Week 3 softball rankings

Defending state champion Mill Creek regains its top billing as the No. 1 team in Class AAAAAAA after beating a scrappy Mountain View team 8-0. Kennesaw Mountain slips to No. 2 after a 2-1 loss to Hillgrove, who is knocking on the door of breaking through into the Top 10. Mill Creek gets a great test on Thursday as they visit No. 3 North Gwinnett who is coming off a 2-1 loss to Class AAAAA No. 1 Buford. No. 4 Lassiter pole vaults into the rankings after impressive wins against ranked opponents AAA No. 8 Sonoraville (12-0) and No. 9 Cherokee (4-0). No. 7 Grayson, No. 8 Parkview and No. 10 Etowah replace Norcross, Archer, Lowndes and North Forsyth.

No. 1 Cambridge is the leader in the clubhouse in Class AAAAAA and now has bragging rights after topping AAAAA No. 1 Buford 1-0. The rest of the state is in turmoil as only Pope holds onto last week’s ranking, No. 2. Creekview surges from No. 10 to No. 3 after a 6-0 start in the fiendishly difficult Region 6, home to No. 5 Dalton, No. 6 Allatoona, No. 7 River Ridge and No. 10 Harrison. Speaking of Allatoona, the Buccaneers held their annual Buc Bash tournament that littered the diamond with some of the best teams in the state. Top 10 matchups across classifications all weekend long is a main contributor as to why there is so much shakeup across each class’ rankings. The Bucs scored big with wins over AAA No. 8 Sonoraville, AAAA No. 2 Northside-Columbus and Colquitt County before falling to AAAA No. 8 Columbus. Back in region play, Allatoona suffered a pair of losses to Creekview (9-1) and Dalton (2-1). No. 9 Mundy’s Mill enters the poll as a dark horse due to playing in a weaker region, but the Tigers’ play has been astounding, outscoring opponents 118 to 1 over their 10-0 start.

Buford hangs onto No. 1 in AAAAA even after a loss to Cambridge. Behind No. 2 Walnut Grove and No. 3 Locust Grove there is uncertainty. Thomas County Central gets the nod at No. 4 after surviving Buc Bash, still losing to AAAAAA No. 10 Harrison and AAA No. 1 Calhoun. A win over No. 5 Whitewater on August 20, 8-2 was the deciding factor on placing ahead of the Wildcats. Whitewater has a big game in store against AAAAAAA No. 5 East Coweta today (Wednesday). No. 7 Kell climbs into the poll thanks to a 5-0 start and a 7-1 win over formerly ranked Villa Rica.

Class AAAA is getting fuzzier and fuzzier as to who the top team in the state is. No. 2 Northside-Columbus raced out of the gates but the vaunted Buc Bash schedule proved to be overwhelming, losing to Sonoraville 5-2, Allatoona 4-2 and Calhoun 4-0 with a 5-4 decision over Harrison sandwiched in between. No. 1 Chapel Hill becomes the benefactor as the defending state champs slide into the driver’s seat even after an early 3-0 loss to Northside in Game 3 of the season. The Panthers tacked on a 3-0 win over No. 4 Central-Carroll for good measure. No. 3 Marist says hello to the Top 3 after not being ranked. An 8-3 drubbing of No. 7 Chestatee sees the War Eagles make a statement with their 7-1 start. No. 9 Stephens County suffered their first loss of the season to Madison County 6-4 but quickly rebounded by returning the favor to previously undefeated Jefferson, 1-0. Good softball resides in the mountains of Region 6 with No. 10 Northwest Whitfield continuing the trend of three teams in the Top 10, joining No. 5 Heritage-Catoosa and No. 6 Ridgeland.

No. 1 Calhoun looks like they are on a warpath to their fourth straight state title as they are the dominant team to catch in Class AAA. The Yellow Jackets had a 2-1 hiccup against A-Public No.1 Gordon Lee last week which might have woken up the sleeping giant from a short nap. Calhoun pounded its way to a 5-0 showing at the Buc Bash, toppling 7A No. 9 Cherokee 11-3, Union Grove 10-2, 6A No. 10 Harrison 7-0, 5A No. 4 Thomas County Central 4-1 and 4A No. 2 Northside-Columbus 4-0 before taking care of No. 8 Sonoraville 5-0.

Not much movement took place in Class AA. No. 2 Rockmart beat No. 10 Chattooga 5-2, causing the Indians to fall a spot. Bleckley County and Pepperell trade places as the No. 5 Royals picked up a 3-2 win over Class A-Private No. 5 First Presbyterian Day. No. 9 Heard County remains dangerous even with their 4-6 record. The Braves are known for loading their schedule with the best teams in the state, resulting in hard fought losses. They did however score a 2-0 win over Class AAAAAAA power East Coweta.

Calvary Day appears in the Class A-Private polls at No. 7 after winning five straight. Both No. 3 Tattnall Square and No. 4 Strong Rock Christian suffered losses. The two teams flip flop from last week’s rankings thanks to the Trojans’ 9-1 win over No. 9 ELCA. On Thursday Tattnall battles No. 1 Stratford Academy at home.

Class A-Public still runs through No. 1 Gordon Lee. Spots 3-6 are interesting with Glascock County, Seminole County and Miller County all making noise. No. 6 Miller County is 9-1 coming off an 11-10 win over No. 4 Seminole County.

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