MaxPreps top 25 national high school softball rankings

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Norco held onto the top spot in MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Softball Rankings for the 10th week in a row, but the postseason is just around the corner and nothing impacts national rankings more than the playoffs.

In the Cougars' 30-game regular season, they swept three major tournaments and captured the Big VIII Conference title at 10-0. In their 30 games, they have allowed 31 runs, while scoring 205.

But as any coach will tell you, the playoffs are a new season. Five teams from last week's Top 25 fell out and saw their season end with a playoff loss.

A year ago, Norco reached the semifinals of the California Interscholastic Federation's Southern Section D1 playoffs only to lose 1-0. No. 3 Los Alamitos and No. 24 Orange Lutheran are also in the CIF-SS D1 bracket and could meet up with Norco.



Second-ranked Pinnacle closes out its season on Monday against Hamilton in the Arizona state 6A championship game. Hamilton (29-6) is the lone team to defeat Pinnacle this season. Pinnacle has won 17 straight and Hamilton hasn't lost in its last 11 games.

The biggest mover of the week was Forney, which jumped from No. 23 to No. 12.

New to the Top 25 are Oak Park-River Forest, Orange Lutheran, Dakota, Atascocita and Deer Park.

1. (Last week 1) Norco (Calif.), 30-0
The Cougars' Taylor Dockins set the CIF-Southern Section record for career wins at 104 as Norco defeated Centennial (Corona) 5-1 and then added No. 105 with a 4-1 win over Roosevelt (Eastvale). The previous record was held by Mission Viejo's Taylor McQuillin, set in 2015.

2. (2) Pinnacle (Phoenix), 34-1
The Pioneers have won their last 17 games — including four in the state 6A tournament. They play 29-6 Hamilton on Monday in the state 6A championship game. Hamilton, winners of 11 straight, lost to Pinnacle on March 3 (9-4), but beat Pinnacle 1-0 on March 18.

3. (3) Los Alamitos (Calif.), 24-3
The Griffins closed out the regular season with their ninth-straight win, 11-2 over Fountain Valley. During their win streak, they have outscored their opponents 96-7. Their last loss was 1-0 to No. 1 Norco on April 8.



4. (5) Coral Springs Charter (Coral Springs, Fla.), 28-1
The Panthers have won 21 straight and have allowed one run in their last nine wins. They play 17-6 Walton (Defuniak Springs) on Friday in the state 5A semifinal game.

5. (6) Gahr (Cerritos, Calif.), 25-0
The Gladiators closed out the regular season with a pair of lopsided wins – 11-3 over Downey and 17-0 over Dominguez. Junior Madison Huskey is hitting .552 with 51 RBIs and 16 home runs.

6. (7) Bishop O'Connell (Arlington, Va.), 24-0
The Knights got an 18-strikeout performance from Kat Sandercock to beat St. Mary's Ryken and capture the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference title game. The junior hurler is 23-0 with a 0.11 ERA and has 287 strikeouts in 133 innings pitched.

7. (8) Oakleaf (Orange Park, Fla.), 29-2
Oakleaf plays Friday's 8A semifinal game against 21-9 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) after beating Wharton (Tampa) 8-0 for its 24th-straight victory. In five playoff games, Oakleaf has outscored foes 40-0.

8. (9) Katy (Texas), 34-3
With a sweep over Ridge Point (Missouri), the Tigers have won 18 in a row.

9. (10) Woodinville (Wash.), 18-0
The Falcons notched five straight shutout wins after downing Issaquah and Bothell.



10. (11) Hurricane (W. Va.), 31-1
Last week, Hurricane defeated 22-4 Wyoming East 7-1 and opens regional play on Monday by hosting Parkersburg.

11. (13) La Cueva (Albuquerque), 28-0
The Bears won the state 6A title and outscored opponents 345-48 on the year. At state, they whipped Carlsbad 15-6, Cleveland (Rio Rancho) 8-1, Hobbs 5-4 and Onate (Las Cruces) 5-0. Andrea Howard homered and Kendra Keahbone pitched a five-hit shutout in the title game. Six members of the Bears played on the 2012 Eastdale Little League team that won the Little League World Series and each either scored or drove in one of the Bears' five runs in the title game.

12. (23) Forney (Texas), 30-2
The Jackrabbits have won 11 straight and face 21-5 Lake Ridge (Mansfield) on Wednesday in a regional playoff game.

13. (14) Bentonville (Ark.), 28-1
The Tigers have won 13 in row and face 21-6-1 North Little Rock in Saturday's 7A state championship game.

14. (15) Westminster Christian (Huntsville, Ala.), 48-2-1
The Wildcats have won 20 straight, including seven in the postseason. Westminster opens state 4A tournament play Friday against 26-8 Satsuma. Senior pitcher Annie Willis is 40-1 with a national-leading 490 strikeouts.

15. (16) Penn (Mishawaka, Ind.), 21-1
Since losing 1-0 to once-beaten Oak Park-River Forest (Oak Park, Ill.), Penn has won four in a row by a 48-6 margin. Senior Danielle Watson allowed six hits and struck out 27 in three wins last week. The regular season concludes Friday.



16. (17) Leonardtown (Md.),19-0
The Raiders have been scored upon six times and have recorded 14 shutouts. The second round of the state 4A tournament begins Monday.

17. (18) Donovan Catholic (Toms River, N.J.), 22-0
Donovan Catholic won a 2-1 battle over state power Middleton North last Friday to close out the regular season.

18. (19) Cape Fear (Fayetteville, N.C.), 24-0
The Colts opened state 4A tournament play with 10-0 and 8-0 wins. Freshman pitcher Mackenzie Peters is 17-0 with a 1.40 ERA.

19. (20) Moniteau (West Sunbury, Pa.), 17-0
Moniteau is outpacing its foes 214-10 and has won its last seven games by shutouts. Seniors Gabby Stewart and Cortney Claypoole are batting .610 and .623, respectively, and have combined for 71 RBIs and 67 runs scored.

20. (NR) Atascocita (Humble, Texas), 28-2
The Eagles have won 13 in a row and take on No. 8 Katy in the Saturday's regional semifinals. Senior Tierrah Williams has been a one-player wrecking crew this season with a 22-2 pitching, and a dozen homers, 46 RBIs and a .571 average offensively.

21. (12) Crown Point (Ind.), 22-1
Since losing, Crown Point has won nine straight. Senior Alexis Holloway has 181 strikeouts and a 0.27 ERA in 104 innings.



22. (NR) Dakota (Macomb, Mich.), 17-1
Winners of 12 straight and led by pitching of Kendahl Dunford and hitting of Julia Salsibury, Dakota is seeking a repeat 4A state title.

23. (NR) Oak Park-River Forest (Oak Park, Ill.), 26-1
Oak Park has been on a tear since losing, reeling off six wins by a combined margin of 63-8.

24. (NR) Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.), 25-4
Maddy Dwyer pitched and hit (3-for-3) the Lancers to the Trinity League title with a 5-1 win over 21-7 Mater Dei (Santa Ana). The Lancers closed out the regular season with nine-straight wins.

25. (NR) Deer Park (Texas), 34-5
Deer Park has won 24 of its last 25, including taking two, 4-3 and 4-2, from pitching-strong Kingwood last week.

Dropped out: Hendrickson (Texas), Eastlake (El Paso, Tex.), Johnson (San Antonio), North Augusta (S.C.), and Lakewood Ranch (Bradenton, Fla.).