The 2014 high school baseball season barely is a couple of weeks old, and the race among Division I teams already is at full throttle.

Phoenix Brophy Prep was 5-1 entering Friday’s (March 7) play, its most recent win coming on Thursday night (March 6) when it rallied for a 10-9 victory over visiting Phoenix Pinnacle. Pinnacle (4-2) and Brophy slapped the ball around the yard throughout the game.

Pinnacle has jumped into the mix by defeating Division I defending champion Phoenix Mountain Pointe and up and coming Phoenix Sandra Day O’Connor. Pinnacle turned around to play another solid team, Chandler Hamilton, on Friday.

At the close of a busy week, Pinnacle appeared to run out of gas as visiting Hamilton dominated 18-4.

Brophy features Fenton Kelly, who hit a three-run home run early against Pinnacle, and pitcher Ryan Castellani. The right-hander has a chance to be a first-round selection in this June’s annual Major League Baseball draft.

Pinnacle also has some players who make contact on a regular basis.

Leading the way for the Pioneers against Brophy were Jacob Weiss, with a solo home run, and Ryan Nelson, with a two-run double.

Some of the other schools expected to challenge in Division I, according to a preseason top 10 by azcentral.com, are Scottsdale Chaparral, Mesa Desert Ridge, Scottsdale Desert Mountain, Gilbert Mesquite, Phoenix Sunnyslope and Phoenix St. Mary’s.