Northwest Florida still boasts two top 10 teams in the latest Florida High School Athletic Association softball rankings.
With the latest FHSAA softball rankings released on Monday, there is less than a month to go until district tournaments begin on April 28. Any games that were played on Monday were not included in the rankings.
Pace, despite falling for the first time this season to Jay, remains the area’s top-ranked team at No. 5 in the state with a rating of 21.936. Jay, climbing up the rankings five spots, also cracked the top 10 this week with a 19.981 rating and an undefeated 10-0 record.
Three other teams cracked the top 100, including Navarre (59), Gulf Breeze (78) and Northview (84).
District leaders, as of now, Pace (6A), Pine Forest (4A), West Florida (3A) and Jay (Rural). The Royals are also the top team in the entire Rural class.
Here are the second FHSAA softball rankings for teams from Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, plus a way-too-early playoff watch.
Class 6A
Class 5A
Class 4A
Class 3A
Class 2A
Class 1A
Rural
Way-too-early playoff watch
District tournaments aren’t for another few weeks, but it’s still fun to examine what the playoff scenarios would look like if the regular season ended today as far as region tournaments.
District champions automatically advance to the region tournament after the district tourney, and there are four at-large bids per region in Classes 1A-7A. The Rural classification only brings two district champions plus two at-large bid teams. For the playoff watch, we’ll presume that the top team in each district wins the district tournament and moves onto regionals – that’s what we’re going to share below.
Rankings are bound to change after district tournaments as well, so we’ll pretend that they didn’t change at all through districts to make things a little easier. Remember: anything can happen in the playoffs.
Here’s what the region tournaments would look like.
Region 1-6A
Notes: The region continues to run through Pace, as long as the Patriots keep winning in the playoffs. All four district champions are in the top eight teams, however Fletcher, the presumed District 2 champion, would lose out on hosting, going to top-seeded Pace. Navarre gets in as an at-large bid, ranked third in the region, and would host Oakleaf in the region quarterfinals.
Region 1-5A
Notes: Region 1-5A is pretty straightforward as all four presumed district champions are the top four teams in region, meaning they would all host in the quarterfinals. Gulf Breeze gets in as an at-large bid as the No. 6 team, and would travel to Matanzas to start the playoffs. Milton, as the eighth seed and an at-large team, would head to top-seeded Niceville in the quarterfinals.
Region 1-4A
Notes: All four presumed district champions are within the top eight teams, meaning no one gets omitted from the region playoffs. Arnold, despite being ranked fourth, still has to go on the road to the presumed District 4 champion, Clay, in the quarterfinals. Pine Forest, the presumed District 1 champion, gets an automatic bid but would be on the road to top-seeded Baker County, a higher-ranked district champion. Escambia, ranked ninth, just falls short of an at-large bid.
Region 1-3A
Notes: The four presumed district champions are within the top eight teams, however Bishop Kenny (District 4) would lose out on hosting in the quarterfinals, going to top-seeded Wakulla, a higher-seeded district champion. West Florida would get in as the No. 3 seed, and would host Suwannee in the first round of the region tournament.
Region 1-2A
Notes: Region 1-2A doesn’t feature any area teams in the playoffs. Other than that, the four presumed district champions are in the top eight teams. Florida high is the only presumed district champion that wouldn’t host in the quarterfinals, going to a higher-seeded district champ in North Bay Haven.
Region 1-1A
Notes: There aren’t any area teams in Region 1-1A. However, other things get a little weird as the District 2 champion, First Coast Christian, is ranked ninth in the region, so it gets bumped into the eighth spot. Countryside Christian loses out on an at-large bid, ranked eighth in the region. The other three district champions still host.
Region 1-Rural
Notes: District 1 has three teams in the top four teams of the region, with Jay and Northview being area teams to make the playoffs. Jay, the presumed District 1 champion, hosts Paxton in the semifinals. Northview would have to go on the road to a district champion, Holmes County, for the region semifinals.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: FHSAA Softball Rankings: Pace and Jay rank within top 10 of entire state
Reporting by Ben Grieco, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
