MaxPreps Top 25 national high school softball rankings

Video: MaxPreps Softball Preseason Top 100

Top-ranked Mission Viejo picked up a pair of wins during its opening weekend and held onto the top ranking in this week's MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Softball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard.

However, last week's No. 2 Grand Terrace and No. 3 Deer Park lost and dropped to the bottom half of the Top 25. Oakleaf is running on all cylinders and improved to 15-0 with a Monday win and moved to No. 2.

Los Alamitos  jumped from No. 9 to No. 3 this week with a trio of impressive first-week wins and fellow California team Valencia vaulted from unranked to No. 4 by winning the prestigious Stu Pender Classic with five straight wins.

Also new to the Top 25 this week are unbeatens No. 19 Ironwood Ridge, No. 21 Eastlake and No. 25 Greenwood.

Many eyes will be focused on Bullhead City, Arizona, this weekend for the 21st annual Dave Kops Tournament. Three of the top five teams in the Xcellent 25 and eight of the preseason top 100 will be attending.


1. (1 last week) Mission Viejo (Calif.), 2-0
The Diablos opened the season with a pair of wins in the Best of the West Tournament and move to the semifinals on March 19 against No. 3 Los Alamitos. Next up is 3-1-1 San Clemente on Tuesday.

2. (7) Oakleaf (Orange Park, Fla.), 15-0
Monday's 15-0 win over Lee (Jacksonville) was Oakleaf's 11th shutout of the season. Oakleaf's pitchers have allowed just four earned runs and have 120 strikeouts in 74 innings.

3. (9) Los Alamitos (Calif.), 3-0
The Griffins opened the season with three wins by a combined margin of 19-0. Pitchers Ryan Denhart and Paige Austin have allowed just nine hits and no runs.

4. (NR) Valencia (Calif.), 5-0
Valencia beat giant killer Great Oak in the title game of the Stu Pender Classic.

5. (14) Newsome (Lithia, Fla.), 12-0
The Wolves have outscored their foes 116-7 and have recorded nine shutouts. They are hitting .281 as a team and 18 players have driven in a run, led by Hannah Pridemore with 14.

6. (15) Curry (Jasper, Ala.), 8-0
The defending state 4A champions have won eight straight to open the season and extended their winning streak to 11 over two seasons. Seven of those wins came in winning the Spain Park Jaguar Tournament last weekend. Ashlee Swindle pitched four shutouts, including a perfect game, during the tournament. She has five shutouts on the season and is second on the team in hitting at .600 (behind Justus Perry at .632).

7. (NR) Canyon del Oro (Tucson, Ariz.), 10-0-1
The Dorados have outscored their first four foes, 126-29, and have scored more than 10 runs on six occasions, with a high of 25.

8. (4) Reed (Sparks, Nev.), 0-0
Reed opens its season Thursday at a tournament in Sacramento, California.

9. (5) Eagle (Idaho), 0-0
The reigning state 5A champions get underway Wednesday at Timberline (Boise).

10. (6) McCracken County (Paducah, Ky.), 0-0
Riding a 29-game win streak, McCracken County opens the season March 17 at Marshall County.

11. (17) Gainesville (Fla.), 11-1
Gainesville's only loss is 2-1 to unbeaten Oakleaf. GHS has outscored its foes 84-17 with Olivia Hanson (15 RBIs), Jackie Chronister (14 RBIs) and Brittany Lewis (10 RBIs) leading the way. Senior Katie Chronister is 9-1 with a 0.47 ERA and has 121 strikeouts in 74 innings. She has two no-hitters and two one-hitters on the season.

12. (18) La Grange (Texas), 17-1
The Tigers have won 17 straight since their season-opening 4-3 loss to Mansfield and six straight to win the A&M Consolidated Tournament last weekend.

13. (25) Etiwanda (Calif.), 7-0
The Eagles, who swept through the Dana Housley last weekend, host Diamond Ranch (Pomona) on Tuesday. Led by Vanessa Taukeiaho's .800 batting average, four home runs and 15 RBIs, the Eagles are batting .545 as a team.

14. (21) American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.), 9-0
The Patriots handed Palmetto its first loss of the season, 3-0. They have committed just two errors and allowed just three earned runs in nine games. Senior Madison Canby is 6-0 and has allowed just 10 hits with 78 strikeouts in 40 run-free innings.

15. (12) Atascocita (Humble, Texas), 14-2
Senior Shelby McGlaun is batting .592 with a dozen doubles and 18 RBIs and is 8-0 with a 1.11 ERA. Both losses have been by 3-2 scores.

16. (10) Penn (Mishawaka, Ind.), 0-0
The Kingsmen open their season March 29.

17. (13) Crown Point (Ind.), 0-0
The Bulldogs open their season April 12.

18. (2) Grand Terrace (Calif.), 4-1
The big bats went quiet in 1-0 loss to Great Oak, managing just three hits. In its other four games, Grand Terrace is averaging a dozen hits per game.

19. (NR) Ironwood Ridge (Tucson, Ariz.), 9-1
The Nighthawks own a 6-0 win over defending 5A state champion O"Connor (Phoenix) and have lost only to No. 7 Canyon del Oro (Tucson), 7-4. Led by Reina Bondi's .548 batting average, the Hawks are hitting .439 as a team.

20. (16) Keystone (La Grange, Ohio), 0-0
The Wildcats open their season March 28 at Whiteville.

21. (NR) Eastlake (El Paso, Texas), 16-0
Sophomore Kasey Flores has 12 home runs, 43 RBIs and is hitting .596 (second-highest on team behind sophomore Krysten Estrada's .617). No seniors start for the Falcons, who have scored 209 times. Four of the Falcons' last five wins have been shutouts.

22. (3) Deer Park (Texas), 17-2
After winning their first 13 games, the Deer went 4-2 at the Sienna Tournament, but routed reigning 6A state champion Katy, 13-0.

23. (19) Oak Park-River Forest (Oak Park, Ill.), 0-0
Oak Park-River Forest opens the season March 19.

24. (24) Campbell (Ewa Beach, Hawaii), 1-0
The defending state large school champions opened their season with a 9-2 win at Wai'anae, as Sierra Mariano drove in three runs.

25. (NR) Greenwood (Ark.), 3-0
The Bulldogs opened with a trio of shutout wins to run their win streak to 15 in a row and take on 7A power Bentonville (2-0) Tuesday.

Dropped out: Saugus (Calif.), Pacifica (Calif.), Siegel (Tenn.), Desert Ridge (Ariz.), Lewisville (Texas).