Lady Huskies Continue to Rise in National Poll by MaxPreps

East Carter (Grayson, Ky.) is getting another stellar season from seven-year varsity pitcher Montana Fouts and moves to the No. 1 spot in this week’s MaxPreps Xcellent Top 25 national high school softball rankings.

Fouts, a 6-foot-2 senior who has signed with Alabama, continues to make a loud statement to be MaxPreps National Player of the Year. For the season, she is 33-0 with an 0.07 ERA and 417 strikeouts in 196 innings. She has pitched 27 shutouts, a dozen being no-hitters and eight perfect games. She also is batting .604 with12 home runs, 66 RBIs and 18 doubles.

As a result, East Carter is 37-0 going into the Kentucky State Softball Tournament beginning Thursday.

Fouts first pitched for the Raiders’ varsity before she was a teen as a sixth-grader. Since her debut in 2012, Fouts has won 144 games with 1,900 strikeouts in 993 innings. She has lost 14 games during that span, but four have come during the last two state tournaments.

Neshoba Central (Philadelphia, Miss.), which won the Mississippi 5A title three weeks ago, concluded its season at 34-0, but has been relegated to the sidelines watching scores from the No. 2 spot in the Top 25.

Unbeaten Madison (Vienna, Va.) jumped four spots to No. 3, while Californians San Marcos and Norco are fourth and fifth, respectively.

St. John-Vianney (Holmdel, N.J.) not only crashed the Top 25, but vaulted all the way to No. 8 after ending Donovan Catholic’s perfect season to win the state’s Non Public championship. St. John Vianney is 27-0.

The Top 10 also includes unbeatens Tualatin (Ore.) and Hoover (Clendenin, W.Va.) recently ended their perfect seasons with state titles.

There’s nothing like the postseason to shake up the Top 25 as eight teams fell from the rankings. It’s the highest number of teams to fall from the Top 25 during a single poll in the last seven years.

Canyon (New Braunsfels, Texas), which was ranked No. 1 for five weeks, dropped to No. 25 this week after losing the state 6A title to Atascocita and finished 29-2. Atascocita takes over at No. 24.

1. (Last week 2) East Carter (Grayson, Ky.), 37-0
The Raiders are owning the early rounds of the postseason with five straight lopsided wins, including four by shutout. They open state tournament play on Thursday against 26-5 Butler, a team they beat earlier this season 6-5. The five runs by Butler are the most scored against East Carter this season.

2. (4) Neshoba Central (Philadelphia, Miss.), 34-0
The Rockets won their sixth straight state 5A title. Season over.

The Redhawks blanked Battlefield and McLean for their 12th and 13th shutout wins of the season. They take on 19-6 South County (Lorton) in the state large school quarterfinals on Tuesday.

4. (5) San Marcos (Calif.), 28-2
The Knights won the San Diego Section Open Division title. Season over.

5. (6) Norco (Calif.), 29-3
The Cougars finished the season with 10 straight, including 8-2 over Gahr to win the California Southern Section Open Division title. Paige Smith hit a grand slam. Season over.

6. (8) Tualatin (Ore.), 30-0
The Timberwolves rallied from a two-run deficit to complete the perfect season, getting a 4-3 walk-off victory over Clackamas. Tualatin became the first big-school program to go undefeated in Oregon since Churchill went 23-0 in 1992. Season over.

7. (9) Hoover (Clendenin, W. Va.), 33-0
The Huskies repeated as state AA champions. Season over.

8. (NR) St. John-Vianney (Holmdel, N.J.), 27-0
Behind the pitching of sophomore Julia Parker, St. John Vianney knocked off previously unbeaten and highly ranked Donovan Catholic, 2-0, then edged Mount St. Dominic, 2-1, to win the state non-public state title. Season over.

9. (11) New Palestine (Ind.), 29-1
The Dragons have won 19 in a row and play Saturday against 25-5 South Bend for the state 3A title.

10. (14) Keystone (La Grange, Ohio), 34-0
Marlie McNulty’s RBI triple in the 12th inning gave Keystone a 3-2 victory over Beloit West Branch (27-4) in the state D2 championship game. Season over.

11. (16) Jackson (Mill Creek, Wash.), 25-1
The Timberwolves won the state 4A title. Season over.

12. (NR) Scott County (Georgetown, Ky.), 27-2
Senior Kenndy Sullivan is averaging better than two strikeouts per inning and has a 0.20 ERA. She also leads the Cardinals with 13 homers and 50 RBIs. The Cards have won 10 in a row as they open state tournament play on Thursday.

13. (20) Coral Springs Charter (Coral Springs, Fla.), 30-2
The Panthers won the state 6A title. Season over.

14. (22) Champion (Warren, Ohio), 31-0
The Golden Flashes have won 39 over two seasons and repeated as state D3 champions with a 9-4 win over Cardington Lincoln. Season over.

15. (17) Clovis (Calif.), 31-2
Clovis won the California Central Section D1 title. Season over.

16. (NR) Shawnee Heights (Tecumseh, Kan.), 25-0
The T-Birds completed their second straight perfect season to run their win streak to 50 over two seasons. As a result, Shawnee Heights has won back to back state 5A championships. Season over.

17. (NR) Barrington (Ill.), 33-3
The Fillies won sixth straight and move into the state 4A super sectionals on Monday against 28-5 Palestine.

18. (19) White Knoll (Lexington, S.C.), 32-2
The Timberwolves won the state 5A championship. Season over.

19. (24) Stevens Point (Wis.), 22-0
The Panthers have opened the postseason with 14-0, 17-2 and 6-1 wins.

20. (NR) Hurricane (W. Va.), 25-3
The Redskins won their fourth-straight state 3A title. Season over.

21 (21) Bentonville (Ark.), 31-3
Bentonville captured the state 7A championship. Season over.

22. (NR) Ouachita Parish (Monroe, La.), 33-4
The Lions won the state title five weeks ago and won their final 17 games. Season over.

23. (NR) Severna Park (Md.), 27-2
The Falcons won the state 4A title by outscoring its opponents 41-1 in four state tournament games. Season over.

24. (NR) Atascocita (Humble, Texas), 35-7
Seven losses is a lot for a Top 25 team, but winning the state 6A title is impressive. The Eagles knocked off previously ranked No. 1 Canyon (New Braunsfels) 5-3 for the title. Atascocita senior outfielder Lauren Bazan was the game’s Most Valuable Player. Freshman Katie Cismuz finished the season with 11 homers, 16 doubles and 48 RBIs.

25. (1) Canyon (New Braunfels, Texas), 29-2
The Cougars, who were ranked No. 1 often this season, lost 5-3 to No. 24 Atascocita in the state 6A finals. Their other loss was 1-0.

Dropped out: Freedom (Oakley, Calif.), Center Grove (Greenwood, Ind.), Maple Lake (Minn.), Donovan Catholic (Toms River, N.J.), Lincoln-Way East (Frankfort, Ill.), Los Altos (Hacienda Heights, Calif.), Chino Hills (Calif.) and South Caldwell (NC).