Though the Mustangs of Lakewood Ranch (Bradenton, Fla.) struck out 26 times in one game on Saturday, they found ways to record wins over a pair of highly ranked teams and find themselves atop this week's MaxPreps Top 25 softball rankings.
Lakewood Ranch beat Gainesville ace Alissa Humphrey 2-0 in 14 innings and edged No. 10 Oakleaf 5-4. Meanwhile, previously top-ranked Norco (Calif.) lost 4-3 in eight innings to Santiago (Corona, Calif.) to fall from No. 1 — a ranking it held since mid-February.
Video: Top 25 high school softball rankings See who the new No. 1 team in the country is and how they got there.
The extra-inning loss ended Norco's dream of an unbeaten season and dropped the Cougars to No. 2 and 24-1 on the season. Norco stranded 12 runners, leaving the bases loaded three times. Earlier this season, the Cougars beat Santiago 1-0.
The loss snaps Norco's 33-game win streak dating back to last season.
Lakewood Ranch got run-scoring singles from Auburn pledge
Claire Davidson and
Maddie Koczersut to beat Gainesville and Humphrey, despite her 26 punch outs. Junior
Brooklyn Lucero scattered six hits in throwing the shutout win for the Mustangs. It was Lakewood Ranch's 10th shutout of the season.
The Mustangs, who feature a dozen players who will play collegiately, have won 28 of their last 29 games — their last lost coming last May to Oakleaf in the state 8A semifinals.
Marist (Chicago) returned to the Top 25 and is riding a 10-game winning
streak. Also new to the Top 25 this week are Great Oak (Temecula,
Calif.) and Clarksville (Tenn.).
Dropped out: Jackson (Mill Creek, Wash.), Evansville Reitz (Evansville, Ind.), Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.), Estero (Fla.).
On
the Bubble: Redmond (Wash.), 13-0; Smyrna (Del.),9-0; Chino Hills (Calif.), 22-3;
Klein Collins (Spring, Texas), 25-2; Notre Dame (Crowley, La.), 33-0;
Lexington (Tenn.) 24-2; Northhampton (PA), 6-0; Hoover (Clendenin, W.Va.),
15-1; East Lake (Tarpon Springs, Fla.), 19-1; Eustis (Fla.), 17-1; George
Washington (Charleston, W.Va.), 15-0; Bartow (Fla.), 17-2; West Stanly
(Oakboro, N.C.), 16-0; Wellington (Fla.), 17-1; and Lake Central (St. John,
Ind.), 13-1.
Prospect of the Week: Smyrna (Del.) sophomore
Payton Dixon is hitting .462 and is 9-0 with a 0.26 ERA in the circle for the unbeaten Eagles.
Game of the Week: There were two — Santiago (Corona,
Calif.) edged No. 2 Norco (Calif.) 4-3 in eight innings on Kaylah Nelsen's
walk-off single. No. 1 Lakewood Ranch edged No. 10 Oakleaf (Orange
Park, Fla.) 5-4.
Game to Watch: No. 1 Lakewood Ranch vs. 17-1 Wellington on Friday.
Tournament
of the Week: Washington Panthers Classic in Washington (Ill.) features the 10-3 host Panthers and 11-0 Pontiac (Ill.) and 8-1 Barrington
(Ill.).
MaxPreps Top 25 high school softball rankings
1. (Last week 2) Lakewood Ranch (Bradenton, Fla.), 18-0The Mustangs earned a pair of top-wins over No. 10 Oakleaf and Gainesville.
2. (1) Norco (Calif.), 24-1The Cougars saw their 33-game win streak snapped.
3. (3) Foothill (Pleasanton, Calif.), 16-0Oklahoma pledge
Nicole May has a dozen shutouts as the Falcons have outscored opponents 148-6.
4. (4) Cedar Ridge (Round Rock, Texas), 25-0The Raiders remained unbeaten with a 4-1 win over crosstown rival Round Rock. They end the regular season on Thursday against 9-18 Westwood (Round Rock).
5. (5) Winter Springs (Fla.), 19-0The Bears got two home runs each from juniors
Kennedi Gaton and
Aynslie Furbush and one from freshman
Lindsay Corazzini in a 15-0 rout over Edgewater (Orlando).
6. (7) Barbers Hill (Mt. Belvieu, Texas), 30-2The Eagles roll into Tuesday's regular-season finale Tuesday at Cleveland riding a 25-game win streak after beating Port-Neches Groves (Port Neches) 11-1 and Vidor 14-2. It was the first time the Eagles had been scored on in six games.
