MaxPreps Top 25 national high school softball rankings

Video: Home run knocks fan out of seat
The fan catches this bomb, but pays the price with a flip out of his chair.

With four teams in the Top 10 and six teams in the MaxPreps Xcellent Top 25 national softball rankings, Texas can lay claim to national dominance on the diamond.

Johnson (San Antonio) remains No. 1, while previous No. 1 Canyon (New Braunfels), Katy and Keller all are in the Top 10. The Lone Star State's other entries in the Xcellent 25 include Angleton at No. 14 and unbeaten Mansfield (24-0) at No. 16.

New the Top 10 this week is 15-0 East Carter (Grayson, Ky.).

While the Texans have been heating up, look for the Top 25 to change rapidly in weeks to come with regular seasons ending and playoffs making headlines. Five of the six Top 25 Texas teams are headed for showdowns.



Seven teams fell from the last week's rankings, opening the door for a pair of previously ranked teams and five newcomers to crash the Top 25.

1. (Last week 1) Johnson (San Antonio), 25-0
Johnson concludes the regular season on Tuesday against 12-10 Madison (San Antonio). Johnson had its hands full with Incarnate Wood last Friday, rallying from 5-2 deficit to win 7-5.

2. (4) Canyon (New Braunfels, Texas), 19-1
The Cougars have won six straight since their 1-0 loss to Judson (Converse).

3. (5) Los Alamitos (Calif.), 18-1
Since their 3-2 loss, the Griffins have won five in a row and 31 of their last 32 games.
Danielle Lew homered and Sarah Ladd struck out 18 in a 7-6, 11-inning win over Marina.

4. (6) Hurricane (W. Va.), 12-0
In a showdown of unbeaten West Virginia teams, Hurricane came out on top, 7-1, as Harlie Vannatter gave up three hits, no unearned runs and struck out 13. The Indians then routed Huntington 11-1 as Taylor McCray hit a grand slam after an intentional walk to teammate Caiti Mathes.

5. (7) Keller (Texas), 25-1-1
During the Indians' 17-game win streak, they've outscored their opponents 197-23, with four of the last six being shutouts. They are averaging 10 runs per game this season.

6. (8) Katy (Texas), 27-1-1
The last three wins have been by a combined 42-1 margin.



7. (9) Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.), 20-2
Eight players scored with Sarah Taylor and Tayler Holcroft each homering in 11-0 win over Bishop Amat (La Puente). In 14-0 win over JSerra, sophomore Taryn Lennon pitched a two-hitter and collected four hits of her own.

8. (10) Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.), 25-1
Since their 5-1 loss to 13-3 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) four weeks ago, the Huskies have won 18 in a row, including eight by shutout. Senior Abigail Andersen (Arizona State signee) is 14-0 with a 1.30 ERA. Freshman Loganne Stepp is 8-0 with a 0.47 ERA and is averaging two strikeouts per inning. Junior Macy Simmons (Arizona State pledge) is batting .580 with a dozen homers and 51 RBIs.

9. (3) Marist (Chicago), 7-1
The Redhawks bounced back from a 1-0 no-hit loss to 4-1 Lincoln Way East (Frankfurt) with a 4-0 win over York (Elmhurst) as Angela Zedak threw a two-hitter and struck out seven. Kelly Walinski and Alexis Voss each homered.

10. (11) East Carter (Grayson, Ky.), 15-0
The Raiders won the Tri-State Showcase, beating Butler (Louisville) 2-0 in the finals. They also recorded shutouts against Woodford County (Versailles) and Rowan County (Morehead), and have 11 shutout wins this season.

11. (12) Neshoba Central (Philadelphia, Miss.), 24-0
The Rockets went 4-0 last week and will close out the regular season this week against 17-4 Newton County (Decatur) and Philadelphia, a team junior Aspen Wesley no hit and struck out 16 in a 5-0 win last month.

12. (13) Barrington (Ill.), 9-0
The Fillies beat up on Hersey (Arlington Heights) and Elk Grove (Elk Grove Village) before taking a back seat to Mother Nature.

