Hazleton Area, District 2’s most successful baseball team in 2022, opens this season’s Riverfront Sports Super Six Baseball Power Rankings of district teams as the No. 1 Big School.
The Cougars repeated as Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 and District 2-4 Class 6A Subregional champion on the way to a berth in the 2022 state semifinals in the highest enrollment classification of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Hazleton Area remains on top of the district in the rankings, which were released early Wednesday afternoon.
Riverside, the No. 2 team at the end of last season, opens this season as the top-ranked Small School, trading places with last season’s No. 1 team, Lake-Lehman.
Hazleton Area is followed in the Big School rankings, in order, by Pittston Area, North Pocono, Abington Heights, Dallas and Crestwood.
Riverside and Lake-Lehman are followed in Small Schools by Lakeland, Holy Redeemer, Mid Valley and Elk Lake.
Pittston Area was second in WVC Division 2 last season, losing only to Hazleton Area. The Patriots have started 4-0, including a win over defending Lackawanna League Division 1 champion Abington Heights.
North Pocono is third. The defending District 2 Class 5A champions are 2-0, including handing Valley View its only loss in four games.
Abington Heights, which dropped out of the rankings at the end of last season, opens at No. 4. The Comets are 3-1 with the only loss coming when Pittston Area rallied with two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Dallas, the final No. 3 last season, and Crestwood are both off to 4-0 starts.
Riverside, the defending Lackawanna Division 3 champion, is 3-2 with the losses coming by one run each against Pine Grove and Scranton.
Lake-Lehman won WVC Division 2 and District 2 Class 3A titles and reached the second round of the state tournament.
Lakeland is 2-1 with a one-run loss to Valley View.
Holy Redeemer is 2-0 with wins over Big Schools.
Mid Valley split its two games, beating Old Forge, one of last season’s final ranked teams, and losing to likely Class 5A contender Abington Heights.
Elk Lake is 2-1 with its only losing coming by one run against Hughesville, the same team that handed Lake-Lehman its loss.
Scranton Prep and Nanticoke have moved up to Class 4A, making them Big Schools, after ending last season ranked among the Small Schools.
Wyoming Area, Wallenpaupack, Old Forge and Holy Cross are also unranked after being in the Super Six at the end of last season.
The full baseball rankings, with last year’s final rankings, last year’s records and this year’s records:
RIVERFRONT SPORTS SUPER SIX BASEBALL POWER RANKINGS
Big Schools
| Rank | Team | Last Rank | 2022 Record | 2023 Record |
| 1 | Hazleton Area | 1 | 22-2 | 2-1 |
| 2 | Pittston Area | 6 | 16-5 | 4-0 |
| 3 | North Pocono | 5 | 17-5 | 2-0 |
| 4 | Abington Heights | NR | 12-6 | 3-1 |
| 5 | Dallas | 3 | 15-5 | 4-0 |
| 6 | Crestwood | NR | 9-11 | 4-0 |
Small Schools
| Rank | Team | Last Rank | 2022 Record | 2023 Record |
| 1 | Riverside | 2 | 19-3 | 3-2 |
| 2 | Lake-Lehman | 1 | 19-6 | 1-1 |
| 3 | Lakeland | NR | 10-9 | 2-1 |
| 4 | Holy Redeemer | NR | 5-13 | 2-0 |
| 5 | Mid Valley | NR | 8-9 | 1-1 |
| 6 | Elk Lake | NR | 12-8 | 2-1 |
