MaxPreps Top 25 national high school softball rankings

North Carolina joined California, Texas, Maryland and Florida as states with multiple teams ranked in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Softball Rankings.

North Davidson was ranked No. 17 in this week's poll to join No. 3 rated Alexander Central giving to give the state two teams in the top 25. California has four with No. 1 Mission Viejo, No. 2 Amador Valley, No. 16 Vacaville and No. 18 Archbishop Mitty.

Texas has four teams in the top 10 and six teams in the top 25 with No. 5 Barbers Hill, No. 6 Cy-Fair, No. 8 Cinco Ranch, No. 10 La Grange, No. 12 The Woodlands and No. 13 Atascocita. Four of the teams are on a collision course as the postseason picks up steam.

Florida has No. 4 Ponte Vedra and No. 20 St. Thomas Aquinas, while Maryland has No. 11 Sherwood (Sandy Spring) and No. 23 Eastern Tech (Baltimore).

New to the Top 25 are North Davidson, Bay City Western, Crown Point and Puyallup.

Be sure to check out the MaxPreps Computer Rankings and also our national playoff brackets page.


1. (No. 1 last week) Mission Viejo (Calif.), 18-0
The Diablos beat El Toro (Lake Forest), 3-1. They have outscored their 18 opponents 117-24. They hosted Dana Hills (Dana Point) on Tuesday.

2. (2) Amador Valley (Pleasanton, Calif.), 20-0
Johanna Grauer struck out 31 in pitching a pair of wins for the Dons. She fanned 20 in a 10-inning win over Carondelet (Concord) in a game that saw the Dons score twice in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings, then score two more in the bottom of the 10th for a 4-3 win. The Dons hosted Granada (Livermore) on Tuesday.

3. (3) Alexander Central (Taylorsville, N.C.), 25-0
Central's win streak stands at 57 after defeating North Iredell (Olin) and West Iredell (Statesville) by 10-0 margins, then Kiana Millsaps picked up her 14th win of the season pitching the first two innings while Bailey Rhoney pitched the last inning in a 20-0 win over Statesville. Averi Miller went 3-for-3 as she hit a single, triple, and inside-the-park home run, driving in three runs. Central has allowed just 19 runs while scoring 314 this season. Up next: the postseason.

4. (4) Ponte Vedra (Fla.), 29-0
The Sharks defeated Baker County (Glen St. Mary) 10-0 behind Avery Geehr's two-hitter and then got a one-hitter and 11 strikeouts from Geehr in 1-0 win over Mosley to advance to a state semifinal game against American Heritage (Plantation) on Friday.

5. (5) Barbers Hill (Mt. Belvieu), 27-0
The Eagles routed Lumberton 13-0, then beat Magnolia West 9-0 and 4-1 to advance to the 4A regional quarterfinal on Saturday.

6. (6) Cy-Fair (Cypress, Texas), 29-1
The Bobcats beat rival Katy, 6-4, as Carly Ruffino drove in three runs to advance to the 5A regional quarterfinals on Friday.

7. (7) Mauldin (S.C.), 28-0
The Mavericks beat Easley 10-0 as Amanda Storch struck out 12 and allowed only two hits. Home runs by Kaitlyn Wagers, Deanna Sullivan and Christina Storch led the offense. The two playoff wins move the Mavs into the District IV-4A championship game.

8. (9) Cinco Ranch (Katy, Texas), 28-1
Behind the pitching of Kayla Ober, Cinco Ranch beat Chavez (10-0) and Cypress Woods (4-1) to advance to the 5A regional quarterfinals. A showdown with No. 6 Cy-Fair could be just a week away.

9. (12) Sparkman (Harvest, Ala.), 58-2-2
Sparkman rolled to its 11th-straight area title Friday night as the two–time defending state champion appears poised to make it a three-peat. The Senators won three games in two days; two of them were run-rule games, 11-1 over Bob Jones in six innings and 13-3 over Hazel Green to take the championship. The Senators last lost on March 26. Next up: the Northwest regional at Huntsville.

