The first Texas 5A state championship for The Woodlands High School also resulted in a first mythical championship for the Highlander softball team as it finishes the year ranked No. 1 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 50 National Softball Rankings.
While several states have yet to finish their season, no team looms on the horizon with the credentials to overtake the Highlanders, who lost just once in 45 games this season. In fact, no team among the top 15 in the rankings are still active. Hudsonville (Mich.), at No. 17, is the highest ranked team still playing in the postseason.
Alexander Central (Taylorsville, N.C.) had a chance to overtake the Highlanders if it could win the North Carolina state championship and have The Woodlands lose in the Texas 5A state final. However Alexander Central lost to North Davidson (Lexington, N.C.) in the first championship game before rallying to win the second championship game and collect the title.
MAXPREPS XCELLENT 50 NATIONAL SOFTBALL RANKINGS1. (last week 1) The Woodlands (Texas), 44-1The Highlanders finish the year with their first Texas 5A state championship and a No. 1 overall national ranking by MaxPreps. The Woodlands topped Northside O'Connor (San Antonio) 7-5 in the championship game behind tournament MVP
Paige McDuffee, who struck out six in the final.
Faith Bohack added a home run. The Woodlands also defeated defending champion Pearland 6-0 in the semifinals.
2. (2) Gulliver Prep (Miami), 30-2Florida 3A state champions. Season over.
Chelsea Wilkinson,
Alexander Central
Photo by Fabian Radulescu
The Cougars advanced to the Class 4A championship game with wins over North Davidson, 6-2, and Holly Springs, 3-2 in nine innings. North Davidson came back to beat Alexander Central 2-1 in the championship series, but Alexander Central won the elimination game 3-2 to claim the 4A title.
Stepanie Krider had a pair of doubles and scored the winning run in the seventh for the Cougars in the 3-2 victory.
4. (5) Canyon del Oro (Tucson, Ariz.), 34-1Arizona Class 4A Division I state champions. Season over.
5. (6) Northern (Owings, Md.), 22-0Maryland 3A state champions. Season over.
6. (7) Niceville (Fla.), 26-4Florida 5A state champions. Season over.
7. (42) O'Connor (Helotes, Texas), 34-5Defeated Plano 3-2 in the Texas 5A state semifinals before falling to The Woodlands 7-5 in the state finals.
8. (3) Plano (Texas), 39-5The Wildcats lost to Northside O'Connor (San Antonio) 3-2 in the Texas 5A state semifinals.
9. (8) Bartow (Fla.), 28-2Season over.
10. (9) East Lake (Tarpon Springs, Fla.), 28-1Season over.
11. (10) American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.), 23-1Season over.
12. (12) Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.), 29-5Florida 6A state champions. Season over.
13. (23) Santiago
(Corona, Calif.), 28-5The Sharks defeated Canyon (Anaheim) 4-1 to
capture the California Southern Section Division I championship.
Lauren
Sweet hit a grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the seventh
to lift the Sharks to the come-from-behind win over the Comanches.
14. (13) San Benito (Hollister, Calif.), 29-1California Central Coast Section Division I champions. Season over.
15. (14) Eau Gallie (Melbourne, Fla.), 27-5Florida 4A state champions. Season over.
16. (15) Deer Valley (Glendale, Ariz.), 30-6Arizona Class 5A Division II state champions. Season over.
17. (20) Hudsonville (Mich.), 37-2Hudsonville avenged a loss from earlier this season by defeating Grandville 13-5 in a Division I district final in Michigan. The Eagles advance to play Rockford in the state regional semifinals next week.
18. (11) North Davidson (Lexington, N.C.), 30-3The Black Knights lost in the semifinals to Alexander Central 6-2, but fought back to force a championship elimination game with a 3-2 win over Clayton, a 4-0 win over Holly Springs and a 2-1 win over Alexander Central. North Davidson, the defending state champions, lost to Alexander Central in the second championship game 3-2.
19. (16) Sarasota (Fla.), 27-3Season over.
20. (17) Piedra Vista (Farmington, N.M.), 26-5New Mexico 4A state champions. Season over.
21. (19) Tomball (Texas), 34-6Season over.
22. (26) Carmel (Ind.), 27-2The Greyhounds advanced to the state championship game against Avon, slated for June 11, by beating McCutcheon 1-0, Huntington North 8-0 and Lake Central 2-0.
Katie Osborn threw a one-hitter with 14 strikeouts in the win over Lake Central.