7. (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 have recorded four shutouts and outscored their opponents 70-1.
8. (9) Neshoba Central (Philadelphia, Miss.), 23-0The Rockets ran their win streak to 62 straight as senior pitcher
Aspen Wesley pitched a four-inning, no-hitter with 12 strikeouts against Central (Cleveland) and a five-inning, no-hitter with 13 strikeouts against Union. Against Cleveland, Wesley homered twice and drove in seven runs.
9. (11) White Knoll (Lexington, S.C.), 16-0Clemson signee
Hannah Goodwin had three hits and drove in two runs in the top of the ninth as the T-Wolves beat River Bluff 4-0. Senior pitcher
Andrea Lyon struck out 20 in the win.
10. (10) Oakleaf (Orange Park, Fla.), 18-2Oakleaf lost to No. 1 Lakewood Ranch 5-4 and rebounded to rout Gainesville 12-1.
11. (12) Dripping Springs (Texas), 30-2The Tigers have won 20 in a row, but needed eight innings to beat 25-6 Belton 5-4.
Mackenzie Pierpoint homered and
Camille Corona singled twice and tripled.
12. (16) Male (Louisville, Ky.), 15-0The Bulldogs raised their overall team batting average in a 12-1 win over Assumption (Louisville) as nine players collected base hits.
Jasmine Miller and
Madison McCoy each had three hits. The Bulldogs are hitting .437 with 38 home runs.
13. (15) Keller (Texas), 24-3-1The Indians beat Guyer (Denton) 7-3 and blanked Byron Nelson (Trophy Club) 16-0 to run their win streak to a dozen. They close out the regular season Thursday against crosstown rival Central (6-15).
Orange Lutheran climbs four spots to No. 21 in this week's rankings.
Photo by Heston Quan
The Mustangs recorded narrow wins over Glendale opponents Ironwood and Apollo to remain unbeaten.
15. (NR) Coral Springs Charter (Coral Springs, Fla.), 16-1The Panthers knocked off previously ranked Estero 2-0 and have a 15-game winning streak. The Panthers are hitting .444 as a team. Auburn signee
Lindsey Garcia is hitting .538 with 30 RBI in 17 games and
Shannon Doherty (Central Florida signee) is hitting .574.
16. (17) Empire (Tucson, Ariz.), 24-1The Ravens' carry a seven-game win streak and a .389 team batting average into the final week of the regular season. On Saturday, they play Mountain View (Tucson), the only team to beat them this season.
17. (21) Tualatin (Ore.), 13-0Defending state 6A champions, the Timberwolves' win streak (dating back to last season's 30-0 performance) stands at 43. They have four, one-run wins this season, including 2-1 over 4-9 Central Catholic (Portland).
18. (20) Oshkosh North (Oshkosh, Wis.), 9-0North won twice as senior pitcher
Sydney Supple (Northwestern signee) is 8-0 with three shutouts.
19. (24) Grand Terrace (Calif.), 18-3-1The Tigers beat Summit (Fontana) twice to give them nine wins in their last 10 games. Oklahoma signee
Alycia Flores is batting .439 with 19 RBI and nine home runs.
20. (NR) Clarksville (Tenn.), 33-1Six shutouts in their last seven wins run the Wildcats' win streak to 17 straight.
21. (25) Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.), 18-6-1The Lancers got home runs from four different players as they defeated Aliso Niguel (Aliso Viejo) 10-2 and JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano) 5-1.
22. (13) Pinnacle (Phoenix), 17-3The Pioneers split with Chaparral (Scottsdale) losing 3-0 and winning 6-3.
23. (23) Bradshaw Mountain (Prescott Valley, Ariz.), 29-1Grand Canyon commit
Jacie Hambrick struck out 17 and
Madisen Duryea (Dixie State pledge) homered in a 12-0 win over Prescott.
24. (NR) Great Oak (Temecula, Calif.), 18-2-1In the Wolfpack's recent five-game win streak is a 9-0 rout of Santiago and a recent 4-3 win over former No. 1 Norco . Their two losses have come against ranked teams Orange Lutheran and Grand Terrace.
25. (NR) Marist (Chicago), 12-2Senior
Angela Zedak (Northwestern signee) won twice and drove in six runs in the Redhawks' wins over Crown Point and York.
