In the third edition of this week's Ashland Times-Gazette's softball power rankings, Crestview and Hillsdale stand ahead of the rest, as a new team cracks the top five.
(Records and results are through Sunday.)
Ashland Times-Gazette's softball power rankings
5. Northwestern (9-7)
Northwestern stays in the No. 5 spot it was in last week. The Huskies went 4-2 this past week, pulling a two-game sweep of Waynedale, beating Point Pleasant, then dropped a 14-2 loss to Division III state-ranked Western Brown on Friday, then proceeded to split their two games on Saturday, with a win over Woodridge and a defeat to Wellston. Pitcher Alysa Troyan earned wins in two of the Huskies four victories.
4. Black River (8-5)
Black River jumps into the top five for the first time this season. After losing to Keystone on Monday, the Pirates rattled off four straight wins, with three of those victories being games where they scored double-digit runs. With the Pirates current hot streak, they now sit in second (5-1 league record) in the Lorain County League standings behind always-strong Keystone.
Playing well for the Pirates have been players like catcher Mia Rosales (.562 batting average, 4 HRs, 14 RBIs, 18 hits, 13 runs scored), shortstop Mallory Eckert (.442 batting average, 15 RBIs, 14 hits, 14 runs scored) and left fielder Jenevieve Dieter (.447 batting average, 11 RBIs, 21 hits, 18 runs scored).
3. New London (8-3)
Midway through the season, New London has shown a penchant for getting into high-scoring games. New London has scored 10-plus runs in a game seven times, and in five games, they've given up 10-plus runs. The Wildcats gave up 16 runs against Mapleton on Monday (16-1 loss), then fired back with a 7-6 win over the Mounties the next day and pulled out a 14-10 road win versus Loudonville on Thursday. New London will have a key two-game set with Crestview in Firelands Conference action this week.
2. Crestview (10-2)
Crestview has now run off six wins in a row, including winning eight of their last nine contests, as the Cougars are tied for first place in the Firelands Conference with Monroeville. The Cougars didn't get a chance to match up with Division V state-ranked Oak Harbor over the weekend due to the weather, but they'll get plenty of competition this week playing last year's Division IV state runner-ups in Monroeville and the high-run producing New London in two-game sets.
1. Hillsdale (11-2)
Hillsdale continues to cruise in the Wayne County Athletic League (6-0 in league play) and they showed that in their two-game sweep of Smithville last week, as they outscored the Smithies 26-1. The Falcons were able to beat a very good Clear Fork team 3-2 on the road Monday but were shutout by Division IV state-ranked Marlington 5-0 on Friday. The Falcons were not able to get in their scheduled doubleheader against formidable foes Strasburg-Franklin and North Ridgeville on Saturday.
A makeup date could be made for those big tests, but in the meantime, the Falcons will continue their WCAL play with Rittman and Dalton this week.
jsimpson@gannett.com
Twitter/X:@JamesSimpsonII
