MaxPreps Top 25 national high school softball rankings

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While the top California teams continue to beat up one another, teams from Texas keep winning and dominate the MaxPreps Xcellent Top 25 Softball Rankings with three squads in the first five.

The first four spots in this week's Top 25 are identical to last week. However, they are the only ones that went unchanged in the last seven days as two Top 10 teams lost and three other ranked teams fell from the Top 25.

With the postseason getting underway in Texas, Arizona and Florida this week, look for a lot of changes in upcoming weeks. But until then, Johnson (San Antonio) remains No. 1 as it concluded the regular season last week unbeaten at 26-0.

Canyon (New Braunsfels, Texas) remains No. 2, Los Alamitos (Calif.) sits at No. 3, Hurricane (W. Va.) is No. 4 and Katy (Texas) rounds up the Top 5.

Preseason No. 1 Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.) is on the rise at No. 6 and riding a 22-game winning streak. Marist (Chicago) and East Carter (Grayson, Ky.) come in at Nos. 7 and 8.

New the Top 10 this week are unbeatens Neshoba Central (Philadelphia, Miss.) and Jackson (Mill Creek, Wash.).

The biggest mover of the week is 18-2 San Marcos (Calif.), which avenged an earlier season to loss to No. 20 Norco (Calif.). San Marcos debuts this week in the Top 25 at No. 14 and has won 10 in a row.

Also new to the Top 25 this week are Woodgrove (Purcellville, Va.) and Spanish Fork (Utah).

1. (Last week 1) Johnson (San Antonio), 26-0
Johnson concluded the regular season with a 9-1 win over city rival Madison as Bri Moore homered twice, and Kendall Wiles homered and drove in four. Playoffs begins this week.

2. (2) Canyon (New Braunfels, Texas), 27-1
The Cougars finished their regular season with three-straight shutouts as the offense put up 35 runs in the process. The final game was a 12-0 win over Judson, the team that handed the Cougars their only loss of the season. The Cougars open the playoffs Friday versus Brennan.

3. (3) Los Alamitos (Calif.), 21-1
Sophomore Aliya Belarde (Utah pledge) is batting .537, freshman Sophia Nugent is hitting .444 and senior Karrington Houshmandzadeh (LSU signee) is hitting .431. Junior Sarah Ladd (Michigan commit) is 16-0 with a 1.01 ERA.

4. (4) Hurricane (Hurricane, Va.), 12-0
While Harlie Vannatter gets most of the publicity and starts, senior Kiersten Landers (Florida State signee) has two shutouts, including a no-hitter.

5. (6) Katy (Texas), 30-1
Katy enters the playoffs with a 24-game winning streak. First opponent: Clements on Thursday.

6. (8) Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.), 29-1
The Huskies ended the regular season on 22-game win streak. With five players batting over .500, they are hitting .430 as a team. Senior Abigail Andersen (Arizona State signee) is 16-0 with a 1.14 ERA. Hamilton opens the 6A playoffs Saturday as the No. 1 seed.

7. (9) Marist (Chicago), 12-1
The Redhawks have scored 84 times in their last six games. The run barrage started following their 1-0 loss to Lincoln Way East (Frankport). Juniors Kelly Walinski (Northern Illinois commit), Angela Zedak (Northwestern pledge), Alexis Voss (Michigan commit) and Jessica Balich (Iowa State commit) have combined for 25 homers and 83 RBIs in 13 games.

8. (10) East Carter (Grayson, Ky.), 18-0
The Raiders were dominant last week, defeating Elliott County (Sandy Hook), Morgan County (West Liberty) and Bryan Station (Lexington) by a combined 41-1 margin. Montana Fouts (Alabama signee) had seven hits, drove in eight runs and allowed one hit with 29 strikeouts in 12 innings.

9. (11) Neshoba Central (Philadelphia, Miss.), 26-0
The Rockets finished the regular season with three shutouts as junior Aspen Wesley (Mississippi State verbal) struck out 49 in 20 innings. She has allowed one earned run this season and only 22 base hits in 94 innings (16-0 record and 213 strikeouts). The postseason begins on Tuesday.

