Los Alamitos moves into the top spot after San Benito falters.
Video: Mikayla Rojas batting .923
See highlights of America's leader in four offensive categoriesLos Alamitos won twice last week to run its win streak to seven and that, coupled with San Benito's first loss of the season, returned the Griffins to the top of the MaxPreps Xcellent Top 25 National Softball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard.
The 16-1 Griffins, who were ranked No. 1 earlier in the season, defeated Edison 4-1 and Fountain Valley 8-3 while 24-1 San Benito lost to Veterans Memorial (Brownsville, Texas), 4-2. San Benito dropped to No. 14.
Eagle moved to No. 2 in winning its 18th game of the season, but needed a come-from-behind, walk-off home run from
Martha Tooley to remain perfect.
Mission Viejo, also ranked No. 1 earlier in the season and the lone team to defeat Los Alamitos in 2016, extended its win streak to eight with a trio of wins last week and moved up to No. 3. Rounding out the top five are Texans LaGrange and Deer Park.
After having the start of their seasons slowed by inclement weather, a pair of Indiana teams are making the most of sunny weather and moved into the Top 10 this week. Unbeatens Crown Point and Penn (Mishawaka) are seeing the fruits of their talented pitching.
Penn was ranked No. 10 in the preseason and Crown Point No. 13. In their combined 13 games, the two teams have limited their opponents to only 16 hits and just four earned runs. They have a showdown scheduled for early May.
In addition to Penn, new to the Top 25 are Huntington Beach (Calif.) and Cape Fear (N.C.).
The hoped rematch from the recently postponed semifinals of the Michelle Carew Softball Classic between Mission Viejo and Los Alamitos won't be happening. Los Alamitos could not find a suitable date to replay the game. As a result, Mission Viejo will play Orange Lutheran (April 29) with the winner playing No. 18 Huntington Beach for the Carew Classic title on April 30.
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Softball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard
The girls from Los Alamitos can smile about their No. 1 ranking.
Photo by Heston Quan
The Griffins have won seven in a row since losing to Mission Viejo. Playing arguably the toughest schedule in the country, they have allowed just 23 runs.
2. (3) Eagle (Idaho), 18-0The Mustangs avoided their first loss of the season as a walk-off home run by Martha Tooley highlighted a four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh. The 6-5 win over Boise was Eagle's closest margin of victory this season.
3. (5) Mission Viejo (Calif.), 15-2The Diablos edged Dana Hills (Dana Point) 3-2 and Marina (Huntington Beach) 2-1, in addition to blanking Aliso Niguel (Aliso Viejo) 4-0.
Camryn Ybarra hit a game-winning homer against Marina.
4. (6) La Grange (Texas), 28-1The Tigers ran their win streak to 28 with a 5-0 win over Navasota, as
Missy Zoch pitched a one-hitter to run her record to 20-1. Her senior season ERA is 0.34.
5. (8) Deer Park (Texas), 30-2The Deer ran their win streak to 14 with a 17-0 rout of Channelview.
6. (12) Viera (Fla.), 24-1The Hawks mean business in the playoffs as they have routed Heritage (Palm Bay, Fla.) and Harmony, 15-0. The Hawks have won 23 straight since losing to Lake Mary, 10-6, on Feb. 5.
7. (15) Grand Terrace (Calif.), 13-1 Grand Terrace beat Kaiser (Fontana) 15-1, Murietta Mesa 9-1 and West Ranch 4-0. Grand Terrace has won 11 straight and allowed just 10 runs this season.
8. (23) Crown Point (Ind.), 6-0 On Monday, Crown Point avenged a 2015 loss to Lake Central (St. John) with a 5-3 win.
Miranda Elish and
Alexis Holloway have combined for 26 base hits and have recorded 79 strikeouts in 38 innings. They allowed just six hits in the wins, five by shutout.
