Five new teams join the statewide high school baseball polls of North Carolina’s best

Five new teams join the N.C. statewide high school baseball rankings this week. There’s one new team in each poll.

The rankings are sponsored by The Charlotte Observer and the News & Observer of Raleigh. The polls are compiled by longtime N.C. high school sports expert Alex Bass, a co-host of The Observer’s streaming “Talking Preps” show.

▪ There’s one new team in 4A: Raleigh’s Wakefield High (11-2) has won five straight games, led by sophomore Ethan Wisler, who is hitting .462, and Ben Dudash, who hits .421 with a team-best 15 RBIs.

▪ Roxboro’s Person High (10-3) joins the 3A rankings. The Rockets have won eight of their past nine games to move into second place in their conference.

▪ In the 2A poll, Ayden-Grifton’s Chargers are in. Ayden-Grifton (9-3) has won three straight, led by Parker Roland, who leads the team in home runs (1), stolen bases (3) and ERA (0.71).

▪ North Stokes moves into the 1A rankings. The Vikings (10-5) are in first place in the Northwest 1A conference.

▪ In the private school poll, Faith Christian (10-3) joins the rankings. The Patriots, from Rocky Mount, have won nine of their past 10 games. Sophomore Vincent Wilson has scored 22 times. Junior Ashton Lascallette leads the team with 18 RBIs.

This week’s rankings

NCHSAA 4A

NCHSAA 3A

NCHSAA 2A

NCHSAA 1A

NCISAA

Langston Wertz Jr.

The Charlotte Observer

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Langston Wertz Jr. is an award-winning sports journalist who has worked at the Observer since 1988. He’s covered everything from Final Fours and NFL to video games and Britney Spears. Wertz -- a West Charlotte High and UNC grad -- is the rare person who can answer “Charlotte,” when you ask, “What city are you from.” Support my work with a digital subscription