No. 1 Northern continued to roll, running its record to 18-0 with three straight wins last week.
Photo by Israel Carunungan
There was no change from last week among the top seven teams in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 rankings. And the top three, in particular, continue to create a lot of headlines with their impressive play.
No. 1 Northern (Owings, Md.) won three times since its
victorious showdown with then No. 2 Bishop O'Connell (Arlington, Va.), as junior Jess Cummings allowed just two hits in the three games. But the big news was that in an 11 strikeout, no-hit performance by Cummings against La Plata (Md.), the Patriots allowed an unearned run in the seventh inning. That marked the first time an opponent had scored against Northern in 18 games this season.
Northern, which has outscored its opponents 149-1, has won 71 straight games overall. Seventeen of the Patriots' 18 wins this season have been shutouts.
No. 2 Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) ran its win streak to 39 with a pair of shutout wins as junior Desiree Severance improved her pitching record to 21-0. Junior outfielder Jazmyn Jackson leads Mitty in all but one offensive category — .553 average, 14 stolen bases, 37 runs, 26 RBIs, nine doubles, six homers. In Mitty's last five games, Jackson has scored a dozen runs, driven in 10 and is 11-for-17 at the plate.
No. 3 Lake City (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) is hitting .507 as a team and is hitting with power as Casey Stangel has 12 home runs and Lindsey Willmon 14 on the season. Combined, they have driven in 117 (Stangel 59, Willmon 58). Vanessa Shippy, who is batting .787 this season, has 16 base hits in 17 at bats over her last five games. She has scored 60 runs and has 50 steals in 50 attempts. Stangel is 22-0 on the season and averages 15 strikeouts for every 10 innings pitched.
No. 4 Mission Viejo (Calif.) ran its win streak to 21 games with a Monday victory over San Clemente, and John Curtis (River Ridge, La.) remained No. 5 after completing its season as Louisiana AA state champs a week ago.
El Diamante (Visalia, Calif.) and Barbers Hill (Mt. Belvieu, Texas) held on at No. 6 and No. 7, but No. 8 Hagerty (Oviedo, Fla.) lost in the second round of state playoffs and dropped from the Top 25, as did No. 10 Niceville (Fla.).
New to the Top 25 this week are Hoover (North Canton, Ohio) at No. 12, Vintage (Napa, Calif.) at No. 22, Las Cruces (N.M.) at No. 23 and Boiling Springs (Spartansburg, S.C.) at No. 24.
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Softball Rankings
1. (1 last week) Northern (Owings, Md.), 18-0 Since defeating previous No. 2 Bishop O'Connell (Arlington, Va.), Northern has won three games, including a no-hit 7-1 win over La Plata (Md.). It was the seventh no-hitter of the season for
Jess Cummings, who has allowed just 12 hits in 108 innings. Sixteen of the Patriots' 17 wins have been shutouts. Cummings is 16-0 and has 15 shutouts to go along with 238 strikeouts in 102 innings. The Patriots host Chopticon (Morganza, Md.) on Tuesday.
2. (2) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.), 25-0
Jazmyn Jackson, Archbishop Mitty
Photo by Scott Dinn
The Monarchs stretched their winning streak to 39 by beating St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.), 10-0, and St. Ignatius (San Francisco), 5-0, as
Desiree Severance pushed her shutout total to eight on the season in winning her 21st game.
Jazmyn Jackson homered and drove in three runs against St. Francis and
Madeleine Kim homered against St. Ignatius. The Monarchs play Tuesday in the first round of league playoffs.
3. (3) Lake City (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho), 22-0On May 2, the Timberwolves routed Post Falls 17-1 as
Casey Stangel and
Vanessa Shippy each went 4-for-4 (Stangel homered and hit three doubles).
Dakota Wilson also had four hits and Stangel struck out 11 in four innings. On May 3, Stangel hit three home runs and
Lindsey Willmon hit four out of the park as the T-Wolves took 19-1 and 16-0 wins over Post Falls. Stangel, who is 22-0 on the season, has 12 homers and Willmon has 14. Shippy went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and scored three runs in a 16-0 win over Sandpoint. Lake City opens playoffs against Post Falls today.
4. (4) Mission Viejo (Calif.), 25-1The Red and Gold beat San Clemente on Monday, 8-3, and won a pair of games last week — over Tesoro (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) and Dana Hills (Dana Point, Calif.) to run their win streak to 21 games. Opponents have scored only 36 runs this season.
*5. (5) Curtis (River Ridge, La.), 32-1Curtis won the Louisiana 2A state title and has won 64 of its last 65 games.
