MaxPreps 2015 Florida preseason softball Fab 5, presented by the Army National Guard

1. Bloomingdale (Valrico)
2014 finish: 27-3, Class 8A state champion
Head coach: Mark Braddy

The Bulls return a stacked lineup after winning last season's Class 8A state championship, the program's first since 1993. However, one person who will certainly be missed is coach Mandy Schuerman, who left Bloomingdale to become the coach at State College of Florida. Ace Lace Smith is back after a phenomenal junior season. The Buffalo commit posted a 0.79 ERA with 293 strikeouts and a 25-2 record. Leadoff hitter Lizzie Jackson is one of six starters back for Bloomingdale.

View last season's Florida softball rankings, presented by the Army National Guard

2. St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale)
2014 finish: 30-2, Class 7A state champion
Head coach: Bryan Baucom

After claiming their second-straight state title, the Raiders will have to once again reload. Pitcher Meghan King, who is now playing at Florida State, will be tough to replace. As a senior, she went 20-2 and allowed just five earned runs all season (0.25 ERA) and earned Gatorade Florida Softball Player of the Year and MaxPreps first-team All-American honors. The Raiders return four starters and three of the of the top four hitters in their batting order from last season – Brianna Stella and Katherine Gonzalez.

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3. Hagerty (Oviedo)
2014 finish: 28-5, Class 8A state runner-up
Head coach: David Stone

Hagerty has all the pieces back to make a run at a state title. Bloomingdale stopped the Huskies last season in the championship game after Hagerty entered the postseason as the top-ranked team in Class 8A in the Miracle Sports poll. Senior pitcher Samantha Worrell is one of seven starters returning for the Huskies. The South Florida commit has earned 50 wins the past two seasons and has 31 career home runs. Five of the top six players in last year's lineup – Sarah Harrison, Megan Woodson, Worrell, Victoria Zarbo and Jordan Miller – are back.

View last season's Florida softball stat leaders

4. West Florida (Pensacola)
2014 finish: 29-1, Class 4A state champion
Head coach: Jessica Smith

The Jaguars are coming off the best season in the history of their program, winning the Class 4A state title. With six of their starters back, scoring back-to-back championships is within reach. Cleanup hitter Kristin Gunter, who had three RBIs in the state title game, hit almost .500 last season and stroked 11 extra-base hits. She'll lead the way this season along with Ali Cutaio (.365 last year). The Jaguars will have to replace Florida Miss Softball Korina Rosario, who is at Florida State. She finished with a miniscule 0.19 ERA and tallied 323 strikeouts and hit .564 on the season, earning MaxPreps first-team All-America honors. Junior Farrah Nicholas could be Rosario's replacement after pitching just two innings last season.

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5. Harmony
2014 finish: 28-3, Class 7A state runner-up
Head coach: Jeff Fiorelli

For the last two seasons, the Longhorns have lost to St. Thomas Aquinas by identical 1-0 scores in the state title game. Harmony wants to get over the hump this season. The Longhorns return six of their starters, and have power and speed. Jadin Kline (.353 average), Madison Urquiola (.282) and Brooke Harris (.405) combined for 10 home runs and will pace a strong offensive attack. Lily Mann (.406) is coming off a junior season in which she had 43 hits and 22 stolen bases. The Longhorns have back 66 percent of their RBI leaders as well as 71 percent of their hits from a season ago. The big blow will be having to replace star pitcher Lele Ocasio (0.60 ERA). Now playing at Florida, Ocasio also had plenty of pop in her bat with seven home runs.