Colts stay on top as S-CL softball play begins

The opening of the South-Central League softball season last week brought all the fireworks you’d expect after the amazing start Pueblo teams had to the 2019 season.

A dominant 4-0 win by South over Pueblo West coupled with 7-3 Central win over then-undefeated Centennial certainly sorted the rankings out a bit, but it’s still South, currently having shut out its past three opponents, that remain on top of the Pueblo Preps Power Five softball rankings.

South escaped with a 1-0 nonleague win over Elizabeth Saturday to keep its perfect 9-0 record intact. But Tuesday’s showdown with Pueblo County, which moved up from No. 5 to No. 3 in the latest rankings, will be another big early-season game.

Central has moved up from the No. 3 spot to No. 2 after its win over Centennial, as well as a valiant showing at the Dave Sanders Memorial Tournament against some of the top teams across all classifications in the state.

The Wildcats were an extra-inning hit away from knocking off 5A No. 4 Columbine, suffering a 3-2 loss in nine innings in the tournament semifinal. The Wildcats did go 2-3 at the tournament but proved probably more so than anybody in the S-CL thus far that it could play with anybody.

County, at No. 3 after its S-CL opening win over East, has a strong case to be anywhere in these rankings.

The Hornets have won six straight, scoring more than 10 runs in each game, and allowing a grand total of just three runs over those six wins.

After S-CL losses, Centennial falls to No. 4 while the Cyclones drop to No. 5

Note on rankings: Power rankings rank local teams across all classifications. As such, 4A teams are generally considered stronger than 3A teams, 3A stronger than 2A, etc.