Lakewood Ranch (Bradenton, Fla.) win its 21 straight game, continued its quest for an unbeaten season with a 4-3 win over Wellington in a showdown of Florida powers and remained No. 1 in this week's MaxPreps Top 25 Softball Rankings.
The Mustangs look to close the regular season unblemished this week with a trio of team they've already beaten.
Top-ranked for much of the season, 26-1 Norco (Calif.) — now No. 2 in the land — also closes out its regular season hosting Corona, a team it defeated 13-1 three weeks ago.
Video: MaxPreps Top 25 softball rankingsSee how Lakewood Ranch remained atop this week's standings.
Foothill (Pleasanton, Calif.), Cedar Ridge (Round Rock Texas), Winter Springs (Fla.), White Knoll (Lexington, S.C.) and Male (Louisville, Ky.) are other Top 10 teams with goals of finishing 2019 unscathed.
And not to be overlooked, five other Top 25 teams have yet to lose in 2019.
Klein Collins (Spring, Texas) was the biggest mover of the week, winning its 16th-straight win — 6-5 — over No. 25 Barbers Hill (Mt. Belvieu) and jumping into the rankings at No. 12.
Also new to the Top 25 this week are unbeatens Redmond (Wash.), Keystone (LaGrange, Ill.), Halletsville (Texas) and Immaculate Heart Academy (Washington Township, N.J.).
Two teams that had combined to win 107-straight games lost last week – Neshoba Central (Philadelphia, MS) saw its 64-game winning streak snapped and Tualatin (OR) lost for the first time in 44 games. Neshoba Central dropped to No. 15 and Tualatin fell out of the Top 25.
Dropped out: Empire (Tucson, Ariz.), Great Oak (Temecula, Calif.), Forney (Texas), Oakleaf (Oragne Park, Fla.) and Tualatin (Ore.).
On
the Bubble: Trenton (Fla.), 19-0; Katy (Texas), 21-2; Smyrna (Del.), 11-0;
Lakota East (Liberty Township, Ohio), 11-0; Chino Hills (Calif.), 25-3; St.
John Vinney (N.J.), 8-0; Notre Dame Crowley (La.), 33-0;
North Hampton (Pa.), 7-0; Hoover (W.Va.), 18-1; East Lake (Fla.), 21-1; Eustis (Fla.), 20-1; West Stanly (NC), 18-0;
Lake City (Idaho), 11-0; Lewisburg (Miss.),
24-0; and Lake Central (Ind.), 15-1.
Prospect of the
Week: Ashley Blessin of
Plant City (Fla.) struck out 32 in a 13-inning
no-hitter earlier this season, struck out 16 in a one-hit, 3-0 win over
Bloomingdale (Varico) and tossed a one-hitter with 19 strikeouts in
a 1-0 win over East Bay (Gibsonton). She leads the nation with an
0.18 ERA and is averaging 2.4 strikeouts per inning. Blessin has signed
with Marshall.
Game of the Week: Tiny Trenton (Fla.), a 1A school,
knocked 8A Oakleaf (Orange Park) out of the Top 25 with a convincing 8-3 win one day
after Oakleaf captured the prestigious Kissimmee Klassic title for the
third year in a row. Trenton, with 680 students in grades 6-12, is 19-0
on this season. Oakleaf has 2,350 students in grades 9-12 and is 18-3.
Game to Watch: Moses Lake (Wash.) hosts Lake City (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) in a battle of unbeatens. Both teams are hitting .414.
Tournament
of the Week: The Louisiana State D3 tournament with 33-0 Notre Dame
(Crowley) facing 18-8 (Reserve) in the semifinals on Friday. Notre Dame,
hitting .488 team, is led by LSU-commit
Maci Bergeron's 20 homers and 59
RBI and
Sydnei Simon's pitching (25-0, 0.62 ERA).
MaxPreps Top 25 high school softball rankings
1. (Last week 1) Lakewood Ranch (Bradenton, Fla.), 21-0The Mustangs picked up three wins last week — 8-2 over Academy at the Lakes (Land O'Lakes), 3-0 over Venice and 4-3 over Wellington. In beating Academy, they touched up future Florida Gator Lexi Kilfoy for seven runs (three earned) in three innings with Emma Anthony homering.
2. (2) Norco (Calif.), 26-1The Cougars have won twice since losing 4-3 to Santiago (Corona). In their rivalry game against Centennial (Corona), preseason All-Americans
Paige Smith and
Sarah Willis homered and Willis teamed with sophomore
Stevie Hansen to throw a one-hitter, walk none and strike out seven.
3. (3) Foothill (Pleasanton, Calif.), 18-0After four-straight shutouts, the Falcons allowed single runs in wins over San Ramon Valley and Livermore. Opponents have scored eight runs against Oklahoma pledge
Nicole May, who has pitched a dozen shutouts this season.
4. (4) Cedar Ridge (Round Rock, Texas), 28-0The Raiders concluded the regular season unbeaten and repeated as district champions. Senior pitcher
Tori McCann improved to 21-0.
5. (5) Winter Springs (Fla.), 22-0The Bears won three times last week, rallying late to beat Lake Howell 4-1, as
Roneice Pharoah and winning pitcher
Aynslie Furbush (Old Miss commit) homered.
6. (9) White Knoll (Lexington, S.C.), 16-0The T-Wolves close out the regular season against Fort Mill on Monday.