6. (6) El Diamante (Visalia, Calif.) 26-1-1Sierra Hyland continues to do it all — on the mound and in the batter's box — as the Miners' win streak grows to 17. In a 19-0 win over Mt. Whitney (Visalia), Hyland pitched a no-hitter, homered and drove in five runs.
Rylee Pierce also drove in five and homered, her 14th of the season. In a 12-0 win over Hanford, Pierce had four hits and Hyland pitched a one-hitter. The Miners had a tougher time against Redwood (Visalia), winning 5-4 by scoring two in the 7th. They needed 13 innings and a pair of runs in the bottom of the 13th to beat Lemoore, 3-2, as Hyland struck out 17. El Diamante is at Hanford West (Calif.) on Wednesday.
7. (7) Barbers Hill (Mt. Belvieu, Texas), 33-1Beat Brenham to advance to round three of state playoffs. The Eagles have won 17 straight. They play Elgin Friday night in the Regional Quarterfinals.
8. (9) North Medford (Ore.), 21-1North Medford has won 16 in a row with three run-rule victories last week— 13-1 over Phoenix as
Alexis Barkwell pitched a two-hitter and homered, and 19-0 and 15-5 wins over rival South Medford.
Maryssa Becker was her usual dominating self, allowing only one hit in the opener, but it was 36 base hits that overwhelmed South Medford. Play Eagle Point on Saturday.
9. (13) North Johnston (Kenly, N.C.), 21-0 The Panthers have won all 21 games this season by a 251-6 margin and have won their last 15 by shutouts. The most recent wins were 12-0 over Warren County (Warrenton, N.C.) as
Caroline Turner,
Kaylynn Batten and
Taylor Adams homered.
Meredith Johnson homered in a 10-0 win over Corinth Holders (Wendell, N.C.) as
Lauren Batten pitched a three-hitter and struck out 11. The first round of state playoffs begins on Friday.
10. (11) Pearland (Texas), 35-2The Oilers took two from League City (Clear Falls), 5-1 and 3-2 (in eight innings) as
Samantha Show struck out 16 in one game and 17 in the other to give her 325 on the season to go along with a 29-1 record. They advance to round three of the playoffs on Friday.
Taylor Nowlin, Sunrise Mountain
Photo by Mark Jones
The Mustangs ran their win streak to 28 with a 1-0 win over Salpointe Catholic (Tucson) on Monday to move to the Arizona Division II State semifinals against 23-7 Greenway.
Taylor Nowlin pitched a four-hitter for the win. Prior to Monday's win, the Mustangs recorded a 5-1 win over Casa Grande on Tuesday. They beat 26-5 Verrado (Buckeye, Ariz.) 6-0 on a three-hit, 12 strikeout effort from Nowlin, who also hit a two-run homer, as did
Michala Erickson.
12. (NR) Hoover (North Canton, Ohio), 21-0Led by infielder
Jenna Lilley and pitchers
Caly Russo and
Tara Thacker, the Vikings are seeking their third-straight state title and seventh overall.
13. (14) Bishop O'Connell (Arlington, Va.), 24-1 O'Connell had another busy week winning five games 1-0, 8-0, 16-1, 10-0 and 13-3.
Tori Finucane recorded double-digit strikeouts in each game she pitched, including 18 in a 1-0 win over Oakton (Vienna, Va.) and 16 in 8-0 win over Bishop. She and
Jillian Ferraro had three hits each and
Mary Burk drove in four runs. Finucane struck out 11 and had four RBIs in the 16-1 win over Seton (Blandensburg, Md. )and in the 10-0 win over Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.), Finicune threw a perfect game and struck out 12. She also had three hits and drove in two. Burk doubled and tripled and drove in three. Bishop has outscored foes 287-15. The league championship tournament begins Tuesday.
14. (15) Alexander Central (Taylorsville, N.C.), 25-1The Cougars trailed 3-0, but scored three in the bottom of the seventh and then one in the ninth to beat Foard, 4-3. They also beat Enka (N.C.), 14-3 and St. Stephens (Hickory, N.C.), 7-1, to run their win streak to 24. The Cougars, who have won 86 of their last 90 games, host North Mecklenburg (Huntersville, N.C.) on Wednesday.
15. (16) Woodinville (Wash.), 16-1The Falcons beat Inglemoor (Kenmore, Wash.), 6-2, as
Madi Schreyer struck out 12 and
Kathryn Hatlen doubled in two runs. They also beat Ballard (Seattle), 4-0, as Schreyer struck out 13 in a two-hitter. The Falcons host Redmond (Wash.) on Tuesday.
