Norco ran its two-year win streak to 32 after winning the prestigious Michelle Carew Classic over the weekend, but it wasn't easy for the team that's sat atop the MaxPreps Top 25 national softball rankings all season.
The Cougars recorded a pair of one-run wins on the final day and needed a dramatic late-game rally against No. 24 Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) to win the Carew title, keep their record unblemished and protect their top ranking.
Video: Top 25 national softball rankings See this week's movement after No. 1 Norco won the Michelle Carew Classic.
Trailing 6-0 in the fifth, the Cougars sent 10 batters to the plate, scoring five times to make it a one-run deficit.
Sarah Willis completed the comeback in the sixth inning with a two-run home run to give Norco its first lead.
Oklahoma signee
Kinzie Hansen, who hit three home runs and drove in 10, was the tournament's Most Valuable Player for the second time in three seasons. Hansen hit a three-run home run in the first inning of Saturday's semifinals to help defeat Los Alamitos 3-2.
Willis (Washington pledge) was named Pitcher of the Tournament, going 4-0 with a 1.38 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 21 innings. She also hit three home runs, while teammates
Paige Smith (Mississippi State signee),
Allison Beecher and
Abby Dayton also were named all-tournament.
Things don't get much easier for the top-ranked Cougars with King (Riverside) and Santiago (Corona) this week — a pair of teams they defeated earlier this season by identical 1-0 margins.
Orange Lutheran returned to the Top 25 after recording impressive wins last week and finishing second in the Carew Classic.
Also new to the Top 25 this week are unbeatens Male (Louisville, Ky.), Oshkosh North (Oshkosh, Wis.) and Tualatin (Ore.), which has a 41-game win streak.
Dropped out: Mater Dei Catholic (Chula Vista, Calif.), Apopka (Fla.), Cape Fear (Fayetteville, N.C., Los Alamitos (Calif.).
On
the Bubble: Notre Dame Crowley (La.), 32-0; Marist, (Chicago), 9-2;
Hoover (Clendenin, W.Va.), 11-1; South Granville, (Creedmoore, N.C.); 8-0,
Coral Springs Charter (Coral Springs, Fla.); 11-1, Clarksville (Tenn.), 26-1;
Pembroke Pines Charter (Pembroke Pines, Fla.); 16-2-1, Redmond (Wash.); 8-0,
East Lake (Tarpon Springs, Fla.); 15-1, Eustis (Fla.); 15-1, George
Washington (Charleston, W.Va.); 13-0, Bartow (Fla.); 12-2, West Stanly
(Oakboro, N.C.); 14-0, Sissonville (W.Va.); 16-1, and Lakewood (Calif.), 16-1.
Prospect
of the Week: Sophomore
Stevie Hansen (Norco) picked up the win in
the title game of the Michelle Carew Classic and is 8-0 with a 0.15 ERA
and 93 strikeouts in 46 innings. She has allowed only two runs (one
earned) and eight hits this season.
Game of the Week: In a battle
of Florida unbeatens, No. 5 Winter Springs defeated 15-1 Eustis, 4-3.
Florida State signee Kaley Mudge had two singles and a homer in the win.
Game to Watch: No. 2 Lakewood Ranch (Bradenton Beach, Fla.) versus No. 10 Oakleaf (Orange Parke, Fla.) on Saturday.
Tournament
of the Week: The Wildcats of Clarksville (Tenn.) are the favorites to win
their own tournament to be held Friday and Saturday. The Wildcats are
26-1 and have won 10 straight. Last week, they won the Waverly Diamond
Classic, defeating Dickson County (Dickson, Tenn.) 1-0 in the
championship.
MaxPreps Top 25 high school softball rankings
Sarah Willis and Kinzie Hansen, Norco
Photo by Michael Pineda
The Cougars got a first-inning three-run homer from All-American catcher Kenzi Hansen (Oklahoma signee) and held on to defeat Los Alamitos, 3-2, in the Carew Classic semifinals and then erased a 6-0 deficit to beat Orange Lutheran 7-6 in the finals.
2. (2) Lakewood Ranch (Bradenton, Fla.), 13-0A trio of pitchers continue to share the load for the Mustangs.
Kayla Howald and
Claire Davidson combined to strike out nine and allow three hits in an 11-1 win over Charlotte (Punta Gorda) and
Brooklyn Lucero pitched a five-inning, no-hitter in a 12-0 win over Riverview (Sarasota). Things get tougher this week as No. 10 Oakleaf is on the schedule.
3. (3) Foothill (Pleasanton, Calif.), 14-0Oklahoma pledge
Nicole May tossed a pair of shutouts on the final day of the 25th annual Livermore Stampede to lead Foothill to the championship. May fanned 21 on the day and was named the tournament's top player.
4. (4) Cedar Ridge (Round Rock, Texas), 24-0The Raiders are led by pitcher
Tori McCann (0.96 ERA), shortstop
Camryn Middlebrook (hitting .615 with a 14 game hitting streak) and
Maddie Boldt leads the team with 33 RBI and 19 walks.
5. (5) Winter Springs (Fla.), 18-0Runs were scarce for the Bears this week, but the wins keep coming with 4-3 wins over highly regarded teams Eustis and Hagerty and 3-1 over Bartow. Eustis was unbeaten in 15 games and Bartow fell to 15-2.