10. (11) La Grange (Texas), 33-1
The Cougars beat Fredericksburg 12-0 and will meet 25-6 Columbus in a 3A regional quarterfinal on Friday. AlAlyssa Angel and Riley Fisbeck each drove in four runs.

11. (16) Sherwood (Sandy Spring, Md.), 14-0
The Warriors got a key base hit from junior Julie Swarr to beat 15-2 Blair (2-0) to keep their 55-game winning streak alive. Blair was the last team to beat them, doing so on May 20, 2011.

12. (13) The Woodlands (Texas), 32-2
The Highlanders beat Bowie (Austin) twice to advance to play No. 13 Atascocita (Humble) in a best-of-three 5A regional quarterfinal on Thursday. The Highlanders last lost on Feb. 22 to Bellaire (Houston).

13. (14) Atascocita (Humble, Texas), 30-1
The Eagles beat Round Rock and will face No. 12 The Woodlands on Thursday in a 5A regional quarterfinal.

14. (18) Immaculate Heart Academy (Washington Township, N.J.), 19-0
IHA recorded four wins – three by shutout – for its 82nd win its last 84 games. Senior Angelina Mcguire is hitting .456 with 16 extra base hits and 36 RBIs. Next up: Jefferson Township (Oak Ridge) on Wednesday.

15. (18) Olathe East (Kan.), 10-0
The Hawks, who have won 34 of their last 35 games, visited Free State (Lawrence) on Tuesday.

16. (20) Vacaville (Calif.), 23-0-1
Since their 2-2 tie with Ponderosa (Shingle Springs) on March 13, the Bulldogs have won 20 in a row, most recently over Napa and Vintage (Napa). The Bulldogs host crosstown rival Will C. Wood Wednesday in the regular season finale.

17. (NR) North Davidson (Lexington, N.C.), 24-0
Casey Stanek drove in two runs and pitched a one-hitter as the Knights defeated R.J. Reynolds (Winston-Salem) to end the regular season undefeated. Stanek (9-0) and sophomore Carson Pace (15-0) have combined for a 0.87 ERA. Briana Crumley leads the team in hitting (.542).

18. (22) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.), 23-1
Since losing, Mitty has recorded three lopsided wins by a combined 31-1 margin and visited 16-4 Valley Christian (San Jose) on Tuesday – the team that knocked Mitty from the unbeaten ranks on April 23 (3-1).

19. (NR) Bay City Western (Auburn, Mich.), 13-0
Led by Hannah Leppek, Bay City Western has won 50 of its last 53 games after starting the season ranked 79th.

20. (21) St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 28-2
The Raiders got a two-hit, 16-strikeout performance from Meghan King in a 2-0 win over Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens) to win the regional final. Next up: the state 7A semifinals.

21. (23) Curtis (River Ridge, La.), 30-2
Senior pitcher Katie Brignac had 11 strikeouts in the Class 3A state title game in the Patriots' 13-3 run-rule win over No. 11 Jena. She also went 3-for-4 with a two-run home run in the first inning. Brooke Lee finished her high school career 4-for-4 with a first-inning home run and a double as Curtis won its third-straight state title.

22. (NR) Crown Point (Ind.), 15-0
After winning 11 of its first dozen games by shutout, the Bulldogs beat Chesterson and LaPorte by 4-3 margins. Sophomore Miranda Elish is unbeaten and averaging nearly two strikeouts per inning. The Bulldogs host Merrillville on Wednesday.

23. (24) Eastern Tech (Baltimore), 18-0
The Mavericks routed three opponents by a combined 48-0 score last week and host Kenwood (Baltimore) on Wednesday.

24. (NR) Puyallup (Wash.), 16-1
Shortstop Natalie Joyner is hitting .586 and has led the Vikings to 14 straight wins. Puyallup faced Emerald Ridge (South Hill) on Tuesday.

25. (9) South Salem (Ore.), 20-1
The Saxons lost 3-1 to West Salem, but rebounded with a 2-1 win over Sprague (Salem). A rematch with West Salem is set for May 13.

Dropped Out: Clovis (Calif.), Camas (Wash.), St. Amant (La.) and Columbia (Lake City, Fla.).