HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS Jeff baseball opens season No. 1

By GREG MENGELT
greg.mengelt@newsandtribune.com

> SOUTHERN INDIANA — Jeffersonville’s baseball has been named the preseason favorite in Class 4A by the Indiana High School baseball coaches.

After going 22-7 and making last year’s Final Four, the Red Devils received 92 points, 10 more than No. 2 Cathedral, in the 4A poll. The Irish knocked off Jeff in last year’s semistate before falling 1-0 to Elkhart Central in the state championship game.

“It’s nice to be recognized and respected by our peers,” Jeff second-year coach Derek Ellis said, “and we appreciate those who think we are worthy of it, but our goal isn’t to be No. 1 before we’ve even played a game. We want to be No. 1 on June 21 [the day of the state championship game].”

Westfield is No. 3, followed by Hobart and Brownsburg. Floyd Central, which spent almost all of last season in the top spot before being eliminated by Jeffersonville, opens at No. 6 in Class 4A. The Highlanders went 29-3 in 2013.