is finally starting to take shape.

There seems to be a lot of strength in Division I, with five of the six teams above .500. And there have been some surprises, including Littlestown and Biglerville topping the Division III and IV standings early on.

Let's take a look at the top-five through the games of April 21:

1. Dallastown

The Wildcats are the only team with just one league loss so far this season, the only blemish coming in a 5-2 loss at Spring Grove. Riley Hamberger has been dominant on the mound and pitched a no-hitter earlier this season, and Avery Strayer threw a shutout of his own earlier this week.

2. Spring Grove

The Rockets entered the year as the preseason favorite to win a YAIAA Division I title, and they're sitting right in position to do that at 6-2 in the division, just half-game out of first place. But Spring Grove lost UNC-Charlotte commit Matt Brooks, the ace of the pitching staff and No. 3 hitter in the order, to an injury last week.

3. Red Lion

The Lions have wins against three of the teams on this list, including beating Spring Grove on a Wyatt Tyson walk-off double on Wednesday, but also have losses to the two teams at the bottom of Division I (New Oxford and Central York). That's likely more a testament to the strength of the division than anything, and the Lions look poised to stay in the mix for the division title.

4. Northeastern

The Bobcats have taken control of Division II with a 5-2 league record and are the only team in the division with a winning record overall. Kody Reeser leads a pitching staff looking to get back to the YAIAA tournament after finishing behind West York for the division crown last season.

5. South Western

Don't look now, but the Mustangs are 5-2 in Division I and only one game out of first place. They didn't come into the season with high expectations after winning just six games last year, but they've capitalized on opponents' mistakes and gotten strong pitching performances from Jey Yeater, Austin Yancheski and Austin Reusing to stay in the division title mix.