Baseball: North Jersey Top 25 rankings heading into the 2024 season

Coaches typically have the biggest say in determining the preseason baseball rankings in North Jersey. By the end of the spring, the players will have the final say.

With the 2024 campaign set to open Monday, NorthJersey.com uses information from head coaches – plus knowledge of program histories and returning starters – in assembling the first Top 25 of the year.

If the top three look familiar, it’s because Bergen County’s traditional powerhouses are loaded again. Two reigning state champions join them in the top five.

Naturally, once the results start coming in, those will be the primary factor in shaping the rankings as the season goes along.

Our annual reminder – where teams start at the beginning of the season does not necessarily reflect where they will end up. Some coaches, in fact, prefer to fly under the radar (and have told us as much). Others like to see their teams get Top 25 votes to help pump up the players (ditto).

Whatever you take out of the rankings, know that things always can change next week.

Preseason Top 25 rankings

1. Don Bosco (27-5)
2. St. Joseph (21-9)
3. Bergen Catholic (25-6)
4. Ridgewood (24-7)
5. Pascack Hills (22-7)
6. Ramsey (18-8-1)
7. DePaul (18-8)
8. Westwood (18-10)
9. Ramapo (16-12)
10. Passaic Tech (23-4)
11. Pompton Lakes (21-8)
12. Lakeland (18-8)
13. Dwight-Englewood (15-10)
14. Old Tappan (17-10)
15. Pascack Valley (19-11)
16. Rutherford (19-10)
17. Emerson (18-10)
18. Paramus (15-11)
19. Glen Rock (21-6)
20. St. Mary (20-11)
21. Hackensack (14-13)
22. Bergenfield (16-9-1)
23. Northern Highlands (8-16)
24. Wood-Ridge (21-9)
25. Becton (14-10)

Also considered: Cresskill (11-13), Fair Lawn (12-13), Hawthorne (12-12), Park Ridge (12-11), Teaneck (13-12), Wayne Valley (14-10).

2023 records in parentheses

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Baseball: North Jersey Top 25 rankings heading into the 2024 season