High-school baseball rankings -- Final

Bye, bye bubble.

Now that we’re down to the final 17 teams in 4A and 3A – there are play-in games in each classification on Tuesday – I’ve done away with the bubble teams and we’re down to the last week of rankings.

It wasn’t easy coming up with the final 10. Some teams with impressive records failed to make it to the state playoffs with three top-10 teams getting eliminated in both 4A and 3A.

There is Puyallup at No. 1, followed by a cluster of three-loss teams that make up the next three slots. Mountlake Terrace comes in at No. 5 after taking the Northwest 4A district tournament. The Hawks beat No. 7 Kamiak in the title game.

Redmond, fresh off its KingCo 4A title, jumps into the rankings at No. 6. Richland joins the rankings at No. 8, while red-hot Federal Way is No. 9 and Rogers (Puyallup) fills out the top 10.

Mount Rainier hit a bit of a stumbling block in 3A, losing three of its last five, but the Rams are holding onto their top spot heading into the state playoffs. After winning its second straight Metro League title, Bishop Blanchet remains at No. 2.

West Seattle, Columbia River and O’Dea round out the top 10. The Irish have outscored their last three opponents 54-5. Shane Smith was 6 for 11 with a double, four home runs, nine runs and eight RBI last week for the Irish, a truly impressive postseason performance. He also played impressive defense, helping to turn six double plays in 23 innings.

Here are the Seattle Times’ 4A and 3A rankings:

4A

1. Puyallup (20-2)
2. Central Valley (Spokane) (19-3)
3. Kelso (19-3)
4. Kentwood (Covington) (17-3)
5. Mountlake Terrace (17-6)
6. Redmond (18-5)
7. Kamiak (Mukilteo) (18-5)
8. Richland (17-5)
9. Federal Way (16-5)
10. Rogers (Puyallup) (18-5)