Some things have stayed the same in the world of national high school softball, but there are a few changes that may alter the landscape.
As the 2022 season is still yet to begin this week in most parts of the country, the same aspect of it is that Lakewood Ranch of Florida is sitting at the top of the preseason starting point.
Familiar Name at Preseason #1
Head coach T.J. Goelz may have tweeted that the 2022 Mustangs “haven’t done anything…YET” but it’s just too hard not to start any other team in the No. 1 position. Last year’s team rolled to the Class 7A state title with a 14-4 mercy rule victory over a Park Vista of Lake Worth squad that was on a 48-game winning streak.
Although the Mustangs have been a staple of national rankings in recent years, they still hadn’t completed a state title season until last season.
Leading position player Cassidy McLellan, a senior outfielder who has signed with Florida, leads a strong group of returnees. She batted .542 with 59 runs scored for the state champs and was recognized on the Extra Inning Softball All-American team.
Goelz also will be counting on a trio of North Florida-bound players – INF Kelsey Vogel, 1B Taylor Shepherd and OF/C Grace Hogie – as well as senior P Ella Coiner (Eckerd College commit) who also was a key piece of the title team last year.
Regional Championships This Year in California
The changes in the landscape are in California since this will be the first softball season in state history in which some teams were playing in mid-February and it will be the first one in which Southern California and Northern California regional championships are held.
Last year, due to COVID pushing the high school season too deep into the June travel ball season, many top teams opted out of the first-ever SoCal regionals. The scheduled NorCal regionals weren’t played at all.
When evaluating teams for national rankings, knowing what may happen down the road can be just as important as what happened in the previous week.
California teams like St. Francis of Mountain View and Heritage of Brentwood will now play each other at the end when before they weren’t. This aspect of ranking teams also doesn’t just apply to the playoffs.
Big Bash Next Month in the Bayou
Knowing that Louisiana powerhouse teams Barbe and Notre Dame of Crowley have a scheduled matchup in March is a great move for both and it will help the winning team move way up in the rankings, especially if neither one loses again.
As usual with softball rankings, it’s also important to note at the start that many teams from cold weather states will be listed at 0-0 for several weeks leading into April. It is very difficult to move up teams that haven’t played, but it’s always been a de-facto rule not to drop those teams (other than a spot or two here and there), either.
— Mark Tennis
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2022 Extra Elite Eighty Preseason Rankings
(Listed with win-loss records from 2021 season; early results from 2022 included in write-ups)
- Lakewood Ranch (Bradenton, Fla.) 30-2
In the Mustangs’ first game of the season, played on Tuesday, they got going early and went on to beat Inspiration Academy of Bradenton, 14-1. Ella Dodge struck out 10 batters in four innings while Grace Hogie had a home run and three RBI.
- Villa Park (Villa Park, Calif.) 24-3
Arizona-bound Sydney Somerndike already has a no-hitter as the Spartans have begun 4-0 and have won their first tourney. They had only three seniors on the roster last season on a team that lost in extra innings in the CIF Southern Section D2 final. If they had won that game they likely would have been State Team of the Year.
- Lake Creek (Montgomery, Texas) 38-2
We were going to slot the Lions pretty high to begin with, but they have begun 7-0 while it’s been more sketchy in the first week for some other Texas teams. Both of their losses last year were to Barbers Hill. In a 4-1 win on Tuesday against Willis, junior Ava Brown tossed a no-hitter and struck out 14.
- St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.) 26-0
Head coach Mike Oakland guided one of the strongest championship squads last spring in CIF Central Coast Section history. His daughter, Jessica, also is one of the leading contenders to be Ms. Softball State Player of the Year. The University of Minnesota recruit blasted 19 homers as a junior and this week was still playing basketball for a team that has been in the state top 25 rankings. The other top returnee among many is C Sydney Stewart, who has signed with Washington.
- Roncalli (Indianapolis, Ind.) 31-2
The Royals are starting No. 1 in the MaxPreps’ national rankings (which if you didn’t know like this one is also compiled by someone from Northern California). We don’t necessarily disagree, but in our rankings system we hardly ever start out a team at the top that isn’t playing for a month. National player of the year candidate Keagan Rothrock is, of course, going to give Roncalli a great chance to not only win another state title, but go unbeaten. The Florida commit posted a 24-2 record in 2021 and had a 0.13 ERA to go with seven no-hitters. Junior Lyla Blackwell is another top returnee. The Virginia Tech commit hit .467.
- Doral Academy (Doral, Fla.) 29-2
The Firebirds not only won the Class 6A state in Florida last spring, but they posted a head-to-head victory over Lakewood Ranch. The other team just has more returning firepower, but it was considered to start Doral Academy higher. The team’s top returnee is P Alyssa Zabala, who has signed with Louisville.
- Marist (Chicago, Ill.) 38-1
The Redbirds lost leading pitcher Abby Dunning, but Brooke McNichols may be just fine in that role. She’s No. 87 in the Extra Elite for the Class of 2022 and has signed with Central Florida. The rest of the lineup (just four seniors in all graduated) is loaded. C Emily Bojan (Wisconsin) had 66 RBI last season. Junior OF Isabel Cunnea (Northwestern commit) led the team in homers, while junior INF Eileen Donahue (Illinois) is another to watch.
- Baylor (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 29-0
Despite coming from a state in which the public and private schools compete for separate titles, the Lady Red Raiders have established themselves as one of the top programs in the nation for the last 10 years. They have six straight state titles and once again have several D1 college-bound prospects on the roster. The leader is P Sydney Berzon. She is headed to LSU and is coming off of a 17-0 campaign.
- Fairhope (Fairhope, Ala.) 43-6
The Pirates fell to Hewitt-Trussville in the Class 7A state finals last season and also have a host of returning starters. They are starting out higher in these rankings because of early season results. One of the things anyone doing softball rankings looks for is pitching, and Fairhope is all set there with LSU-bound Alea Johnson.
- Xavier Prep (Phoenix, Ariz.) 19-2
The Gators won the Class 6A state title last spring and make sense to begin No. 1 in Arizona. P Riley Flynn had 178 Ks in 108 innings as a junior and is heading to Harvard in the fall. Two of the team’s other top returnees are UTL Bridget Dohaney (Northwestern), who hit 10 homers, and INF Meghan Schouten (Boston College).
*** Scroll down to see the rest of the 2022 Extra Elite Eighty Preseason teams!
