We’re down to just one team from the power softball states of California, Texas and Florida that can finish unbeaten with a major championship and that team is St. Francis of Mountain View (Calif.), which is why the Lancers have been moved up to No. 1 in this week’s Line Drive Softball Super 70 National Rankings.

Previous No. 1 Melbourne (Melbourne, Fla.) lost last weekend in the Class 6A state regional finals in a rematch with previous No. 5 Bartow (Bartow, Fla.). The victorious Yellow Jackets are now No. 3 in this week’s rankings.

St. Francis has been one of the top-ranked teams in California the past three seasons under head coach Mike Oakland with a CIF NorCal D1 championship in 2022, a runner-up finish last season and with another regional title this season. There is no CIF state championship in softball and although most of the top CIF Southern Section teams do not participate in the CIF SoCal regional playoffs they all do in the north.

The move to St. Francis also comes with some nervousness since the Lancers have not played yet this week. Their CIF Central Coast Section Open Division semifinal game vs Willow Glen of San Jose was moved from Tuesday to Wednesday.

Assuming the Lancers win, they would then face national No. 18 Archbishop Mitty of San Jose in their section final on the weekend. The CIF NorCal regional playoffs would then consist of three possible games for St. Francis the following week.

Bartow established itself as a national title contender with its 1-0 win in eight innings over previously unbeaten Melbourne last Friday. The game matched two of the nation’s top pitchers – Red Oxley of the Yellow Jackets and Jazzy Francik of the Lady Bulldogs. They dueled earlier in the season when Melbourne won in a similar game and handed Bartow its only loss. They also will continue to go up against each other in college – Oxley at Florida and Francik at Florida State.

When we started doing national rankings in the 1990s and later for ESPN from 2008 to 2012, Bartow head coach Glenn Rutenbar already was a well-known name in Florida softball. The big win over Melbourne also gave him his 900th career win.

The game-winning hit for the Yellow Jackets came in the bottom of the eighth inning by Destiny Driskell, who scored Lexi Hayford. She had begun the inning at second base in a new rule for the Florida state playoffs that puts a runner on second in extra innings.

Oxley, who didn’t give up a run in the top of the eighth, gave up two hits and struck out 15 in her appearance. Francik gave up five hits, struck out 11 and came within one pitch of perhaps getting a win in the ninth inning.

Bartow still has the Class 6A state semifinals and finals to get through to win a ninth state title for Rutenbar. The team is facing 27-1 Doral Academy on Thursday and that is a team that has lost its only game 1-0 to Bartow and was placed at No. 7 in this week’s rankings. The other semi in Class 6A matches No. 12 Pace and No. 14 Bloomingdale.

If you are from No. 2 Orange Beach (Alabama), which stayed at No. 2 in this week’s rankings, the team you need to root for in the Class 6A Florida playoffs is Pace. The Makos have a head-to-head win over Pace and obviously would boost their chances for a final No. 1 ranking if Pace were to win that title. Orange Beach won its state title last week and is done for the season.

There’s also nothing that wouldn’t prevent Katy of Texas from moving up at the end. The Tigers are No. 1 in other national rankings. They still have the Class 6A regional finals, Class 6A state semifinals and Class 6A state finals to get through. This week’s matchup vs Kingwood will be a best-of-three format, but in the state semifinals and finals it’s single elimination.

Another team locking up a final top five national ranking last week was Pacifica (Garden Grove, Calif.). Head coach Tony Arduino’s team won its second straight CIF Southern Section D1 title with a 3-0 win last Friday over Orange Lutheran, which is still No. 8 in this week’s rankings. Long Beach State-bound Brynne Nally capped an outstanding four-year career by tossing a three-hitter with 11 strikeouts. UCLA recruit Kaniya Bragg also hit her eighth homer of the season.

(Through reported results of Tuesday, May 21)

(Previous ranking in parentheses)

*Indicates season complete.

1.  (3) St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.) 26-0

2.  (2) Orange Beach (Orange Beach, Ala.) 46-1*

3.  (5) Bartow (Bartow, Fla.) 29-1

4.  (4) Katy (Katy, Texas) 39-1-1

5.  (7) Pacifica (Garden Grove, Calif.) 27-2*

6.  (1) Melbourne (Melbourne, Fla.) 29-1*

7.  (9) Doral Academy (Doral, Fla.) 27-1

8.  (6) Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) 21-4*

9.  (10) Northwest Rankin (Brandon, Miss.) 34-0*

10.  (11) Summerville (Summerville, S.C.) 29-0