6. (6) Estero (Fla.), 17-0Wildcat pitchers tossed three shutouts last week, giving them 11 for the season. One was an eight-inning 1-0 win over Mariner (Cape Coral) when
Lauren Hobbs and
Alex Salter combined to strike out 20. The winning run was unearned with two outs in the bottom of the eighth.
7. (7) Barbers Hill (Mt. Belvieu, Texas), 28-2With three pitchers sharing the load, the Eagles have won 23 straight. They have 19 shutouts and have allowed more than two runs only once this season. Pitchers
Jessica Mullins (Texas State commit has pitched 55 innings), Samantha Landry (Louisiana Lafayette commit has pitched 55 innings) and
Sophia Simpson (44 innings) all have more than 100 strikeouts this season and a combined ERA of .545. Pittsburgh signee
Rebecca Miller leads the offense with 50 RBI.
8. (8) Forney (Texas), 17-2The Jackrabbits beat up on Lancaster, 19-0, and Terrell, 18-0, to run their win streak to five straight. During the streak they've recorded four shutouts and outscored their opponents 70-1.
9. (9) Neshoba Central (Philadelphia, Miss.), 21-0The Rockets ran their win streak to 60 straight. They last lost on May 2, 2017 (2-1) to Statillo. Senior
Aspen Wesley continues to play like a MaxPreps National Player of the Year candidate. She's hitting .431 with 20 RBI and is 14-0 with an 0.08 ERA. She has allowed 13 hits in 87 innings and has recorded 217 strikeouts.
10. (10) Oakleaf (Orange Park, Fla.), 17-1Oakleaf's bid to record a three-peat at the prestigious 50-team Kissimmee Klassic was washed out Saturday by Mother Nature. Oakleaf and 18-2 Bartow reached the finals and neither wanted a trophy decided by a coin toss. Thus, the finals will be played April 17. Meanwhile, Oakleaf has a pair of tough opponents this week — No. 2 Lakewood Ranch (Bradenton Beach) and 15-4 Gainesville.
11. (13) White Knoll (Lexington, S.C.), 14-0Clemson signee
Hannah Goodwin had multiple hits and Gardner Webb signee
Andrea Lyon had 26 strikeouts in three Timberwolves' wins.
12. (17) Dripping Springs (Texas), 26-2The Tigers have won 17 in a row with eighth of the last nine via shutout.
Logan Hulon is 12-2 with six no-hitters and an 0.47 ERA.
13. (23) Pinnacle (Phoenix), 15-2Morgan Smith no-hit Liberty (Peoria) with 15 strikeouts and
Taylor Fawcett homered to raise her batting average to .500. In a 17-4 win over Mountain Ridge (Glendale), Smith homered and drove in five runs.
14. (15) Evansville Reitz (Evansville, Ind.), 8-0The Panthers beat crosstown city rivals Memorial, 10-4, and Mater Dei, 9-2.
Mikayla Jolly is 5-0 with a 1.75 ERA.
15. (20) Keller (Texas), 22-3-1The Indians continue to play like the hottest team in Texas, running their win streak to 10 straight. The streak includes four, one-run victories.
16. (NR) Male (Louisville, Ky.), 14-0The Bulldogs are batting .435 and have hit 36 homers (freshman
Jaelyn Sanders leads with eight). They went 7-0 over four days last week to win the Bob Jones Tournament in Huntsville (Ala.). Male homered 17 times and scored 73 times in the tournament. Up next: 11-1 Boyle County (Danville).
17. (18) Empire (Tucson, Ariz.), 19-1The Ravens' offense carried the week with 36 runs leading to a trio of wins.
18. (21) Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.), 20-1Since suffering their lone loss of the season, the Eagles have won four in a row, including three by one run. One of those was a 1-0 win over Carew Classic finalist Orange Lutheran.
19. (25) Sunrise Mountain (Peoria, Ariz.), 13-0The Mustangs defeated Kellis (Glendale), Sunnyslope (Phoenix) and Horizon (Scottsdale) to run their win streak to 13. Junior pitcher
Kylee Messmer (Biola commit) sports a sub-0.50 ERA.
20. (NR) Oshkosh North (Oshkosh, Wis.), 7-0Northwestern signee
Sydney Supple (6-0 with 56 strikeouts in 32 innings) has North rolling, but the Spartans needed seven runs in the seventh inning to beat West De Pere 11-7.
21. (NR) Tualatin (Ore.), 11-0The Timberwolves, the defending state 6A champions, ran the win streak to 41 after last season's 30-0 performance.
22. (22) Jackson (Mill Creek, Wash.), 9-1Iyanla (Ice) De Jesus followed her 2-1 loss to Glacier Park (Snohomish) with a six-inning, 15-strikeout no-hitter against Kamiak (Mulkiteo).
23. (24) Bradshaw Mountain (Prescott Valley, Ariz.), 26-1Since their one-run loss to Mingus (Cottonwood, Texas), the Bears have won five straight by a margin of 62-1.
Caitlynn Neal struck out 14 and pitched a five-inning no-hitter over Washington (Phoenix) and
Jacie Hambrick pitched a one-hitter with 11 strikeouts in a five-inning win over Mohave Bullhead City.
24. (NR) Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.), 16-6-1The Lancers have four one-run losses and led No. 1 Norco 6-0 before falling in the Michelle Carew Classic finals. They also own wins over No. 16 Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita) and Grand Terrace.
25. (14) Grand Terrace (Calif.), 16-3-1The Tigers went 4-1 in the Carew Classic, losing only 4-2 to runner-up Orange Lutheran (Orange).