10. (13) Jackson (Mill Creek, Wash.), 13-0
Jackson defeated Cascade (Everett) 10-0 and Kamiak (Mukiteo) 8-1. Averaging 10 runs per game, Jackson has allowed nine and only five have been earned. Senior Kristina Day (Massachusetts signee) is hitting .488 with a team high 16 RBIs and five homers.

11. (19) Freedom (Oakley, Calif.), 13-0
Behind the pitching and hitting of senior Vanessa Strong, Freedom beat Antioch, 6-4, then edged Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 4-2 and previously ranked Foothill (Pleasanton) 8-7 to win the Livermore Stampede.

12. (15) Oakleaf (Orange Park, Fla.), 24-2
Oakleaf has won 15 in a row. Senior Madi Davis (Central Florida signee) is 15-1 with a 1.22 ERA and Rebecca Koskey (Florida International signee) is hitting .488 with 31 RBIs. The playoffs begin this week.

13. (16) Mansfield (Texas), 25-0
Mansfield opens the playoffs unbeaten, has outscored its opponents 253-22 and has 16 shutouts.

14. (NR) San Marcos (Calif.), 18-2
The Knights avenged an earlier season loss to Norco as senior Payton Tidd tossed a three-hitter. Ten different players have homered this season and Tidd (Notre Dame signee) is 16-2 with a 0.64 EA and 119 strikeouts in 76 innings.

15. (17) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego), 17-3
The Megan Faraimo train keeps rolling. The UCLA signee won three times last week, allowing five hits in 19 innings and striking out 37. She walked one to bring her season total to four. Faraimo also homered twice. She has 246 strikeouts in 122 innings.

16. (21) Center Grove (Greenwood, Ind.), 14-0
Behind senior Jordyn Rudd (six homers, 22 RBIs) and junior Abby Herbst (.643 batting average, 20 RBIs), Center Grove is hitting .471 as a team.

17. (5) Keller (Texas), 26-2-1
Timber Creek (Fort Worth) ended the Indians 17-game win streak. They responded with a 10-0 win over Haltom as the playoffs begin this week.

18. (7) Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.), 21-3
Despite collecting 14 hits — three each from Ciara Briggs (LSU commit) and Mya Rodriguez (Ohio State pledge) — the Lancers lost 9-8 in 10 innings to 17-5 Mater Dei (Santa Ana).

19. (20) Fort Myers (Fla.), 23-2
The Green Wave opens the playoffs hitting .420 as a team and riding a seven-game win streak where they have scored their opponents 94-7.

20. (18) Norco (Calif.), 19-3
The Cougars beat Centennial (Corona) 2-1 and Roosevelt (Eastvale) 9-2, but lost 3-2 to No. 14 San Marcos.

21. (22) Eagle (Idaho), 19-0-1
The Mustangs scored in the bottom of the seventh to beat 20-2 Rocky Mountain (Meridian) 5-4 in a showdown that could be a preview to a state final game next month.

22. (25) Madison (Vienna, Va.), 13-0
It's easy math: 128 runs scored plus nine allowed equals no losses and 13 wins.

23. (24) Byrnes (Duncan, S.C.), 24-1
Since losing, Byrnes has won 17 in a row. Junior Kasey Widmyer (USC Upstate) is 16-0 with a 0.59 ERA.

24. (NR) Woodgrove (Purcellville, Va.), 12-0
Boston College signee Camryn Dolby is averaging two strikeouts per inning, including 17 in 1-0 win over rival Loudon Valley last week.

25. (NR) Spanish Fork (Spanish Fork, Utah), 16-1
Since being routed 11-2 by 20-2 Oaks Christian (Westlake Village), the defending state 4A champion Dons have won 13 in a row. Senior Jordyn Bate and junior Brylee Rudd have combined for 25 home runs, 77 RBIs, 63 runs scored and 64 base hits. Bate is also 8-0 with a 1.18 ERA and has 92 strikeouts in 53 innings.

Dropped out: Angleton (Texas), Cibola (Yuma, Ariz.), and Barrington (Ill.).