7. (12) Male (Louisville, Ky.), 15-0After taking Easter week off, the Bulldogs take on Central Hardin (Cecelia), winners of 12 in a row. Male has outscored 11 of its 15 opponents by 10 or more runs.
8. (11) Dripping Springs (Texas), 32-2The Tigers open the postseason with a 22-game winning streak and a .442 team batting average. Senior Texas signee
Camille Corona has scored 65 times and has 65 hits to go along with her .657 batting average.
9. (13) Keller (Texas), 26-3-1The Indians have 14 wins in a row and open bi-district playoffs on Friday against 21-9 Coppell.
10. (15) Coral Springs Charter (Coral Springs, Fla.), 19-1Homers by
Lindsey Garcia (Auburn signee) and
Cassidy Crump (Florida International pledge) led the Panthers to an 8-6 win over Pembroke Pines and ran their win streak to 18. Freshman pitcher
Brianna Godfrey ran her record to 9-0 with a 0.81 ERA.
11. (14) Sunrise Mountain (Peoria, Ariz.), 18-0With a pair of wins over city rival Centennial, the Mustangs finished the regular season unbeaten.
12. (NR) Klein Collins (Spring, Texas), 28-2The Tigers ended Forney's 25-game win streak, 6-5, scoring three times in the bottom of seventh.
Mia Cantu (Louisiana-Lafayette commit) had three hits and drove in two runs. Winning pitcher
Kenedy Hines drove in two runs.
13. (NR) Redmond (Wash.), 16-0In a 19-2 win over North Creek (Bothell), Tennessee signee
Kiki Milloy homered twice and drove in eight runs. In a 10-4 win over Woodinville, Milloy struck out 14 as teammates
Haley Hanson and
Jennifer Cummings (Washington pledge) homered. And in an 11-2 win over Inglemoor, Milloy struck out 10 and had two hits.
Lindsay Tsujikawa homered and drove in four runs against Inglemoor.
Peri Hocevar, Redmond
Photo by Patrick Krohn
In 31 innings last week, Northwestern signee
Sydney Supple allowed a dozen hits and struck out 57 as North won five times.
15. (8) Neshoba Central (Philadelphia, Miss.), 25-1Crosstown rival Philadelphia snapped a 64-game win streak by the Rockets that dated back to May 2, 2017. Not only was it a loss, Philadelphia pitcher Nia Luckett threw a no-hitter and struck out 16. In losing for the first time in three seasons, MaxPreps All-American
Aspen Wesley (Mississippi State signee) struck out 18.
16. (NR) Keystone (La Grange, Ohio), 13-0To say the Wildcats are working on all cylinders is an understatement. They are hitting .448, averaging better than 10 runs per game, have 40 stolen bases, are fielding .966 and have allowed just five runs, only two of which are earned. Senior
Sydney Campbell (Oakland signee) has pitched a pair of perfect games, is 12-0 and has a 0.19 ERA. Led by Shelby Fortune's .667 batting average, the Wildcats have four players hitting .500 or higher.
17. (19) Grand Terrace (Calif.), 23-3-1The Tigers had a 5-0 week and scored 63 runs in the process of running their win streak to nine. Oklahoma signee
Alycia Flores has homered in three-straight games and has a dozen on the season.
18. (20) Clarksville (Tenn.), 35-1The Wildcats routed Montgomery Central (Cunningham) 16-6, and Henry County (Paris) 10-1 to run their win streak to 19.
19. (25) Marist (Chicago), 15-2The Redhawks got four homers from senior
Angela Zedak (Northwestern signee) in recording wins over Illiana Christian (Dyer, Ind.) and 15-0 and 18-1 victories over Marian Central Catholic (Woodstock). The Redhawks have won 13 straight.
20. (22) Pinnacle (Phoenix), 20-3Louisiana-Lafayette signee
Taylor Fawcett has 13 homers, 44 RBI and is hitting .520.
Morgan Smith (LSU pledge) has 18 extra base hits and is bating .523. She also has 11 wins, 127 strikeouts in 66 innings and an 0.85 ERA.
21. (21) Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.), 20-6-1The Lancers recorded one-run wins over Rosary Academy (Fullerton) and Mater Dei (Santa Ana) to grab a share of the Trinity League lead. LSU signee
Ciara Briggs is hitting .581 with an on-base percentage of .660 and is riding a 12-game hitting streak in which she has collected 24 base hits.
22. (23) Bradshaw Mountain (Prescott Valley, Ariz.), 31-1Jacie Hambrick struck out 14 as the Bears edged Desert Edge 3-2 for their 10th straight win.
23. (NR) Hallettsville (Texas), 26-0Senior pitcher
Rylee Trlicek (Florida signee) has it going — 14-0, 171 strikeouts in 78 innings, six no-hitters and a 0.46 ERA. She is also hitting .616 with 42 RBI.
24. (6) Barbers Hill (Mt. Belvieu, Texas), 30-2The Eagles win streak ended to Klein Collins (Spring) with a 6-5 loss.
25. (NR) Immaculate Heart Academy (Washington Township, N.J.), 9-0Junior
Ryleigh White (Tennessee commit) has recorded 20 strikeouts in a game twice this season as the Blue Eagles have started perfect. She has pitched four no-hitters and is averaging 2.1 strikeouts per inning.
