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As the national high softball season heats up with all states everywhere that play in the spring now well underway – and before some of the warm weather states actually get started with playoffs – there are some teams beginning to show some dominance and are moving up in the Extra Elite 80 National Rankings.
Moving up from No. 5 to No. 3 this week is Florida frontrunner Pace. Not to be confused with private school Monsignor Edward Pace High of Miami, Pace of Pace, Fla. is about as far away from the other Pace in that state as it is from Atlanta to Richmond, Va. The panhandle powerhouse is looking to go undefeated and win the Class 6A state title and has the big-time pitcher in Jayden Heavener (LSU) to get that done.
Heavener had a one-hitter with 17 strikeouts last week in a 2-0 win by Pace of Florida State University High of Tallahassee. Teammate Abby McLean also had two hits. The Patriots should get tough competition in the Class 6A state playoffs from teams such as Bartow, Melbourne and Doral Academy.
The State Team of the Year in California from 2022, St. Francis of Mountain View, moved up from No. 8 to No. 6 this week after taking the title at the Livermore Stampede, the top tournament of the season in Northern California.
The Lancers have a dominant 1-2 pitching combo with Kate Munnerlyn and Shannon Keighran, both juniors. Munnerlyn (Texas A&M) had a no-hitter at the Stampede and in the 3-0 title game win over San Ramon Valley of Danville she had a two-hitter with 14 strikeouts. Keighran had a no-hitter the week before at the Michelle Carew Classic.
Another unbeaten Texas team from its Class 6A category that received a major bump this week is Guyer of Denton. The Wildcats (now No. 8 in the Extra Elite 80) tied their school record by winning their 25th straight game last week, 7-4, over McKinney of Boyd and then broke the record with an 11-1 romp past Braswell.
Avery Jefferson leads the team with a .674 batting average through the team’s first 16 games. The more intriguing player is junior Kaylynn Jones, an Oregon commit who leads the team in runs scored and triples. Jones played last year in California and batted leadoff for Roosevelt of Eastvale, helping that team win the coveted CIF Southern Section D1 title. If Kaylynn can shine in that competition, the Texas Class 6A playoffs shouldn’t be too difficult.
Another team moving into the top 10 this week is Willow Canyon of Arizona. The Falcons have a tie against Canyon View, but later got a win over the same team. They are looking to win their third straight Class 5A state title and have a pitcher, Marissa McCann, who is headed to Missouri. In a 17-3 romp earlier this week over Paradise Valley, Trinity Kennemer added to her career school record with a home run and Brenna Windahl went 3-for-4 with a double.
The teams moving up benefitted by losses from previous No. 3 Roncalli of Indianapolis and previous No. 7 St. Amant of Louisiana. Both of those teams still have opportunities to come back up, especially Roncalli with some of the opponents still to come on its schedule.
—Â Mark Tennis
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2023 Extra Elite Eighty Rankings
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
(Through reported games of Wednesday, April 12)
1. (1) Lake Creek (Montgomery, Texas) 30-0
2. (2) Lake Ridge (Mansfield, Texas) 28-0
3. (5) Pace (Pace, Fla.) 18-0
4. (4) Ballard (Louisville, Ky.) 12-0
5. (6) Los Alamitos (Los Alamitos, Calif.) 17-2
6. (8) St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.) 15-1
7. (9) Clovis North (Fresno, Calif.) 16-0-1
8. (21) Guyer (Denton, Texas) 26-0
9. (11) Willow Canyon (Surprise, Ariz.) 20-0-1
10. (10) Anthony Wayne (Whitehouse, Ohio) 4-0
*** Scroll down to see the rest of the 2023 Extra Elite Eighty Preseason teams!