If you don’t know, we’re big fans at Student Sports of perennial powerhouse programs. Some think historical achievements have absolutely no bearing on ranking teams during a particular season, but when it’s a national high school ranking – such as the FAB 50 – these are teams that aren’t playing each other anyway so in our formula teams with a great past do have at least some edge over teams that don’t.

This brings us to this week’s FAB 50 in softball, which don’t feature too many changes mainly because many teams were on spring break and it also was just four days since we compiled the last rankings.

Still, there were a few big changes, one of which involved moving up probably the school with best softball tradition in the state of Florida and one of the best in the nation.

In this week’s FAB 50, Bartow of Florida went from unranked to No. 25. The Yellow Jackets received that much of a bump due to avenging their only loss of the season with a 5-0 triumph last week over Lake Region (Eagle Lake, Fla.).

Bartow’s tradition of softball excellence under longtime coach Glenn Rutenbar also helps. From 1997 to 2006, Rutenbar’s teams reached the state final in its division every year. The 10-season streak included numerous teams that contended for the mythical FAB 50 national title.

In addition to the win over Lake Region, the Yellow Jackets also notched a 9-5 win last week over Eau Gallie (Melbourner, Fla.) in that game, Tonee Fabrini led the way with four hits and six RBI.

Another team coming up fast this week is Yorba Linda (Calif.). The Mustangs bounced back from a recent loss with shutout wins over Valencia (10-0) and Cypress (1-0). Against Cypress, ace pitcher Page Von Sprecken shined with a no-hitter and 12 strikeouts.

Yorba Linda, which moved back up to No. 32 this week, also was given rankings credit for being involved in this week’s Michelle Carew Classic. The impressive field at this year’s Michelle Carew Classic includes No. 3 Amador Valley (Pleasanton, Calif.) and No. 9 Pacifica (Garden Grove, Calif.). In last year’s tourney, Yorba Linda sent Amador Valley down into the consolation round with a 3-1 win in the first-round.

Here are this week’s rankings:

(Previous ranking listed in parentheses)

(Through reported results of Saturday, March 29)

*Indicates forfeit wins, losses not included.

***

1.    (1) Mission Viejo (Mission Viejo, Calif.) 13-0

2.    (2) St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) 17-0

3.    (3) Amador Valley (Pleasanton, Calif.) 7-0

4.    (4) Alexander Central (Taylorsville, N.C.) 11-0

5.    (5) Hoover (North Canton, Ohio) 0-0

6.    (6) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) 9-0

7.    (7) Harmony (Harmony, Fla.) 17-1

8.    (8) Cinco Ranch (Katy, Texas) 18-1

9.    (9) Pacifica (Garden Grove, Calif.) 11-2

10.  (10) Barbers Hill (Mt. Belvieu, Texas) 19-0

11.  (11) P.K. Yonge (Gainesville, Fla.) 15-0

12.  (12) Gibbs (Corryton, Tenn.) 15-0*

13.  (15) Ponte Vedra (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) 20-0

14.  (16) Sahuaro (Tucson, Ariz.) 11-2-1

15.  (18) The Woodlands (Conroe, Texas) 24-2

16.  (25) Esperanza (Anaheim, Calif.) 11-1

17.  (24) Sparkman (Harvest, Ala.) 29-1*

18.  (20) Columbia (Lake City, Fla.) 12-1

19.  (19) St. John Vianney (Holmdel, N.J.) 0-0

20.  (21) Atascocita (Humble, Texas) 19-1

21.  (29) Marina (Huntington Beach, Calif.) 14-1

22.  (22) Olathe East (Olathe, Kan.) 0-0

23.  (26) Pearce (Richardson, Texas) 17-1

24.  (35) Verrado (Buckeye, Ariz.) 14-2-1

25.  (NR) Bartow (Bartow, Fla.) 15-1

26.  (28) Cypress-Fairbanks (Cypress, Texas) 19-1

27.  (27) Bloom-Carroll (Carroll, Ohio) 0-0

28.  (32) Santiago (Corona, Calif.) 11-2

29.  (30) American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) 16-3

30.  (34) Chino Hills (Chino, Calif.) 10-3

31.  (31) Bishop Carroll (Wichita, Kan.) 0-0

32.  (NR) Yorba Linda (Yorba Linda, Calif.) 9-1

33.  (33) Naperville Central (Naperville, Ill.) 0-0

34.  (36) South Salem (Salem, Ore.) 6-0

35.  (39) Vacaville (Vacaville, Calif.) 10-0-1

36.  (40) Brazoswood (Clute, Texas) 20-2

37.  (37) Immaculate Heart (Washington Township, N.J.) 0-0

38.  (38) Sherwood (Sandy Spring, Md.) 1-0

39.  (41) Deer Park (Deer Park, Texas) 19-4

40.  (43) Chopticon (Morganza, Md.) 4-0

41.  (45) St. Amant (St. Amant, La.) 16-0

42.  (42) Portage Central (Portage, Mich.) 0-0

43.  (48) Clovis (Clovis, Calif.) 9-0

44.  (14) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego, Calif.) 10-1

45.  (17) Mountain Ridge (Glendale, Ariz.) 15-3-1

46.  (47) LaGrange (LaGrange, Texas) 26-1

47.  (NR) Los Osos (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) 10-2

48.  (NR) Beech (Hendersonville, Tenn.) 13-2

49.  (49) Southington (Southington, Conn.) 0-0

50.  (NR) West Florida (Pensacola, Fla.) 14-0

Dropped Out: Previous No. 13 Tate (Cantonment, Fla.); No. 23 North (Torrance, Calif.); No. 44 San Benito (Hollister, Calif.); No. 46 Ironwood Ridge (Tucson, Ariz.); No. 50 Mt. Juliet (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.).

 

Teams On The Bubble

• Alhambra (Martinez, Calif.) 8-1
• Apex (Apex, N.C.) 9-1
• Baker (Mobile, Ala.) 33-1
• Benet Academy (Lisle, Ill.) 0-0
• Canyon (Anaheim, Calif.) 7-3
• Flower Mound (Flower Mound, Texas) 18-5
• Gilbert (Gilbert, Ariz.) 13-5
• Green Hope (Cary, N.C.) 9-1
• Hillcrest (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) 24-3-1
• John Curtis Christian (River Ridge, La.) 16-2
• Lake Braddock (Burke, Va.) 2-0
• Middle Creek (Apex, N.C.) 8-1
• Mt. Juliet (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) 13-2
• North (Torrance, Calif.) 11-3
• Northern (Owings Mills, Md.) 2-1
• Red Mountain (Mesa, Ariz.) 14-4
• Roseville (Roseville, Calif.) 11-1
• Tate (Cantonment, Fla.) 12-2
• Walla Walla (Walla Walla, Wash.) 2-0
• West Ranch (Valencia, Calif.) 11-3