Video: Bishop Carroll (KS) highlights
See last year's national champions in action.Mother Nature might not be a softball fan.
For the second-straight week, rain forced a premature ending to a major softball tournament that featured several highly ranked teams. The latest rainout was the final day of the Michelle Carew Classic in Anaheim Hills, Calif., where a third rematch between No. 2 Los Alamitos and No. 5 Mission Viejo was rained out. Four other ranked teams were also in the tournament.
As a result, this week's MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Softball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard sees no changes in its Top 10 with unbeaten San Benito remaining No. 1.
The game featuring Orange County powers Los Alamitos and Mission Viejo, both ranked No. 1 previously this season, was called after two innings with Mission Viejo leading 5-1. The two teams have agreed to conclude the game at a later date this season.
Less than two weeks ago, rains washed out the final day of the Kissimmee Klassic in Florida that featured four teams ranked in the Top 25 and saw then No. 1 Oakleaf fall.
New to the Top 25 this week are unbeatens Sherwood (Sandy, Md.), Robinson (Tex.), Jackson (Mill Creek, Wash.) and defending National champion Bishop Carroll (Wichita, Kan.), which hasn't lost since 2013.
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Softball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard
Bradie Fillmore and No. 3 Eagle have obliterated every team thus far this season.
Photo by Julian Jenkins
The Greyhounds enjoyed their first week at the top of the poll by blanking Harlingen, 10-0, and Los Fresnos, 15-0.
2. (2) Los Alamitos (Calif.), 14-1The Griffins returned from spring break and won two games in the rain-shortened Carew Classic.
3. (3) Eagle (Idaho), 15-0The Mustangs continue roll, winning 10-0, 5-0 and 21-0. They have outscored their opponents 213-4 and have a dozen run-rule wins.
4. (4) Etiwanda (Calif.), 19-1 The Eagles got base hits from eight different players, but committed six errors and lost 6-5 to 10-2 Norco. They rebounded with a doubleheader sweep over Serrano (Phelan), 16-4 and 17-3, as
Megan Stevens hit three homers in the first game and two in the second to give her 11 on the season.
5. (5) Mission Viejo (Calif.), 12-2The Diablos played in the Michelle Carew Classic Wednesday through Saturday. The two losses have been against No. 2 Los Alamitos and 15-2 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) and both have been avenged.
6. (6) La Grange (Texas), 26-1The Tigers ran their win streak to 26 with wins over Caldwell, 11-1, and Giddings, 3-1.
7. (7) Reed (Sparks, Nev.), 16-0The Raiders beat Galena (Reno), 3-0, and swept Douglas (Minden), 4-1 and 14-4.
8. (8) Deer Park (Texas), 28-2Shutout wins over Memorial (Port Arthur) and Westbrook (Beaumont) give the Deer a 12-game win streak.
9. (9) Downers Grove South (Ill.), 7-0The Mustangs are getting excellent pitching from
Caroline Hedgcock and
Payton Buresch.
10. (10) Eastlake (El Paso, Texas), 25-0The Falcons routed Horizon (El Paso), 30-0, and needed eight innings to beat Bel Air (El Paso), 7-3. They have scored 356 runs and are hitting .455 as a team.
11. (11) West Ranch (Valencia, Calif.), 11-0The Wildcats beat Thousand Oaks, 7-1, in a rain-shortened week.
12. (12) Viera (Fla.), 22-1The Hawks have 21 straight wins.
13. (13) Campbell (Ewa Beach, Hawaii), 8-0The Sabers recorded their third shutout in their last four games.
14. (14) Bald Knob (Ark.), 21-0The Bulldogs picked up five wins last week to run their win streak to 41 straight over two seasons. Three wins were via shutout, but the 5-4 win over Rose Bud went eight innings.
15. (15) Grand Terrace (Calif.), 9-1Grand Terrace has won seven straight with the last four coming via shutout.
16. (16) Union County (Union, S.C.), 10-0The Yellowjackets return from spring break on Tuesday at Broome (Spartanburg).
17. (17) Canyon del Oro (Tucson, Ariz.), 21-1-1The Dorados relied on their bats to win three games at the Carew Classic before the rain ended the tournament early. They have won nine in a row.
18. (NR) Bishop Carroll (Wichita, Kan.), 8-0The defending national champion Golden Eagles have picked up where they left off last season with good pitching, good defense and great offense. They have scored 152 runs and allowed just five while recording five shutouts. Carroll hasn't lost a game since 2010.
19. (19) Gainesville (Fla.), 21-2In running its win streak to 12, Gainesville picked up a pair of wins (2-1 over Lake Region and 5-0 over Bishop Verot) in the Kissimmee Klassic before losing to Downers Grove South (Ill.), 4-3.
20. (20) Cibola (Yuma, Ariz.), 26-1 The Raiders ran their win streak to 17 with a lopsided victory over Kofa (Yuma), as
Madison Sierra pitched a complete game victory, homered and drove in six runs.
21. (NR) Robinson (Texas), 25-0The Rockets have a dozen shutouts and on 10 other occasions have limited their opponents to no more than two runs. They have allowed 30 total runs and are averaging better than 11 per game.
22. (NR) Jackson (Mill Creek, Wash.), 10-0 Sophie Frost struck out 19 in 9-1 win over Mount Vernon The T-Wolves have outscored their opponents, 110-14.
23. (23) Crown Point (Ind.), 2-0Miranda Elish and
Alexis Holloway have combined to average two strikeouts per inning.
24. (NR) Sherwood (Sandy Spring, Md.), 4-0Sherwood's winning streak reached 87 with wins over Northwest, 10-7, and Churchill, 19-0.
25. (25) West Orange (Winter Garden, Fla.), 23-1Junior
Lauren Mathis is 17-1 with an 0.08 ERA (one earned run) and 181 strikeouts in 89 innings.
Lexie Blair has driven in 34 runs with her .559 batting average. The Warriors' only loss was 1-0 to 16-2 American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) and that was 17 games ago.
Dropped out: West Forsyth (N.C.), Norco (Calif.), St. Mary's Ryken (Md.), Desert Vista (Ariz.).
