In the opening Alabama Sports Writers Association baseball poll released today the Pike Liberal Arts Patriots were tabbed as the team to beat in the AISA and the Charles Henderson Trojans come in at No. 2 in the first Class 5A poll.

Both the Patriots and the Trojans have opened the season hot after a strong finish to the 2008 campaign. PLAS is 8-0 and recently defended their home turf in the 2009 Jonah McWaters Baseball Tournament in Troy. The Patriots dominated the tournament and the only game that was close was a 3-2 win over Northside.

The Trojans earlier defended their home turf in the 2009 Terry Sikes Memorial tournament in Troy and their record stands at 11-3. The impressive part of that 11-3 record is that the Trojans have played 10 of their 14 games against Class 6A opponents and they are 7-3 against that competition.

The Patriots are three games into their region schedule and they already have given No. 4 Macon-East their only loss of the season. The Patriots have another game with the Knights and two against No. 5 Fort Dale Academy in region play. They will take part in the Edgewood tournament this weekend hosted by the No. 2 Edgewood Academy Wildcats. They also face Edgewood in a doubleheader later this season.

Charles Henderson has not played an area game yet, but none of the teams in its area are ranked. They did defeat 4A No. 7 Plainview (7-5) last weekend in Troy. The Trojans have to reschedule a doubleheader with 6A No. 7 Wetumpka (11-1). They also face Wetumpka in Prattville this weekend. They host 6A No. 1 Pelham (12-1), 5A No. 7 Pleasant Grove (11-4) and 4A No. 6 Bibb County later this year.

The following are the polls for the AISA and Class 5A:

AISA

1. Pike Liberal (8-0)

2. Edgewood (6-1)

3. Marengo (7-3)

4. Macon-East (5-1)

5. Fort Dale (6-0)

6. Tuscaloosa (4-2)

7. Monroe (7-2)

8. South Choctaw (7-3)

9. Wilcox (3-2)

10. Cornerstone C. (3-1)

Class 5A

1. Cullman (9-6)

2. Henderson-Troy (11-3)

3. Hartselle (12-4)

4. St. Paul’s (11-3)

5. Walker (11-3)

6. Pleasant Grove (11-4)

7. Briarwood Chr. (7-2)

8. Mortimer Jord. (12-4)

9. Boaz (12-1)

10. Muscle Sh. (10-4)