April showers bring fun May conference softball title chases, or however the old saying goes.
The calendar has turned to May, which means the softball season is entering a crucial time of the year before the postseason begins May 21 for Divisions 2-5.
This week’s Milwaukee-area softball rankings feature three new, but familiar names to the top-10 programs following last week’s action. Sussex Hamilton and Muskego continue to distance themselves from the rest of the field, but a few teams featured in the top 10 are surging back toward the top-two teams as the season heads toward the homestretch.
Here’s the newest edition of the rankings, starting with the top-ranked Chargers.
AREA RANKINGS
Team (W-L), last week’s ranking
*Records are as reported to MaxPreps as of May 4
Others nominated: Arrowhead (8-5), Brookfield Central (8-4), Brookfield East (6-3), Catholic Memorial (9-6), Germantown (6-4), Kenosha Indian Trail (6-5-1), Martin Luther (9-1), Pewaukee (11-4), Slinger (5-4), Whitnall (10-4).
TEAM OF THE WEEK
Oak Creek
Through five games this season, Oak Creek sat at 2-3 with an eight-inning loss to Cedarburg and two blowout losses to Union Grove and Muskego where the Knights allowed 30 total runs in both defeats. The Knights are 10-0 since that stretch. Oak Creek is the newest team of the week winner after a strong 5-0 week with victories over Kettle Moraine, Waukesha West, Mukwonago, Kimberly and Tomah by a combined score of 55-5, not including a pair of shutout victories over Kenosha Indian Trail and Whitnall on April 25. Out of the 58 total runs the Knights’ pitching staff has allowed (40 earned runs), 44 of those runs came before April 21. Rita Sippy not only leads the staff with 54 strikeouts in 40 innings pitched, she just broke the school’s all-time stolen base record. Kentucky commit Kennedy Christopher is hitting .511 with 19 runs batted in, 14 walks, 11 doubles, five home runs and is slugging over 1.000 (1.089). The schedule gets tougher again with matchups against old Southeast Conference rival Franklin, Arrowhead and Slinger in the coming weeks, but the Knights are rolling at the moment.
COMING UP
Hartford at Cedarburg, 4:30 p.m. May 5: The second meeting between the top-two teams in the North Shore Conference features unbeaten Hartford (8-0) taking on Cedarburg (5-2) in a pivotal matchup for both programs. The Orioles dominated the first matchup in an 8-0 victory April 22, but the Bulldogs have won their last six contests since an April 25 defeat to Neenah. A win here for Cedarburg makes things much more interesting in the NSC title chase.
Kenosha Bradford at Whitnall, 4:30 p.m. May 6: Although back-to-back state finalist Kenosha Bradford has already lost more games through 15 games this season (6) than it lost the previous two seasons (4), it was always going to be a year of adjustments and growing up for the new-look Red Devils. Following a four-game losing streak, Bradford has won its last five and heads into a three games in three-day stretch with some confidence and momentum. Awaiting Bradford on Wednesday is 2025 Division 2 state semifinalist Whitnall, which currently sits at 10-4 on the season as the Woodland East title favorite again.
Slinger at Sussex Hamilton, 4:30 p.m. May 6: Can anybody from the area slow down top-ranked Sussex Hamilton? So far, the answer is a resounding no. Enter the Slinger Owls, who could use a huge victory following a tough three-day stretch in North Shore play last week with losses to Cedarburg and conference leader Hartford. The Chargers have allowed just four runs in their last seven games with six shutout performances.
Muskego at Oak Creek, 5 p.m. May 6: In terms of a marquee game this week, this Classic 8 Conference showdown may be just that. Unbeaten Muskego heads to Oak Creek to face the new team of the week in a massive conference matchup between two teams that are a combined 24-3 on the season. Both programs are not only C8 title contenders, but contenders to make (and potentially win) the D1 state tournament next month. Muskego serves as Oak Creek’s only loss in the last 11 games dating back to April 20 in a 13-7 Warriors victory.
Greendale at Pewaukee, 4:30 p.m. May 7: Wisconsin Lutheran has put itself in the driver’s seat for the Woodland West title after completing a sweep of Pewaukee in extra innings for the second time this season last week. But nipping at Wisco’s heels is Greendale, which currently sits at 6-1 in Woodland West play. The Pirates aren’t out of the chase with a 6-3 mark and a 2-1 extra-inning win over Greendale on April 21 already, but every conference matchup just got much more critical for Pewaukee.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: New area softball rankings see Oak Creek win team of the week honors
Reporting by Michael Whitlow, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
