National Champion Finalized

The Top 10 for this year’s final SUPER 70 National High School Softball Rankings was pretty much set in stone after the season had ended in California, Texas & Florida two weeks ago, including Orange Beach of Alabama in the No. 1 position.

The Makos are now officially a mythical national champion in at least one ranking so they can print it on t-shirts or include it on their rings!

After the first 10, however, there was plenty of movement for the final rankings, thanks to frontrunning teams losing in state playoffs in Wisconsin, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

Wisconsin Team’s 108-Game Winning Streak Snapped

The biggest development was in Wisconsin as three-time defending D1 champion Kaukauna had its 108-game win streak snapped in a stunning 5-3 loss in the semifinals to Milton.

That was not a team that the Ghosts had played before, but they were still in great shape to pick up a 3-2 win with two outs in the top of the seventh inning… but the Red Hawks were not done.

Jenna Benasha came up with a two-run single to make it 4-3 and then there was an error that made it 5-3. Gwen Baker then pitched a perfect bottom of the seventh to complete the upset.

Karly Meredith also took the loss to Kaukauna, which broke her own perfect career record that could have ended at 70-0.

Milton then advanced to the D1 state championship but couldn’t slow down the offense of the team at Bradford of Kenosha. The Red Devils had a four-run second inning and went on to beat the Red Hawks, 9-3, to win their first state title. Celia May had a two-run single in that second inning. Angela Parker also finished with two hits and two RBI.

For the final Super 70 rankings, there wasn’t room for all three of those Wisconsin teams. As the champion, Bradford (28-3) was put in as a newcomer. Kaukauna (27-1) went next since Milton (24-3) didn’t win in its next game and the Ghosts weren’t going to drop from No. 11 all the way out.

Michigan’s Hudsonville High Completes Perfect Season

The team that went up the most for the final rankings would be Hudsonville of Hudsonville, Mich.

Entering the D1 state playoffs, previous national No. 23 Mercy of Farmington Hills was ranked No. 1 in the state, but in the semifinals the Eagles rolled to a 10-0 win. They then took care of Lake Orion, 5-0, to complete a perfect 42-0 season.

Hudsonville jumped up to No. 14 in the final rankings and arguably could have been higher with the historically great season in Michigan that was posted. Pitchers Ava Snipp and Ellyson Koopman combined to go 37-0 with 21 shutouts.

The Eagles also had an amazing leadoff hitter with Megan Beemer. She set school records for runs scored (84) and steals (61) and she had a school record .620 batting average.

Keystone State School Squeaks Out 1-0 State Title Win

Another team to make a nice final jump was North Penn of Lansdale, Pa.

The Knights were unbeaten last year in winning the Class 6A state title and had some graduation losses to overcome. They did and then some with a 1-0 win in the state final last week over Council Rock South. They also got past previous national No. 50 Seneca Valley in the semifinals.

Previously unbeaten and national No. 26 Downingtown West was upset in the quarterfinals by Downingtown East.

Bella Nunn led the way for North Penn (25-3) in its last victory as she pitched a three-hitter and struck out 13 batters. Teammate Gianna Cimino also had a lead-off homer and that turned out to be the only run of the game. Cimino hit four homers in four state playoff games.

The Eagles went from unranked to No. 39 in this year’s final rankings.

More State Champs…

Other new teams that had to go into the final rankings after capturing state championships were St. John Vianney of Holmdel, N.J., Henderson County of Henderson, Ky., and St. Charles North of St. Charles, Ill.

Congratulations to all of the championship teams this season from around the country!

*****

Final Top 10

1. (1) Orange Beach (Orange Beach, Ala.) 46-1
2. (2) Pacifica (Garden Grove, Calif.) 27-2
3. (3) Pace (Pace, Fla.) 28-2
4. (4) Bartow (Bartow, Fla.) 30-2
5. (5) Melissa (Melissa, Texas) 38-2-1
6. (6) Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) 21-4
7. (7) Melbourne (Melbourne, Fla.) 29-1
8. (8) Austintown-Fitch (Youngstown, Ohio) 23-1
9. (9) Northwest Rankin (Brandon, Miss.) 34-0
10. (10) Summerville (Summerville, S.C.) 30-0

… continue below to see Team’s 11-50, those that Dropped Out and 20 More Teams on the Bubble…