By Matt Turer — mturer@ky3.com
@MattTurer
Each week, OzarksSportsZone.com will release local softball power rankings. Like our other power rankings, these rankings will be based on dominance by Class, not head-to-head.
Recent success and strength of schedule are also factored into the rankings. These rankings are through games played on Oct. 4.
Overall record and Class are listed in parenthesis.
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SEPT. 28 POWER RANKINGS
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SEPT. 14 POWER RANKINGS
SEPT. 6 POWER RANKINGS
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1. Camdenton (23-4; C4, Last week: 1)
The Lakers are rolling into their district tournament on an eight-game win streak that’s seen them outscore opponents 97-12. Camdenton also secured a perfect in-conference record with Monday’s 16-0 win over Rolla https://twitter.com/lkrathletics/status/783082475828281344. Camdenton shouldn’t have a problem in its district, having outscored 4-seed Lebanon and 3-seed Waynesville (two games) by 35 total runs over three games (3-0). If Camdenton wins its district, the path gets exponentially tougher with a likely matchup against Blue Springs South (20-2) in the first round of the state championships. This lineup still has the best depth in the area at the Class 4 level, with a team batting average of .413, a 1.060 OPS, a team ERA of 1.70 and a 0.98 WHIP.
2. Norwood (16-5, C1, Last week: 2)
Norwood closed the season out with an 11-0 win over Class 2 MV/BT-Liberty (10-11) and a 6-1 loss to Class 3 West Plains (20-6). Nothing to be ashamed of in the West Plains loss, and to be honest, it’s a good sign the Pirates played them so tough. (The game was 1-0 through 4 and Norwood trailed just 4-1 through 5). Norwood has strong pitching (Emily Chadwell: 16-5, 1.66 ERA, 111 K, 121.0 IP) and a good lineup (.930 team OPS) that should carry it to a district title. But watch out for Dora.
3. West Plains (20-6, C3, Last week: 8)
Districts 9, 10, 11 and 12 in Class 3 are so crowded. I wouldn’t be surprised if any one of about five teams in there made the Final 4. In many ways, between the Class 3 teams on this list, the top group is a toss-up. I could’ve put Monett, Cassville or Rogersville here just as easily as West Plains. The Zizzers are 1-1 this year against both Cassville AND Rogersville, losing the first game in both cases and winning the most recent. I think the difference right now for West Plains is the pitching of Abbey Gann. If you remove the five earned runs she allowed in a 9-5 win over Branson last week, she’s given up just two earned runs in her last eight starts. (And even if you count those Branson runs, seven earned runs in eight starts is still great). She’s a difference-maker on the mound, striking out 207 in 143 innings with a 1.32 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 20-4 record. West Plain’s lineup is a little top-heavy, but four different Zizzers have at least 21 RBIs, five have at least one home run and if Hadley Taylor hits two more doubles, three will have double digits in that category. Behind Gann, that’s plenty of offense.
4. Republic (19-6, C4, Last week: 3)
Republic has bounced back nicely from its three-loss Springfield invitational. They beat Willard, McDonald County and Rogersville this week, with the only real close one coming, 2-1, to Willard and Bridget Rippe, who has one of the better arms in the area. Rook finished the regular season with 240 strikeouts in 140.1 innings, a 1.25 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 18-6 record. I don’t expect them to have a problem in their district tournament, which means they’ll likely see Ozark in Sectionals play. With Camdenton likely having to face Blue Springs South, Republic may have the best path to the Final 4.
5. Monett (17-8, C3, Last week: 4)
I would’ve loved to see Monett beat Jeff City in last weekend’s Carthage Invitational, but they ended up falling, 4-3, after leading, 3-2, in the bottom of the sixth. This is one of the best team’s with one of the best lineups in Class 3. They’re hitting .382 as a team. Five regular starters are batting over .500. They’ve totaled 75 extra-base hits this year (51 doubles, 16 triples, 8 home runs). Even with all those numbers and all that power, there’s speed to be had at the top of the lineup in Katie Kurima’s 30 steals (she’s batting .439).
6. Cassville (14-8, C3, Last week: 5)
Cassville and Monett seem to be on a crash course for the Class 3 — District 12 title game. The Wildcats participated in the Branson Invitational this week, getting shut out by Branson, 8-0, and West Plains, 3-0, and beating Hillcrest and Aurora pretty easily. I’m sure I’m not alone in saying I would’ve liked to see a bit more out of the Wildcats in those shutouts, especially against a West Plains team they could see in the postseason, but Cassville has showed they’re much better than that over the second half of the season. Nothing to worry about, folks. Shoutout to Lauren Turner for hitting her second grand slam of the season in an 11-4 win over Lamar.
