MaxPreps Top 25 national high school softball rankings

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For the third week in a row, there is a new No. 1 team in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Softball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard.

Oakleaf took advantage of previous No. 1 California teams Los Alamitos and Mission Viejo beating up on one another to grab the top spot. Oakleaf is 18-0 with 13 shutouts and has allowed just 11 runs. Opponents have collected only 39 hits against the Knights.

While foes are batting just .126 against OIakleaf, the new No. 1 is hitting .390 with six players hitting over .400 and has committed just nine errors.



Los Alamitos (10-1) dropped to No. 7 and Mission Viejo lands at No. 8 this week. The Griffins won the Dave Kops Tournament two weeks ago, while Mission Viejo captured last weekend's Best of the West Classic. Another California squad, Etiwanda, continued its torrid hitting (.513 as a team) to capture the Redlands Tournament and jumped from No. 7 to No. 2.

Rounding out the Top 5 are unbeatens No. 3 Newsome, No. 4 Curry and No. 5 Guyer.

New to the Top 25 this week are unbeatens Pioneer, Salpointe Catholic, Bald Knob and North Davidson.


1. (2 last week) Oakleaf (Orange Park, Fla.), 18-0
After taking a week off, the Knights beat defending Class 2A champion Aucilla Christian, 5-0, and host 12-3 Clay (Green Cove Springs) on Tuesday. Junior Kelsey Sweatt and freshman Madisyn Davis have combined to strikeout 139 batters in 80 innings. Sweatt (an Upstate South Carolina commit) has allowed just 14 hits in 48 innings and only one earned run. She is averaging 2.2 strikeouts per inning.

2. (7) Etiwanda (Calif.), 17-0
The Eagles defeated Chino Hills last Saturday in the title game of the Redlands Tournament. They swept through the tournament, outscoring five opponents 47-9. The Eagles are hitting .513 as a team and have scored 190 runs. Nine players are hitting over .400, led by Vanessa Taukeiaho (.739, 11 home runs, 32 RBIs) and Megan Stevens (.614, 24 RBIs, 6 homers). Stevens is also 5-0 with a 1.04 ERA, while Briana Wheeler is 8-0 with a 0.92 ERA.

3. (3) Newsome (Lithia, Fla.), 14-0
The Wolves have allowed just eight runs this season and only two in their last 10 wins. Pitchers Claire Feldman and Cassidy Davis have combined to average 1.65 strikeouts per inning. On Tuesday, Newsome faces freshman phenom Ashley Blessin and 15-2 Plant City. Blessin had 22 strikeouts in a win over Riverview (Fla..) earlier this season.



4. (4) Curry (Jasper, Ala.), 14-0
The Bulldogs needed 11 innings to beat 6-4 Corner (Warrior), 3-0, but then blitzed West Morgan (Trinity) 8-0 and Tipton-Rosemark Academy (Millington, Tenn.), 10-1 to win the Gulf Coast Classic.

5. (5) Guyer (Denton, Texas), 19-0-1
The Wildcats routed Central (Keller), 16-0, for their 12th shutout of the season. The only non-win in 20 games is a 3-3 tie with Midland.

6. (6) Eagle (Idaho), 5-0
The Mustangs have scored 99 runs and have allowed just one in their first five games. In the first four games, they scored 20 runs each.

7. (1) Los Alamitos (Calif.), 10-1
The Griffins defeated Mission Viejo 4-1 on Thursday, then routed Eastlake 14-1 before losing to Mission Viejo, 6-1 on Saturday in the semifinals of the Best of the West Classic. Next up is 8-1 Gahr (Cerritos).

8. (11) Mission Viejo (Calif.), 9-2
The Diablos avenged both of their losses last weekend in winning the Best of the West Classic. They beat Los Alamitos 6-1 in he semifinals then routed Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 14-4 in the finals.

9. (8) Gainesville (Fla.), 14-1
Opponents are hitting just .128 against 14-1 senior Katie Chronister, who has 145 strikeouts in 89 innings and a 0.46 ERA. She also leads the team in hitting with a .442 average.



10. (9) La Grange (Texas), 21-1
The Tigers have won 21 straight since their season-opening 4-3 loss to Mansfield and 15 of those wins have seen the opposition score one run or less. And six of the last seven wins have been via shutout.

11. (14) North Fort Myers (Fla.), 15-0
North Fort Myers, which has outscored its opponents 194-5, is batting .455 led by sophomore Natavia Ellis at .595. Seven starters are batting over .400 and pitchers Mackenzie Peterson and Emma Johnson have allowed only one earned run through 15 games.

12. (NR) Salpointe Catholic (Tucson, Ariz.), 10-0
The Lancers are led by the hitting and pitching of Brianna Aguilar-Beaucage. They won the Bishop Gorman preseason tournament and have outscored their opponents 87-14.

13. (NR) Pioneer (San Jose, Calif.), 5-0
Future UCLA Bruin Holly Azevedo is on a roll with four shutouts in five games to start the season.

14. (20) McCracken County (Paducah, Ky.), 4-0
McCracken ran its win streak to 33 by winning its first four games at the Big M Classic.

15. (15) Atascocita (Humble, Texas), 18-2
The Eagles got revenge over 19-4 Kingwood, 6-0. They also defeated Summer Creek (Houston) 15-0 and Oak Ridge (Conroe) 8-3.



16. (16) Eastlake (El Paso, Texas), 19-0
The Falcons, who host Del Valle (El Paso) on Tuesday, are hitting .451 as a team with six starters hitting over .400. Sophomore Kasey Flores is the national leader in home runs with 15 and RBIs with 52. She is hitting .613.

17. (18) Deer Park (Texas), 22-2
Since losing, the Deer have won six in a row by a combined 62-8 margin.

18. (NR) North Davidson (Lexington, N.C.), 9-0
Led by Carson Pace (8-0, 79 strikeouts in 49 innings, 0.86 ERA), the Knights have outscored their opponents 70-11.

19. (17) Grand Terrace (Calif.), 5-1
Grand Terrace's only loss was 1-0 to Great Oak (Temecula).

20. (NR) Bald Knob (Ark.), 13-0
The Bulldogs had a great third week of the season, winning seven games by a combined score of 63-2. On the season, they have outscored their opponents by 104 runs (110-6). Senior Autumn Humes is off to a terrific start, hitting .514 and winning all 11 of her starts. She has allowed just 21 hits and one earned run in 61 innings with 103 strikeouts and a 0.23 ERA.

21. (24) Campbell (Ewa Beach, Hawaii), 4-0
Chardonnay Pantastico homered to lead a 10-5 win over Pearl City.



22. (22) Keystone (La Grange, Ohio), 0-0
Keystone opens the season Monday at 8-0 Whiteville (N.C.). Whiteville is hitting .503 as a team and pitchers Malorie Leviner and Ivy Hayes have allowed just 17 hits.

23. (23) Crown Point (Ind.), 0-0
Crown Point opens the season Monday at Hobart.

24. (19) Penn (Mishawaka, Ind.), 0-0
Penn opens its season March 29 at Portage (Pa.).

25. (25) Oak Park-River Forest (Oak Park, Ill.), 0-0
Oak Park-River Forest opened the season at Maine South (Oak Ridge) on Tuesday.

Dropped out: Ironwood Ridge (Ariz.), American Heritage (Fla.), Reed (Nev.), Mater Dei (Calif.).