Prep Softball- The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released their third rankings for the season and this last week provided for a lot of entertainment and three new teams rocking the crown in the five Classifications. Moreover, nine teams were dropped from the top 15.
North Linn is the new top team on the block in Class 1A after being ranked 4th last week. Their rise in the rankings comes after two wins against the #3 team in Class 2A Lisbon, 3-1 and 7-5. Martensdale-St. Marys jumped up the rankings after defeating the former #1 team Southeast Warren in a nail-bitter, 1-0. The Warhawks sit in the #3 slot. Remsen St. Mary’s and Collins-Maxwell experienced identical falls of 5-spots with the Hawks now ranked 8th and the Spartans now 11th. Earlham jumped into the rankings with an 11-4 record with Twin Cedars rounding out the top 15. Woodbine fell out of the top 15 despite winning their last 5 games and outscoring their opponents 44 to 9.
Class 2A had their top 5 almost remain the same from a week ago with Iowa City Regina sitting on top of the rankings. Van Meter jumped Wilton for the #4 spot. West Monona jumped up 6 spots in the rankings after taking down a previously ranked Ridge View, 8-7, amid a 9-game winning streak. After starting the season 3-6, Interstate 35 has turned a corner to even their record at 7-7 and moved up the rankings to 10th after falling to 14th last week. Louisa-Muscatine and Ridge View were dropped from the rankings. Missouri Valley, with a 15-1 record, enter the rankings in 11th and Waterloo Columbus Catholic rounds out the top 15 with a 13-3 record.
Class 3A had the least amount of movement with Williamsburg sitting on top of the rankings with an undefeated record. Saydel had the farthest drop of any team in Class 3A, going from 3rd to 7th. The Eagles 5-1 loss to unranked Greene County did them no favors. Davis County jumped up to the 3rd spot with their own undefeated record. West Lyon leaped three spots in the rankings to move into the top 10. Benton was the only team knocked out of the top 15 with 9-3 Grinnell taking their spot at #15.
Dallas Center-Grimes fell from their thrown in Class 4A and their heir, Fort Dodge, followed in suit. Indianola is now the top team after beating Norwalk, the new #2 team, twice. Dallas Center-Grimes fell to Norwalk 8-2 and Fort Dodge lost to Johnston and Southeast Polk; two teams ranked in Class 5A. Winterset ascended the rankings from 13th to 8th after defeating previously ranked ADM 4-1. Burlington remained ranked at 9th. Cedar Rapids Xavier had the steepest fall after losing three games in a row. One game to now unranked Benton in Class 3A and then two games to Dubuque Senior, a team ranked in Class 5A. Creston and ADM fell out of the rankings with Storm Lake taking the #14 spot and Knoxville rounding out the top 15.
Ankeny Centennial trekked 6 spots up the rankings to be ranked #1 in Class 5A. The Jaguars defeated Ankeny twice and Johnston once on their way to a 10-1 record. Valley had two losses handed to them by Southeast Polk, who would have taken the top spot if they had not lost to Winterset and Waukee the games before. Valley is now ranked 2nd and the Rams in 6th. To add to the craziness, three teams were dropped from the top 15. Urbandale, who was ranked 12th, Ames, and Sioux City East, who were ranked 14th and 15th respectively. Ottumwa is now ranked 13th with Dubuque Hempstead and Dubuque Senior taking the spot of Ames and Sioux City East, respectively, to round out the top 15.