7. Willow Springs (17-6, C2, Last week: 6)
The 1-2 pitching punch of Sydney Miller and Kirstien Loman nearly pulled off back-to-back PERFECT games last week. First, Miller was perfect over a five-inning complete game in a 16-0 win last Wednesday over Mansfield. Then, Loman took a perfect game into the seventh inning against Houston, allowing her first baserunner with just one out to go on a slow-rolling infield single. Ouch! But still very impressive. Loman finished the regular season with a 0.91 ERA and 0.84 WHIP over 53.2 innings and Miller with a 1.65 ERA and 0.87 WHIP over 89.1 innings. If this lineup can put up runs (and it has shown it can), they could make noise in the Class 2 tournament.
8. Rogersville (17-8, C3, Last week: 9)
The Wildcats won a game you’d expect them to win—Walnut Grove, 13-1—and lost a game you’d probably expect them to lose—Republic, 9-1—over the last week of the season. They should have a shot at the District 11 title game if they can get by a Reeds Spring team they’ve already beat, 12-4, this season. Look for them to face West Plains in that title game. They’ve split two games with the Zizzers this season.
9. Weaubleau (14-7, C1, Last week: 15)
Weaubleau rockets up to my No. 2 Class 1 team after final-week wins over Wheatland, 4-3, and Marion C. Early, 16-9. The Tigers finished the season winning 11 of 12 games and should be the slight favorite to win a tough District 4 tournament in which they’ll likely see Hermitage (14-8) in the finals.
10. McDonald County (17-5, C4, Last week: 11)
McDonald County fell this past week to Republic, 7-2, in a game in which they were plagued by errors. If they can clean that up, the Mustangs might give the Tigers a good one in the District 12 title game. They should be carrying plenty of momentum into that tournament after sweeping through last weekend’s Carthage tournament, including an 8-7 win over Jeff City.
11. Ozark (22-6, C4, Last week: 12)
Good end to the season for Ozark, winning four of five over the past week and seven of eight overall. All of this week’s wins came in the Carthage tournament, including notable finals over Class 4 Belton (21-3), 9-4, and Webb City, 6-5. Ozark is the favorite in District 11 and will get a shot at Republic or McDonald County if it takes home that title.
12. Pleasant Hope (15-10, C2, Last week: 14)
This team had the toughest schedule of any area Class 2 team and still managed to finish five games above .500. They’re battle tested and should be ready to make a run at a district title. The Pirates lost to Class 4 Willard, 2-1, and Class 4 Jeff City, 5-4, to end the season. Tough to blame them at all for either loss, and the close finals are just another example of how good this team is within Class 2.
13. Dixon (15-4, C2, Last week: 13)
Dixon finished its season perfect against Class 2 competition. They haven’t faced as tough a schedule as Pleasant Hope, for example, but the Bulldogs have been very good all year. They faced Camdenton last Friday and lost, 9-0, but playing a full game against one of the state’s best Class 4 teams is going to be big in Class 2 tournament play. The Bulldogs closed out their regular season with a 13-2 win over Class 1 Newburg.
14. Willard (18-11, C4, Last week: N/A)
Willard jumps into the rankings after winning 11 of 14 to end the season including a Rolla Invitational tournament title last weekend, going 4-0 over two days. They have quality wins over Branson, Kickapoo (twice), Cassville and Pleasant Hope this season and played Republic to a 2-1 loss in a pitcher’s duel between Bridget Rippe and Rachel Rook. Often, this team goes as Rippe goes, and lately, that’s been working out; the Tigers have allowed two or fewer runs in seven of 14 games since Sept. 20 (1.4 runs allowed per game). They’re in Camdenton’s district, so that’ll be one tough test for Rippe and the Tigers to keep that offense at bay.
15. Salem (20-4, C3, Last week: 7)
I was a little worried that Salem hadn’t been tested enough this year and that showed a little bit in their, 10-0, loss to Union last week. The Tigers also dropped games to Class 3 Sullivan and Class 4 Cor Jesu Academy in the Rolla Tournament. They’re the 3-seed in District 9 and should be able to get by Owensville (7-9) for a shot at 1-seed Helias Catholic in the semis. I really wouldn’t be surprised if they found a way to win that game because this team has a ton of experience in the lineup and can put up a ton of runs on any given day.
Keep an eye on: Willard (18-11, C4), Marion C. Early, (13-7, C1), Hermitage (14-8, C1), Kickapoo (16-9, C4), El Dorado Springs (12-8, C2), Dora (16-10, C1), Webb City (15-10, C4), Branson (15-10, C4)
