RANKINGS
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ABOUT
A year ago at this time, we were fired up to kick off the 2020 high school preseason and get into the year.
Less than two months later, however, it would all come crashing down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the calendar flipped into February, it mean that the prep campaign was about to begin and one team that looked to have a great shot to not just win a state title but a national one was Lakewood Ranch out of Bradenton, Florida.
The Mustangs made it to the 2019 finale ranked #1 in our Extra Elite Eighty High School Rankings but lost in the championship game. However, the 2020 was poised to be a huge one, but only eight games in the season was pulled.
Today, we’re cautiously optimistic we’ll get into the 2021 spring schedules and, who knows, if we’ll make it all the way through, but fingers crossed!
Lakewood Ranch is about two weeks away from starting anew and we wish T.J. Goelz’s prep program a strong and healthy season along with all the other high school teams in the country!
Coach Goelz told Extra Inning Softball today:
“I am very excited to see us back on the field together and preparing for the upcoming season. This group is ready to respect the amazing tradition of the class that graduated and make a legacy of their own. They are working hard and extra, like their prior teammates did, and I expect us to be very very competitive again this year.”
And how does the 2021 version look heading into fast-approaching season? The coach continued:
“We are loaded with athletes with 10th grader Cassidy McLellan leading the way… I expect her to put up Avery Goelz (Florida freshman)-like numbers. Yes, offensively, Cassidy can be that good. We got a needed boost when 5-foot-11 left-handed pitcher Olivia Laney transferred in; she is a rising prospect with low 60’s velocity and a high-level change up. We expect her to be mid-60’s type pitcher if she follow the program. Jillian Herbst will be the senior leader and will put up big offensive numbers as well. She’s a four-year starter and two-time 1st Team All-State honoree.”
2021 season is on its way!!
-12 days ‘til the 5th Annual Black/Green game.
– 14 days until home pre-season game vs Robinson
– 19 days until 2021 Season Opener at Home vs Sarasota Riverview. pic.twitter.com/itbpjdg1a8— LRHS Softball (@LakewoodRanchSB) January 29, 2021
We’ll have more coverage of high school softball in the next few weeks, but for now look back on the historic year that was 2020…
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High School: Lakewood Ranch Loses Chance for State Championship… But Still Ends Up #1 in the Nation
Originally published April 23, 2020 on Extra Inning Softball
This shoulda/coulda been the year for Lakewood Ranch High of Bradenton, Florida to win it all on the softball fields.
After losing deep in the Florida high school playoffs in 2019 to Winter Springs High, the #1 team in the final Extra Elite Eighty High School Rankings last year, the Mustangs were ready to make 2020 a championship season.
Entering this spring, all the pieces were in place.
Few high school teams had the talent and experience that Head Coach T.J. Goelz could roll out each game as Lakewood Ranch had 10 signed seniors with nine of them going DI and five going to Power 5 colleges.
The pitching staff featured a trio of 2020’s that made it one of the best in the nation with Claire Davidson (Duke signee), Payton Kinney (UConn) and Brooklyn Lucero (North Carolina State) going a combined 25-1 in 2019. The offense and defense were similarly deep, led by Avery Goelz (Florida) at first base, Kali Reis (Florida) at shortstop, Taylor Woodring (East Carolina) in the outfield and McKenzie “Pie” Clark (Clemson) behind the plate.
Davidson and Goelz were Extra Inning Softball 1st Team All-Americans last year and, amazingly, the team had 10 players across all grad years who weren’t just All-State honorees, they were multi-year All-State honorees.
Click HERE for a more detailed preseason scouting report on Lakewood Ranch
The Mustangs had won 38 of its last 39 games and had the unique aspect of most of the players also competing for the elite Tampa Mustangs 18U team, also coached by Goelz. Seven members of the high school team had played together on the same high school and travel teams and three times finished in the Top 5 at PGF Nationals including a 3rd place at 18U Premier in 2019.
