HELENA, Ala. — After the best season in school history, the Helena Huskies finished their latest campaign as the number one baseball team in the country, according to MaxPreps computer rankings. Helena went 38-6 this year and defeated the Cullman Bearcats in May to win their first 6A state championship.

“Everybody at the beginning of the year set a goal. Nobody talked about that end goal. But in my heart, [winning the state championship] that was my goal,” Helena’s Nash Adam’s told Al.com after the championship victory. “I wouldn’t say it out loud because baseball is a is superstitious game. Didn’t want to jinx anything. But when we got here, I knew exactly what was going to happen. ”

MaxPreps’ computer ranking system relies solely on statistics and does not account for season history, school size, or polls. A team’s ranking is calculated by an algorithm that tracks game results stored in the MaxPreps database. In addition to the mere win-loss record of a team, the system takes into account the quality of wins and strength of schedule.

The MaxPreps Xcellent 25 is the company’s human ranking compiled from a poll of writers. Helena finished fifth overall in that metric.

Cullman, who lost to Helena in the 6A final, still finished seventh in the MaxPreps final computer ranking. The only other Alabama team to finish in the final top 25 was the 7A state champion Hoover Buccanneers, who finished seventeenth.