9. (NR) Penn (Mishawaka, Ind.), 7-0Junior
Danielle Watson homered and pitched a five-inning no-hitter with 15 strikeouts as Penn beat Elkhart Central, 16-0. Penn has seven wins and six shutouts. Watson is 5-0 with 67 strikeouts in 31 innings and has yet to allow an earned run. She has allowed just four base hits in 31 innings.
10. (17) Canyon del Oro (Tucson, Ariz.), 24-1-1The Dorados, averaging 10 runs per game, have won 12 straight. Ten different players have homered.
11. (25) West Orange (Winter Garden, Fla.), 25-1The Warriors captured the Class 9A District 3 title with 4-0 win over Lake Brantley, as junior
Lauren Mathis pitched a two-hitter and struck out 11. Their lone loss this season is 1-0 to American Heritage.
12. (14) Bald Knob (Ark.), 23-0 The Bulldogs beat Benton 6-0 and routed Cedar Ridge 19-0 to run their win streak to 47 over two seasons.
13. (13) Campbell (Ewa Beach, Hawaii), 10-0The Sabers have scored 79 times and have allowed 17, but only two in their last four games.
14. (1) San Benito (Texas), 24-1 The Greyhounds lost to Veterans Memorial (Brownsville), 4-2. They play Lopez (Brownsville) on Tuesday and close out the regular season April 22 hosting Rivera (Brownsville).
15. (20) Cibola (Yuma, Ariz.), 28-1The Raiders ran their win streak to 22 with wins over Yuma rivals Gila Ridge, 12-2, and Kofa, 11-1. Sophomore
Nicole Villa is batting .573 with 37 RBIs.
16. (16) Union County (Union, S.C.), 17-0The Yellowjackets will go for their 30th-straight win on Tuesday when they host rival Clinton.
17. (18) Bishop Carroll (Wichita, Kan.), 12-0Bishop Carroll continues rolling on all cylinders: scoring 194 times and batting .487 with four starters hitting over .500.
18. (NR) Huntington Beach (Calif.), 17-1 Huntington Beach, which has won 12 straight, is led by Stanford signees
Alyssa Horeczko and
Kristina Inouye. Other Pac-12 commits include
Ivy Davis (Arizona),
Chance Burden (Oregon State),
Allee Bunker (Oregon) and
Jadelyn Allchin (Washington).
19. (19) Gainesville (Fla.), 23-2The Hurricanes opened District play with wins over Middleburg, 5-2, and Columbia, 9-1, as senior
Katie Chronister struck out 22 in the two games.
20. (24) Sherwood (Sandy Spring, Md.), 8-0 Sherwood's winning streak reached 93 with a 15-0 shellacking of Blair (Silver Spring). The Warriors have scored less than 10 runs in just one game this season and they have six wins via shutout.
21. (21) Robinson (Texas), 27-0-1The Rockets won 11-0 over Gatesville and 17-0 over La Vega (Waco). They have outscored their opponents 313-30.
22. (22) Jackson (Mill Creek, Wash.), 11-0The T-Wolves, led by
Kristina Day (.684) and
Taylor Adams (.647) have outscored their opponents 114-14. Pitcher
Sophie Frost is averaging two strikeouts per inning with a 0.46 ERA.
23. (10) Eastlake (El Paso, Texas), 27-1Eastlake lost to Parkland (El Paso), 7-2, but the Falcons bounced back to rout El Paso rivals Riverside, 20-8, and Del Valle, 5-1.
24. (NR) Cape Fear (Fayetteville, N.C.), 17-0 The Colts have outscored their opponents 232-9 and have recorded 11 shutouts.
Haley Cashwell (.594 average) has a two-year hitting streak approaching 40 and
Aubrey Reep is 13-0 with a 0.64 ERA (110 strikeouts in 64 innings) and is hitting .556.
25. (7) Reed (Sparks, Nev.), 16-1-1Reed lost to Lincoln (Calif.), 2-1, and tied Vacaville (Calif.), 0-0, before beating Californians Casa Roble and Ponderosa.
Dropped out: West Ranch (Calif.), Downers Grove South (Ill.), Etiwanda (Calif.)