With proven chemistry and cohesiveness, Lakewood Ranch roared out of the gate when the 2020 season in February piling up eight wins, five of them shutouts, and outscoring opponents 83 to 4. As Coach Goelz said in the preseason, “I expect this team to have the highest offensive output ever at Lakewood Ranch and possibly the state.”
He also stated a goal that would prophetically end up being true, although not in the way anyone expected.
“Quite simply, we have to win one more game,” the coach told Extra Inning Softball in January. “We won’t be focused on being undefeated, we will be focused on winning one more game than we did last year … the last one. If we do what we have been doing the last three years, and then use all that experience and hunger for a championship as a team, we will be very, very happy at the end of the season. A state and national title is our goal.”
Winning the final game did happen, but on Monday—when the FHSAA confirmed the season was officially cancelled—the chances for the state and national accomplishments vanished.
One bright spot for Lakewood Ranch High: in the last regular season rankings that came out on March 20, the Florida high school team was #1 and when the final 2020 Extra Elite Eighty High School rankings come out next week, they will be crowned the #1 team.
But, as Coach Goelz freely admits, it’s not the way he hoped it would be.
“This has been heartbreaking, gut wrenching and all of the feelings you can imagine,” he begins. “I have worked with many of these players since they were 8-years-old and we talked for years about having an incredible team in high school and we sure did. Watching them grow up and become confident young ladies who played the game the right way and were good friends and teammates to each other has been incredibly rewarding and that is what I try to focus on.”
“But it’s tough, because this was a special year,” Goelz admits. “The players have broken every team and individual record at this school and they have been ranked #1 in the country the better part of the past two years and all of this year. We are honored for that recognition and attention.”
Assistant Coach Liz Goelz, T.J.’s wife and mom to Avery, adds: “This really hurts. I feel for all our girls and it’s tough to put into words what it feels like. No one has been through anything like this so providing comfort, understanding and a shoulder (through Zoom) is what we are doing. We really had a special year planned for this team on the field and off, but so many opportunities for memories were taken away.”
“That, as a mom of a senior and as a coach for all these seniors, makes me tear up just thinking about it. We are still going to try and do something for them, we’re still working on a plan—T.J. is always working on a plan—but my heart goes out to all of our players, especially the seniors and their families, who deserved better.“
“The season ending this way is heartbreaking,” agrees senior pitcher/infielder Claire Davidson, “because it still feels like we have unfinished business that we now won’t get a chance to finish. It has made me a lot more appreciative about what I have and I am trying to make the most of every situation because you never know when things can change or end.”
With the finality of the premature ending of the season settling in, the Mustang coaches and players are looking forward to the future while appreciating the past.
“I have been managing by trying to look forward to the summer season and college in a few months to keep me focused and motivated throughout this weird time.” Davidson adds.
Fellow senior teammate Avery Goelz agrees: “While this hurts inside really bad, all I can do is remember the good times and hope for things to get better. I am so thankful for everyone that supported me throughout the years and all the memories we have made. I know the underclassmen are going to continue to keep the Mustang softball program at a high standard because hard work and 100 percent effort has been burned into our souls.”
It’s a bittersweet ending for the team’s head coach, for sure, especially as the dad of his star All-American senior infielder, Avery, who will join older sister, Kinsey, who is currently at Florida playing for the Gators.
“Being able to coach Avery in high school was an unexpected blessing,” Coach T.J says. “She has handled it beyond my expectations and put together four—or more accurately three and a third—amazing years. I will surely miss having that super clutch anchor in our lineup, her ability to save plays at first base and her team leadership on and off the field.”
“I will miss our father/daughter salute to each other on her home runs as she approaches third base and I will miss seeing her at the fields every day. She has lots of great softball in front of her and a great future as well. But man, I’m going to miss what we’ve been able to do together for four years. With Liz being a big part of it all as well, it surely has been a huge part of our family’s life.”
