The hits, metaphorically, keep knocking out of the park for the Orange Beach Lady Makos softball team in the aftermath of winning six straight state championships.

The latest is being named the small-town national champion by MaxPreps and No. 2 in the country among all high school teams, also by MaxPreps.

Since the season ended on May 19, finding teams winning six straight softball state championships like the Makos has been a mission for superfan David Dale who works for the city at the Adult Fitness Center.

So far, at least two other teams ended the year as six-time consecutive state softball champions in 2021-26. Research has so far found no other six-time softball champs in this or any other six-year stretch. But that doesn't mean one isn't out there.

The overall MaxPrep national champion, Calvary Baptist Academy from Shreveport, Louisiana, finished the year as six-time state champions there as did the Taunton, Massachusetts, Lady Tigers.

Other rankings include Orange Beach at No. 3 overall the final Sports Illustrated poll with Calvary Baptist coming in at No. 5. Lake Creek from Montgomery, Texas, was Sports Illustrated's national champion with South Warren of Bowling Green, Kentucky, as the No. 2 team. South Warren was the only team to defeat Orange Beach in 2026. It was 7-1 in a game at the Sportsplex.

The Taunton Lady Tigers from Massachusetts didn't finish in the top 25 of any postseason rankings but had a season that only saw one loss as well. And that lone loss came to LaSalle Academy from Providence, Rhode Island, a team that finished No. 21 in the Sports Illustrated poll, and the Lady Rams won a fourth straight state title in Rhode Island.

Although her team didn't show up in any final national rankings — they've been ranked several times in the past in Max Preps — Coach Michelle Raposo, a former Taunton player, is quite proud of her team's six straight championship. It's the fourth with her as head coach after two under coach Carrie Consalvi.

Like Orange Beach, Taunton has superstar players at several positions, including Massachusetts' Gatorade Player of the Year, shortstop Bella Bourque, an infield starter since her eighth-grade year, and catcher Aniya Bailey, a starter since ninth grade. The Lady Makos have shortstop and super all-state selection Katie King and six-time all-state selection Ava Hodo at catcher. Any story about the Lady Makos would be remiss to leave out another five-time Class 4A all-state selection and six-year starter second baseman Teagan Revette.

Orange Beach relied on sophomore pitcher MK McCullan, the MaxPreps Alabama Player of the year, super all-state selection and MVP of the state tournament for 32 of its 46 wins against the one loss.

When MaxPreps announced its All-American team, Makos Hodo was a first team selection, McMullan and King were second team selections and Jade Palmer was named honorable mention. For Taunton, Bourque was a second team All-American. For Calvary, pitcher Kynzee Anderson was the national player of the year and first team All-American. Teammates Baylor Bockhous and Loren Sivils joined her as first team and third team selections.

Raposo said while in the past strong pitching led championship runs, this year the bats had to carry the load including winning the state championship game after giving up five runs in the first inning.

"We had one out and I put in my eighth-grade pitcher," Raposo said. "She came in, locked him down pretty much or fairly as good as we were going to do, knowing that we weren't going to be a dominant pitching staff this year. And we won 11-8, which is the highest scoring division one final game ever."

Raposo, sounding a bit like Orange Beach Coach Shane Alexander, said establishing a team chemistry among all her players was the key to keeping the streak alive in 2026.

"You know, if you watch the game long enough, you can have all the talent in the world," she said, "but if your guys don't play together and buy into the team culture program, you go nowhere with it. Like 'what's it mean to be a Taunton Tiger?' It was a team effort. We have some really great players."

She said the loss to Lasalle helped bring that culture together after it ended a long winning streak by the Lady Tigers.

"We had a winning streak of 60 something games, whatever it was, and I didn't realize the kids were feeling the pressure of that," she said. "So going into LaSalle, when we lost, they were like, thank God. They didn't like that pressure."

So now, at least three teams in the U.S. — others are possibly out there as well — will hit the field next spring looking for a seventh straight softball state title. And possibly the first one to take seven in a row.

No pressure Orange Beach. No pressure Taunton. And, no pressure Calvary Baptist.