16. (17) Cy-Fair (Cypress, Texas), 33-2The Bobcats routed Memorial (Houston) 10-0 and 13-3 in the second round of playoffs, to run their win streak to 15 games.
Mariah Gibson, who pitched a one-hitter in the first game, picked up the win in game two as well as
Jordan Rains doubled and homered. Gibson is 28-1 this season. They advance to Regional quarterfinals on Friday.
17. (18) Logan (Union City, Calif.),19-1The Colts beat Kennedy (Fremont, Calif.), 12-1, as
Tayler Peters homered twice, then beat Moreau Catholic (Hayward, Calif.) 8-1 as Peters and
Caley Bonansea had three hits each. The Colts host Newark Memorial (Calif.) on Tuesday.
18. (19) Immaculate Heart Academy (Washington Township, N.J.), 17-1The Eagles have recorded five straight shutouts since losing 1-0. Junior
Steph Thomas pitched four of the shutouts to lower her ERA to 0.51. In Monday's 11-0 win over Kennedy,
Rachel Pollard struck out nine and recorded a no-hitter while ten of her teammates had a base hit and nine drove in a run. Supplying the hitting have been
Giuliana Coccia,
Ally Vergona and
Daniella Ibarra. The Eagles visit Hackensack (N.J.) on Tuesday.
19. (20) Connell (Wash.), 18-0On Saturday,
Ashley Thompson struck out 15 in pitching a one-hitter. The victim this time: previously unbeaten (19-0) Cascade (Leavenworth, Wash.). On Tuesday, Connell swept Columbia (Burbank, Wash.) as Thompson tossed her 10th no-hitter of the season in the opener, striking out 11, and allowed a single hit in the nightcap — just the 12th hit she has allowed all year.
Savannah Egbert drove in three runs in each game and Thompson homered in each game. The Eagles play a doubleheader at River View (Kennewick, Wash.) on Tuesday.
20. (23) Amador Valley (Pleasanton, Calif.), 18-2
Johanna Grauer, Amador Valley
Photo by Ernie Abrea
The Dons recorded a 6-0 win over Carondelet (Concord, Calif.) and 10-0 over Granada (Livermore, Calif.) last week. They have outscored their opponents 103-7 with 14 shutouts coming from junior
Johanna Grauer. The Dons host Monte Vista (Danville, Calif.) on Tuesday.
21. (24) Greenwood (Bowling Green, Ky.), 27-0 The Gators, who have a 268-11 scoring advantage over their opponents, beat Bullitt East (Mt. Washington), 12-1, then shut out Franklin-Simpson (Franklin, Ky.) 10-0 and routed Bowling Green rival Warren Central, 18-0 and 26-0. They made it a perfect week by beating Warren East (Bowling Green), 10-0. With eight regular season games remaining, catcher
Aeron Smith set a school record with 52 RBIs. They play Butler County (Morgantown, Ky.) on Tuesday.
22. (NR) Vintage (Napa, Calif.), 27-0Last week, the Crushers beat Rodriguez (Fairfield) 5-1, Armijo (Fairfield) 12-0 and Napa, 5-3. The Crushers have outscored foes 202-39 and pitcher
Emily Oestreich is 26-0 with 256 strikeouts in 161 innings. Vintage opens the playoffs on May 18.
23. (NR) Las Cruces (N.M.) 25-1The Bulldawgs have won 21 straight since losing to Piedra Vista 8-2. Their bats were big last week in winning four games by a 54-18 margin. Las Cruces opens 4A State Tournament play on Friday against Atrisco Heritage (Albuquerque).
24. (NR) Boiling Springs (Spartanburg, S.C.), 30-1 Katie Jacoby homered twice to lead Boiling Springs to a 10-0 win over Clover to move to the finals of the AAAA Upper State softball playoffs for the fourth straight season. It was their 27th straight win, 15 by shutout. The Bulldogs' only loss this season was 7-6 to Byrnes (S.C.) on March 13.
25. (24) Coronado (Lubbock, Texas), 34-3Carroll (Southlake, Texas) beat the Mustangs, 2-1, in the first of their three-game series, but Coronado bounced back to win the series with 4-1 and 2-0 wins to advance to regional quarterfinals on Friday.
Monique Garcia pitched all three games for the Mustangs, striking out 30. By winning, the Mustangs advanced to the Regional Quarterfinals on Friday.
Dropped out: No. 8 Hagerty (Oviedo, Fla.), No. 10 Niceville (Fla.), No. 21 Mountain Ridge (Glendale, Ariz.) and No. 22 La Grange (Texas).
*Season over