Looking ahead, the cupboard is not bare for Lakewood Ranch High’s softball program; Goelz says that in any given game this season the Mustangs had four to five underclassmen starting on the field.
“We have some special talent that should be able to carry on the tradition this amazing 2020 class set the standard for,” Goelz says confidently.
Reflecting on the recently ended season, he admits he is proud of what his team was able to do despite the circumstances outside their control.
“I told the players that while our season was cut short, we did accomplish two of our goals: we got a win in our last game of the season and we were ranked #1 in the country at the end. Mission accomplished.”
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The Latest Extra Elite Eighty High School Softball Rankings… Are They the Last of the Spring? (Mar. 20, 2020)
Originally published March 20, 2020 on Extra Inning Softball
High school softball, along with many other springtime activities across the country and the world, has taken a back seat in the last week to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Still, it was scheduled for this week to do an updated version of the Extra Inning Softball Extra Elite 80 national rankings and there were plenty of changes to ponder following the annual Dave Kops Tournament of Champions in Bullhead City, Ariz. (which did get done on March 7 before school shutdowns began happening) plus other significant results from Florida and Texas.
Whether the entire rest of the spring sports high school season around the country will be cancelled remains to be seen.
On Tuesday of this week, the California Interscholastic Federation said it would wait until April 3 to make any further recommendations about section and state playoffs. There are no state or regional playoffs in softball in California, but there are various section championships and all of those could still be cancelled at a later date. Governor Gavin Newsom has said, however, that it “isn’t likely” that any California school districts will re-open for the current school year.
Click HERE to see the previous 2020 Extra Elite Eighty High School Rankings
In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis ordered all schools in that state to be closed until April 15. The Florida High School Athletic Association added that it would go along with that decree by saying there would be no scheduled contests in any sport until at least that time. The current No. 1 softball team in the nation, Lakewood Ranch of Bradenton, is from Florida.
The nation’s largest high school athletic association, the University Interscholastic League of Texas, has officially cancelled all athletic and non-athletic events that it oversees through March 29.
Illinois and Arizona have similar plans in motion. Both the Illinois High School Association and the Arizona Interscholastic Association have stated that the earliest possible resumption of games would be March 30.
Some school districts in California also have already issued guidelines that there will be no spring sports for the rest of the school year. Two on that list for sure are the William S. Hart High School District (home of notable softball programs Valencia, Saugus and others) and the ABC Unified School District (home of notable softball program Gahr of Cerritos).
Many other states had not even had the chance to start its spring sports seasons for high schools. Some of those still listed at 0-0 in this week’s rankings were scheduled to begin last week, but never got going.
With so much unknown, it’s hard to say if there will be a mythical national champion named or final season rankings compiled for this season. If it does turn out that there are no more games played this season, there clearly would not be a big enough sample size for some honors to be determined. And then there would be the problem of ranking teams that perhaps never even played once.
However, there would be more of a deep dive into compiling at least one more national ranking. The seniors from the Class of 2020 deserve it. They’re the ones who are going to get hammered the most by the pandemic with some not having proms, no senior trips, not even having a graduation ceremony.
— Mark Tennis
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Extra Elite Eighty High School Softball Rankings
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
(After games of Saturday, March 14)
1. (1) Lakewood Ranch (Bradenton, Fla.) 8-0
2. (7) Los Alamitos (Los Alamitos, Calif.) 10-0
3. (2) Norco (Norco, Calif.) 11-1
4. (6) Foothill (Pleasanton, Calif.) 4-0
5. (16) Park Vista (Lake Worth, Fla.) 11-0
6. (11) Trenton (Trenton, Fla.) 10-0
7. (NR) Crescenta Valley (La Crescenta, Calif.) 10-1
8. (3) Winter Springs (Winter Springs, Fla.) 8-1
9. (9) Male (Louisville, Ky.) 0-0
10. (13) Alvin (Alvin, Texas) 20-1
*** Scroll down to see the rest of the Top 50, the 30 Teams on the Bubble and those who dropped out…