Only one school can boast of having two first team and one second team all-staters and if you check the top of the national rankings the name of that school is easy to figure out. Others with multiple honorees include Norco, Hart of Newhall and Sheldon of Sacramento.

By Mark Tennis, Executive Editor
Contributing: Ronnie Flores, Paul Muyskens, Harold Abend, Steve Brand

Congratulations to all of the following 30 players, who have been written up as first team all-state for the CalHiSports.com all-state softball honors. We have been compiling all-state teams in softball for nearly 25 years and our Ms. Softball Player of the Year lists extend back into the 1970s.

Catchers

Taylor Edwards (Vista Murrieta, Murrieta) Jr.
The Southwestern League Player of the Year handles the pitching staff for the Broncos and is also one of the most disciplined underclass hitters in the state. In 111 plate appearances, Edwards struck out only twice and drew 20 bases on balls. She not only is tough and intelligent, she also has power, as her 15 home runs and 1.209 slugging percentage attest to. Edwards, a Nebraska commit, finished her junior campaign with a .571 batting average and 45 RBI while being named to the all-star squads of the Riverside Press-Enterprise and the Los Angeles Times. She's also an EA SPORTS All-American.

Jessica Shults (Hart, Newhall) Sr.
She caught all-state teammate Destiny Rodino at Hart and in college at Oklahoma may catching Keilani Ricketts. Shults, an EA SPORTS All-American, was the 2009 All-Santa Clarita Valley player of the year in a pick over Rodino. On the year, she hit .448 with 10 home runs and 27 RBI. The Indians won three straight games in the playoffs by 1-0 final scores, before losing to Norco, and in two of the three games she drove in the game's lone run as she homered against Trabuco Hills and doubled in a run against Esperanza. On the yea,r she had just two errors while being a part of 284 putouts for a fielding percentage over 99 percent.

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Junior pitcher ends with unique one-hitter as Eagles win CIFSS Div. II softball title in matchup of nationally-ranked teams. Broncos had not been shut out in 49 games. Also, El Segundo loses in Div. IV final.

By Mark Tennis, Executive Editor

It wasn't your typical one-hit shutout, but it was one that softball coaches everywhere would probably love to see.

Natalie Pulver from Etiwanda High of Rancho Cucamonga threw the one-hitter and she did it in the CIF Southern Section Div. II championship on Friday night at Deanna Manning Stadium in Irvine over a squad from Vista Murrieta of Murrieta that hadn't been blanked in 49 straight previous games and had scored at least five runs in every playoff game so far this season.

Etiwanda's 4-0 victory gave the program its second CIFSS title – the first came in Division I in 2002 – and also was against an opponent that entered the game at No. 13 in the ESPN RISE FAB 50 national rankings and was No. 6 in the state. The Eagles wrapped up a 29-2 season record themselves and will no doubt move up a great deal next week from their own ranking positions of No. 27 in the nation and No. 10 in the state.

Vista Murrieta (27-5) was frustrated throughout the game by Pulver's ability to switch speeds. According to head coach David Masucci, she even added a third speed specifically for the one game, taking into account the Broncos' powerful lineup, led by twins Tatum and Taylor Edwards.

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There were no upsets last week, but one on Monday already this week is certainly a big one. The only major changes from last week were in the aftermath of Valencia beating Hart in the Foothill League.

Compiled by Mark Tennis, Executive Editor
Writeups by Harold Abend, Paul Muyskens, Steve Brand and Mark Tennis

(After games of Saturday, May 16)
(Previous ranking in parentheses)

1.  (1)  Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 29-0
It's beginning to sound like a broken record but it sure looks like a juggernaut the way the Monarchs and Keilani Ricketts in particular have been playing. Each week seems to surpass the last one. Last week in the West Catholic Athletic League semifinals they routed Valley Christian, 10-0. Ricketts drove in two, Christina Menjivar drove in two and Miyuki Navarette had a triple that drove in a run. Eight different girls scored in the onslaught. In the title game 2-0 victory over Presentation (San Jose), Menjivar delivered an RBI single in the second, Cal Poly-bound Jillian Anderson did likewise in the third, and Ricketts did the rest. The Oklahoma-bound senior fireballer tossed a one-hitter and struck out 18 as the FAB 50 No. 2 ranked Monarchs added the WCAL playoff championship to their regular season title. They now move into the CCS Division II playoffs as the top seed and have a first round bye. They will meet the winner of the Santa Clara vs. Los Gatos game on May 23. If everything goes as seeded, Mitty would play second-seeded Presentation a fourth time in the finals on May 30 with a chance to tie the current 32-0 unbeaten mark of Ocean View of Huntington Beach. "We would like to get that 32-0,” said Coach Sarah Thomas, whose team scrimmages Wilcox (Santa Clara) on Tuesday, and who acknowledged that she has followed Sutter and knows they are now 34-0 after the Northern Section D4 championship game victory set the new record. She didn't want to take anything away from Sutter but told CalHiSports.com the obvious, "It's against a different talent level.” We assume Coach Thomas and the rest of the Monarchs also have been following the results of FAB 50 No. 1 Klein Oak in the Texas state playoffs. Let's just say there will be a new No. 1 when this week's FAB 50 is released later on Wednesday on the ESPNRISE.com softball page one index.

2.  (2)  Sheldon (Sacramento) 26-1
The Huskies rode the powerful right arm of Jolene Henderson through the opening rounds of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs as she struck out 29 batters in their first two wins. Henderson tossed a no-hitter in a 7-0 win over Beyer of Modesto in the first round and then matched zeroes with Lodi's Tori Shepard before the Huskies scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull out a 2-0 victory. Before we could even get the new rankings out and written, however, the Huskies have been upset in the Monday game by Elk Grove for the second year in a row. The 2-1 loss sent Sheldon to the loser's bracket, but they are still alive for a section title after defeating Buhach Colony just hours later. The loss to Elk Grove would drop Sheldon behind Norco in the final rankings if Norco were to win its section title because the Cougars would have to do that with no losses whatsoever.

3.  (3)  Norco 27-2
The Gerhart triplets made sure the top-seeded Cougars entered the Southern Section Division I playoffs next Tuesday on a high note with a pair of impressive shutout wins to close out the regular season. Teagan Gerhart fired a no-hitter and sister Whitley drove in a run, along with Kelli Frye, as Norco stopped M.L. King (Riverside), 2-0. Teagan went five more innings and all three sisters got in the act as the Cougars stopped Centennial (Corona), 7-0, to make it 21 straight wins heading into the postseason. Teagan and Kelsey Gerhart each drove in a pair of runs while Whitley was going 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored as a five-run first inning pretty much decided matters early. Although the Cougars only have a pair of 1-0 losses to Freedom (Oakley) and Poly (Riverside), there is nowhere to go as the two teams above them also continue to win, although Sheldon did finally drop one on Monday of this week.

4.  (4)  Freedom (Oakley) 21-3
The Falcons rolled into the CIF North Coast Section Division I playoffs as the top seed after going undefeated in Bay Valley League play, finishing 15-0 after 12-0 and 6-0 victories last week over Antioch and Liberty of Brentwood, respectively. Against Antioch, Fresno State-bound Hannah Williams hurled a mercy-shortened four-hitter with eight strikeouts, and hit her sixth home run of the season, a three-run blast. Against Liberty it was a three-hitter with six fanned. Chrissy Stalf had the big bat in that game, going 3-for-3 with a triple and four knocked in. Coach Jeff Jonas' girls now have a first round bye and await the Liberty at Castro Valley winner in a May 23 second round contest.

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