Cold Weather States Conclude Season

All of the nation’s colder weather states conducted high school softball state championships in the last two weeks, but that doesn’t mean that some of those games offered some heat.

One of them caused a lot of changes in this week’s final Line Drive Softball SUPER 70 national rankings of the 2025 season. Three of them featured teams that already were in the top 25 of the Super 70 and won state titles.

The craziest of those state finals was played in the top bracket in Wisconsin. There, unbeaten Kaukauna figured out a way to beat Bradford of Kenosha, 1-0, even though the offense only had one hit and suffered through 18 strikeouts.

Bradford’s Brooklyn Danielson was the pitcher getting the Ks, but gave up a double by Lilly Boyle with a runner who was in scoring position and that was all that the Galloping Ghosts needed for the win. Four double plays also helped Kaukauna get through to the final out.

The Ghosts weren’t the No. 1 seed in the bracket (Bradford was 29-1 entering the game), but history indicated that they should have been.

With the win, Kaukauna completed an undefeated season and now has four state titles in five years. Last year, the Ghosts had a 108-game win streak snapped. They moved up in this week’s final SUPER 70 from No. 29 to No. 24.

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Big Upset in New Jersey

The most changes for the final rankings were caused by what happened in the New Jersey Non-Public A championship on June 11. In that game, previous No. 25 Donovan Catholic of Toms River was defeated 4-3 by previous 51-70-ranked Mt. St. Dominic of Caldwell.

The Lions, who lost in the same state title game the past two seasons, broke a 3-3 tie in the top of the seventh inning with a solo homer by Jillian Cianfrocca. Pitcher Ava Kelshaw, who had seven strikeouts in the game, then got three big outs in the bottom of the seventh.

Mt. St. Dominic had two losses to Cedar Grove early in the season that prevented much of a high national ranking. The team happened to also have a later win over Cedar Grove and now has the state title, its first in 11 seasons.

For the final rankings, the Lions moved up to No. 37 with Donovan Catholic going to No. 38.

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Oswego (Ill.) & Neshannock (Pa.) Capture State Titles

The highest ranked team to win a state title in the last two weeks was Oswego of Oswego, Ill.

The Panthers captured their first-ever state crown with a 4-1 win in the Illinois Class 4A state championship and also capped a 38-2 season. They were led by Aubriella Garza (Northern Illinois), who had a two-run homer and a double, along with Jaelynn Anthony (Purdue), who struck out eight in a complete game.

Anthony also pushed her own final record to 22-1. With the win, Oswego inched up from No. 12 to No. 11 in this week’s final rankings.

We are the 2025
Conference Champions
Regional Champions
Sectional Champions
Super Sectional Champions
IL 4A STATE CHAMPIONS#FINISHEDBUSINESS pic.twitter.com/ATperONXrC

— Oswego Softball (@OHSPantherSB) June 16, 2025

The next highest ranked team to do the same as Oswego in Illinois was Neshannock in Pennsylvania. The Lancers are not in the PIAA top division but rolled to the 2A title with an 8-3 triumph against South Williamsport.

They not only have three state titles in four years, but three undefeated seasons in four years and will take a 52-game win streak into next season.

Neshannock was led by Addy Frye, who pitched a six-hitter with 14 Ks and had a homer. Gabby Quinn also had four RBI. Frye (Providence) also had season totals of nine homers and 44 RBI plus a 24-0 pitching record with a 0.77 ERA.

With the wins, Oswego inched up from No. 12 to No. 11 in this week’s final rankings while Neshannock stayed the same at No. 17 in this week’s final rankings.

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Finally, a big congrats to all of the teams who gained final national rankings this season!

— Mark Tennis of CalHiSports.com for Line Drive Softball 

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(After all games of 2025 season in all states)
(Previous rank in parentheses)
*Forfeit wins, losses not included

1. (1) Melissa (Melissa, Texas) 38-1
2. (2) Lake Creek (Montgomery, Texas) 37-0
3. (3) Orange Beach (Orange Beach, Ala.) 47-2
4. (4) Doral Academy (Doral, Fla.) 31-1
5. (5) Norco (Norco, Calif.) 29-3
6. (6) Del Oro (Loomis, Calif.) 31-2
7. (7) Calvary Christian (Clearwater, Fla.) 31-1
8. (8) Midway (Waco, Texas) 32-3
9. (9) Calvary Baptist Academy (Shreveport, La.) 37-1
10. (10) Desert Mountain (Scottsdale, Ariz.) 30-1-1

Scroll down to see the rest of the Top 50 plus 20 more teams on the bubble…