The newest rankings have been released by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, and features some changes, with several area teams still floating around the top in their respective classes.
In Class 1A, Lynnville-Sully is up one spot to #6. The Hawks sit just outside the top five, which are Akron-Westfield, New London, Don Bosco, AGWSR, and Woodbury Central.
In Class 2A, Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont is still #2, just behind Highland. The Rockets are followed by Central Springs, IKM-Manning, and Fort Dodge St. Edmond to round out the top five. Pella Christian is still #6 after a big week, which included them handing Oskaloosa their first loss of the season.
In Class 3A, the list remains the same with minimal shuffling, with Mid-Prairie the lone area team sitting in the #8 spot. Benton Community is #1, followed by Solon, East Marshall, Greene County, and Spirit Lake in the top five.
In Class 4A, Oskaloosa has been displaced following a two-loss week. They are now #2 behind future Little Hawkeye Conference foe Indianola. Indianola has been on a roll, and only have two losses on the year as well. Carlisle is #3, followed by ADM and Fort Dodge. Norwalk is down two spots to #9, but still lead the Little Hawkeye Conference.
Dallas Center-Grimes is still #12 after getting a big win over Oskaloosa in Osky last week. Fairfield has popped back into the rankings at #13, and they are followed by Knoxville, who appear for the first time at #14.
Finally, in Class 5A, there are no area teams, with Iowa City West at the top. West Des Moines Valley is sitting in second. Johnston is down from #1 to third, followed by Pleasant Valley and Cedar Rapids Jefferson to round out the top five.
At this point, the rankings are just for kicks, as the regions for all five classes have been released. Next Monday is the scheduled date for the first round of games in the smaller classes, and to prepare you with the forecast and breakdown of each and every team’s chances of advancing, we’ll present BracketMania: Softball Edition on 99.5 FM and AM 740 KMZN and on kboeradio.com this Friday night at 6 PM.
This two-hour special will involve bracket schedules, coach interviews, and predictions of over two-dozen area schools and how far they’ll go in postseason play.
For full rankings and regional brackets, check out www.ighsau.org.