13. (14) Jackson (Mill Creek, Wash.), 11-0
Jackson beat previously unbeaten Lake Stevens 2-1 in nine innings and then routed Mount Vernon 20-1. Junior Ice Pennington pitched 11 innings, struck out 24 and also drove in seven runs in the two games.

14. (16) Angleton (Texas), 28-1
The 26-game win streak includes 11 shutouts. As a team, the Wildcats are batting .460. Junior Aaliyah Garcia is 15-1 with a 0.42 ERA and 131 strikeouts in 83 innings. The last time they scored less than 10 runs in a game was March 27.

15. (23) Oakleaf (Orange Park, Fla.), 20-2
Oakleaf has won 12 in a row, but struggled last week in 4-3 and 8-5 wins over 14-6 West Nassau (Callahan) and 14-8 Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville).

16. (NR) Mansfield (Texas), 24-0
Led by seniors Paxton Scheurer (UNLV signee) and Medina Barakat, and juniors Reagan Hukill (Texas at Arlington commit), Haley Morse (Texas A&M Corpus Christi pledge) and Thomas University commit Kennedy Hardy, Mansfield has 17 shutouts. Morse is hitting .567, Hardy .517, Scheuer (47 RBIs, 15-0, 0.15 ERA), Barakat (.503) and Hukill .493. Mansfield closes the regular season on Tuesday.

17. (21) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego), 14-3
Hitting only .270 as a team, Cathedral has won seven in a row as Megan Faraimo (UCLA signee) has allowed 24 hits and four earned runs in 103 innings. She has a 0.27 ERA, has walked only three and recorded 208 strikeouts. She also leads the team with 15 RBIs.

18. (25) Norco (Calif.), 17-2
The Cougars are led by junior catcher Kinzie Hansen, who is hitting .600.



19. (NR) Freedom (Oakley, Calif.), 9-0
Vanessa Strong (Southern Utah signee) and Mackenzie Nelson (Sonoma State signee) lead the Falcons, who have outscored their opponents 75-13.

20. (NR) Fort Myers (Fla.), 21-2
The Green Wave are led by junior Vivian Ponn (13 homers, 42 RBIs, 6-1 pitching record) and senior Hannah Perkins (15-1, 0.99 ERA and 165 strikeouts in 91 innings). Perkins has three no-hitters and eight shutouts this season.

21. (NR) Center Grove (Greenwood, Ind.), 9-0
Senior Jordyn Rudd (five homers, 15 RBIs) and junior Abby Herbst (5-0, 0.39 ERA) lead the Trojans. Rudd has signed with Northwestern and Herbst has committed to Wisconsin.

22. (24) Eagle (Idaho), 16-0-1
Gabi Peters is batting .569 and has hit seven homers and fellow junior Noelle Foster is hitting .556 with 33 RBIs to lead Eagle. Junior Siera Horton is 10-0 with a 0.67 ERA. The only blemish on the Mustangs record is a 10-10 tie with 12-0-1 Toolle (UT). They face 14-1 Rocky Mountain (Meridian) on Wednesday.

23. (NR) Cibola (Yuma, Ariz.), 27-1
Since losing to 23-3 Arcadia (Phoenix), the Raiders have scored 152 runs and allowed just 17 in 12 straight victories. Freshman Madison Mathews is batting .417 with 38 RBIs and nine homers. Four freshmen are batting over .400.

24. (NR) Byrnes (Duncan, S.C.), 21-1
Since losing, Byrnes has won 15 in a row.



25. (NR) Madison (Vienna, Va.), 10-0
Senior Alex Echazarreta (Purdue signee) has eight wins, 85 strikeouts in 45 innings and is hitting .500 with 11 RBIs. The Gierys — Nicole Giery and Kristin Giery — have combined for 21 RBIs and 28 base hits. On Saturday, Madison beat previously ranked Bishop O'Connell (Arlington), 3-2.

Dropped out: O'Connor (Phoenix), Foothill (Pleasanton, Calif.), North Davidson (Lexington, N.C.), Bishop O'Connell (Arlington, Va.), Gardendale (Ala.), Chiles (Tallahassee, Fla.) and Siegel (Murfreesboro, Tenn.).