Baseball America released its national preseason top 50 rankings, and Lawrence High cracked the list at No. 50.

Coach Brad Stoll downplayed the importance of making the list.

“It’s nice to be recognized, but it’s about where you finish, not where you start,” he said. “We are more focused on the end of the season.”

LHS, with six returning starters (Garrett Cleavinger, CJ Roush, Matt Sutliffe, Jake Vinoverski, Shane Willoughby and Troy Willoughby), is the only team from the state of Kansas in the top 50.

The Lions last appeared in the preseason rankings at No. 33 in 2010.

According to baseballamerica.com, the staff of Baseball America and the National High School Baseball Coaches Association compile the top 50 rankings. In-season polls of the top 25 will be conducted every two weeks and released every other Tuesday during the season.

The first in-season poll will be released March 13. The final poll, a Top 50, will be released in June.