Extra Elite 80 National High School Rankings: State Playoffs Continue, Three Top-Ranked Teams in Louisiana Win Titles (May 4, 2023)

As the calendar turns to May for the 2023 national high school softball season, it’s time for some states to actually be finished with state playoffs and it’s also when there can be some early-round playoff upsets that knock out highly ranked teams.

The one way to end a season is obviously way better than the other way. There hasn’t been any upsets like that so far, but there almost always is and there almost was one on Wednesday of this week in a wild-card matchup of the CIF Southern Section D1 playoffs in Southern California.

National No. 12 Huntington Beach had to be in one of those wild-card games for various reasons, and came through in the late innings of a matchup with Westlake of Westlake Village that was tied 0-0 into the sixth inning for a 2-0 win. The competitiveness of such a game so early on is just another example of why the CIFSS D1 bracket is the toughest one in the nation to get through. 

There are three teams in this week’s national rankings that have won state titles in Louisiana to end their seasons.

• The leader of that group is St. Amant as the Gators won their second straight state crown with a 4-0 triumph over Sam Houston of Lake Charles to win the non-select division state title. It also was the program’s eighth state title overall. Reigning Gatorade State Player of the Year Addison Jackson pitched the shutout with four hits allowed. In this week’s rankings, St. Amant moved up from No. 15 to No. 13 and by the time everything is done likely will finish in the top 10.

CHAMPS

St. Amant closes out the season with a 4-0 win over Sam Houston to claim the Non-Select Division I state championship! pic.twitter.com/O5AHbg5rjY

— GeauxPreps.com (@GeauxPrepsLA) April 29, 2023

• North DeSoto of Stonewall, La., earned its third straight state title with a 7-4 victory over Albany in the Non-Select D2 bracket. The Lady Griffins, who moved from No. 44 to No. 39 in this week’s rankings, got home runs from Payton Miller, Cameron Curtis and Laney Johnson.
• St. Thomas More of Lafayette, La., pushed itself into the top 50 of the Extra Elite 80 a couple of weeks ago with some big wins and locked up a final spot by beating Tioga, 7-3, in the LHSAA D1 Select state finals. Shyanne Irvin led the Cougars by going 2-for-3 with a homer and four RBI. Her two-run homer in the fifth also broke a 3-3 tie.

— Mark Tennis

*****

(After games of Wednesday, May 3)

(Previous rank in parentheses)

*Indicates season complete.

**Indicates forfeit wins, losses not included.

Top 10

1.  (1) Lake Creek (Montgomery, Texas) 36-0

2. (2) Lake Ridge (Mansfield, Texas) 34-0

3. (3) Clovis North (Fresno, Calif.) 22-0-1

4. (4) Ballard (Louisville, Ky.) 22-0

5. (5) Guyer (Denton, Texas) 31-0

6. (6) Coral Springs Charter (Coral Springs, Fla.) 22-0-2*

7. (7) Willow Canyon (Surprise, Ariz.) 28-0-1

8. (9) Pace (Pace, Fla.) 24-1

9. (8) Watkins Memorial (Pataskala, Ohio) 19-0

10. (10) Los Alamitos (Los Alamitos, Calif.) 24-3

*** Scroll down to see the rest of the 2023 Extra Elite 80 teams!

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