23. (33) Pequannock (Pompton Plains, N.J.), 26-0-1Defeated Ramsey 8-2 to reach win the Section 1, Group 2 tournament. Played Caldwell on Tuesday in the state semifinals and won 7-0 to advance to the state finals against Robbinsville on June 11.
24. (34) Cicero-North Syracuse (Cicero, N.Y.), 23-0The Northstars finished undefeated at the sectional level for the first time in coach Kerry Bennett's 29-year tenure as coach, defeating West Genesee 7-0 in the Section III Class AA title game. The Northstars advanced in the AA state playoffs with a 4-1 win over Bethlehem on Tuesday.
25. (36) Lee-Davis (Mechanicsville, Va.), 24-1The Confederates won the Virginia AAA Central Region championship 6-0 over Matoaca on a perfect game by pitcher
Kelly Heinz. Lee-Davis then defeated Halifax County 3-0 in the first round of the Group AAA state playoffs on a one-hitter by Heinz, who also had 12 strikeouts.
The Next 2526. (45) Battlefield (Haymarket, Va.), 24-1The Bobcats advanced to the state tournament for the fourth straight season with a 3-0 win over Halifax in the Virginia AAA Northwest Region finals. Battlefield won its first-round game over Matoaca 1-0 on a home run by
Kimmy Brady.
27. (NR) Poland Seminary (Ohio), 24-2Defeated Keystone (La Grange) 4-2 for the Ohio Division II championship.
Erin Gabriel had 10 strikeouts in the win.
28. (27) Dothan (Ala.), 59-7-1Alabama 6A state champions. Season over.
29. (28) Newton County (Decatur, Miss.), 34-2Mississippi 4A state champions. Season over.
30. (29) Hahnville (Boutte, La.), 31-3Louisiana 5A state champions. Season over.
31. (30) Mann (Greenville, S.C.), 29-5South Carolina 4A state champions. Season over.
32. (31) Frontier (Bakersfield, Calif.), 35-3California Central Section Division II champion. Season over.
33 (32) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.), 28-3California Central Section Division II champion. Season over.
34. (35) Walla Walla (Wash.), 27-1Washington 4A state champion. Season over.
35. (NR) Hoover (North Canton, Ohio), 30-3Defeated Gahanna Lincoln 4-2 for the Ohio Division I state championship. The title is the third for the Vikings since 2006.
36. (NR) North (St. Charles, Ill.), 31-3Advanced to the Class 4A state semifinals with a 12-4 win over DeKalb. Also defeated Elk Grove (Elk Grove Village) in the section finals 3-1.
37. (37) Red Mountain (Mesa, Ariz.), 31-8Arizona Class 5A Division I state champions. Season over.
38. (18) Keystone (La Grange, Ohio), 30-2Keystone fell to Poland Seminary 4-0 in the Ohio Division II state championship game.
39. (NR) Santa Fe (Texas), 37-6Defeated Forney 10-3 thanks to
Ciara Sunseri's bases-loaded double during a seven-run fifth inning. Also knocked off Dripping Springs 3-2 in the semifinals.
40. (24) Dripping Springs (Texas), 32-3The Lady Tigers fell to Santa Fe, 3-2, in the Texas 4A state semifinals.
41. (38) East Ridge (Clermont, Fla.), 28-3Season over.
42. (39) Beech (Hendersonville, Tenn.), 42-11-2Tennessee AAA state champion. Season over.
43. (40) Soddy Daisy (Tenn.), 41-9Season over.
44. (41) Riverdale (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), 47-5Season over.
45. (43) Urbana (Ijamsville, Md.), 21-0Maryland 4A state champion. Season over.
46. (44) Chesapeake (Pasadena, Md.), 23-1Season over.
47. (49) Bryant (Ark.), 25-5Arkansas 7A state champions. Season over.
48. (50) Jordan (Morris, Ala.), 33-7Alabama 5A state champions. Season over.|
49. (NR) Canyon (Anaheim, Calif.), 23-8Lost to Santiago (Corona) 4-1 in the California Southern Section Division I championship game.
50. (25) Los Alamitos (Calif.), 27-4-1The Griffins lost to Canyon (Anaheim) 13-5 in the Southern Section Division I semifinals.
Dropped Out: No. 21 Conant (Hoffman Estates, Ill.); No. 22 Elk Grove (Ill.); No. 46 Lakota West (West Chester, Ohio); No. 47 Pearland (Texas); No. 48 Lakota East (Liberty Township, Ohio).
