Preseason baseball, softball, girls soccer and boys & girls lacrosse N&O rankings
The News & Observer’s area preseason rankings in five spring sports have expanded since last year, and now encompass 17 different counties, but only one of those new counties has a team that kicks off this season at No. 1.
C.B. Aycock, located in the northern Wayne County town of Pikeville, is No. 1 in softball as the reigning 3A runners-up. Grenville’s D.H. Conley is second.
It’s the only change from teams that ended last year No. 1 overall. Green Hope baseball, Carrboro girls soccer and Cardinal Gibbons’ boys and girls lacrosse teams are still tops. The 17-county area has top 25s in baseball, girls soccer and softball – and increase from 15 last year – and top-15s, which is up from 12.
Baseball
Team | 2016 rank | 2016 rec. |
1. Green Hope | 1 | 25-7 |
2. South Granville | 2 | 24-5 |
3. Cardinal Gibbons | 3 | 23-3 |
4. Holly Springs | 6 | 20-6 |
5. Middle Creek | 7 | 17-8 |
6. D.H. Conley | N/A | 23-4 |
7. J.H. Rose | N/A | 18-8 |
8. Cleveland | 4 | 22-4 |
9. C.B. Aycock | N/A | 21-5 |
10. Pinecrest | N/A | 20-9 |
11. Corinth Holders | 8 | 20-9 |
12. Sanderson | 10 | 20-9 |
13. North Johnston | 13 | 20-3 |
14. Northwood | NR | 19-7 |
15. North Pitt | N/A | 20-4 |
16. Lee County | NR | 19-6 |
17. Bunn | 5 | 20-4 |
18. Orange | 9 | 21-7 |
19. South Johnston | 14 | 16-9 |
20. Apex | 15 | 16-10 |
21. Fuquay-Varina | NR | 15-12 |
22. South Central | N/A | 16-9 |
23. Voyager Academy | 11 | 17-5 |
24. Heritage | 12 | 19-5 |
25. Millbrook | NR | 15-11 |
Softball
Rank, Team | 2016 rank | 2016 rec. |
1. C.B. Aycock | N/A | 29-4 |
2. D.H. Conley | N/A | 27-4 |
3. South Granville | 1 | 26-2 |
4. Garner | 5 | 20-4 |
5. Lee County | 7 | 23-4 |
6. Orange | 9 | 23-4 |
7. Apex | 10 | 18-4 |
8. Fuquay-Varina | 3 | 19-4 |
9. Heritage | 12 | 18-4 |
10. Wake Forest | 13 | 20-7 |
11. Corinth Holders | 14 | 14-11 |
12. Cleveland | 15 | 17-7 |
13. West Johnston | 4 | 20-5 |
14. Pinecrest | N/A | 17-5 |
15. Princeton | 2 | 24-3 |
16. Northwood | 8 | 20-3 |
17. Bunn | 11 | 19-3 |
18. Beddingfield | N/A | 18-4 |
19. North Johnston | NR | 17-8 |
20. Jordan-Matthews | 6 | 24-2 |
21. South Central | N/A | 16-7 |
22. J.F. Webb | NR | 16-11 |
23. Harnett Central | NR | 15-8 |
24. South Johnston | NR | 13-9 |
25. Chatham Central | NR | 17-8 |
Girls soccer
Team | 2016 rank | 2016 rec. |
1. Carrboro | 1 | 21-1-2 |
2. Green Hope | 5 | 16-2-3 |
3. Millbrook | 7 | 14-3-2 |
4. Cardinal Gibbons | 8 | 21-2 |
5. Leesville Road | 4 | 21-2-2 |
6. Panther Creek | 11 | 12-10-3 |
7. Cary Academy | 6 | 16-1 |
8. Sanderson | 12 | 15-7-3 |
9. Middle Creek | 2 | 13-6-6 |
10. Athens Drive | 3 | 15-8-3 |
11. Holly Springs | 14 | 11-9-4 |
12. Durham Academy | NR | 13-3-1 |
13. Fuquay-Varina | 9 | 16-5-1 |
14. Pinecrest | N/A | 17-3-1 |
15. Chapel Hill | 10 | 17-3-2 |
16. Wakefield | NR | 13-7-1 |
17. Heritage | NR | 12-7-2 |
18. Apex | NR | 10-11-1 |
19. Clayton | 13 | 22-2 |
20. Corinth Holders | NR | 19-4-2 |
21. Franklin Academy | 15 | 22-2 |
22. Fike | N/A | 13-5-2 |
23. D.H. Conley | N/A | 17-1-2 |
24. Grace Christian Raleigh | NR | 12-4-2 |
25. J.H. Rose | N/A | 15-3-2 |
Boys lacrosse
Rank, Team | 2016 rank | 2016 rec. |
1. Cardinal Gibbons | 1 | 19-2 |
2. Apex | 3 | 17-2 |
3. Middle Creek | 6 | 16-4 |
4. Broughton | 7 | 17-1 |
5. Holly Springs | 5 | 14-5 |
6. Ravenscroft | 2 | 17-2 |
7. Leesville Road | 4 | 14-5 |
8. Green Hope | 8 | 13-5 |
9. Wakefield | NR | 12-6 |
10. Durham Academy | 9 | 11-8 |
11. Athens Drive | NR | 9-9 |
12. Carrboro | 10 | 15-2 |
13. Millbrook | NR | 12-7 |
14. Cedar Ridge | NR | 15-4 |
15. Heritage | NR | 9-9 |
Girls lacrosse
Rank, Team | Pvs. | Rec. |
1. Cardinal Gibbons | 1 | 22-0 |
2. Broughton | 3 | 13-3 |
3. Wakefield | 2 | 17-2 |
4. Apex | 5 | 15-2 |
5. Chapel Hill | 4 | 14-4 |
6. Durham Academy | 8 | 11-5 |
7. East Chapel Hill | 9 | 9-10 |
8. Middle Creek | 6 | 14-2 |
9. Green Hope | 10 | 9-6 |
10. Apex Friendship | NR | 5-6 |
11. Carrboro | NR | 8-8 |
12. Holly Springs | NR | 7-8 |
13. Millbrook | 7 | 12-5 |
14. Pinecrest | N/A | 9-7 |
15. Leesville Road | NR | 7-5 |
Eligible counties: Chatham, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Harnett, Johnston, Lee, Moore, Nash, Orange, Person, Pitt, Vance, Wake, Warren, Wayne, Wilson.
This story was originally published February 26, 2017 at 5:38 PM with the headline "Preseason baseball, softball, girls soccer and boys & girls lacrosse N&O rankings."