Rankings from Prior Weeks:  March 19  March 29  April 5  April 12  April 19

 

Class A Notes: 

 

Westside, Papio South and Prep remain at the top.  So much for the easy part.  Parsing the line between Millard West and Millard South is a tricky business.  South beat West by a hefty margin (13-5) on Tuesday.  But then South turns around and loses to Class B Elkhorn and Lincoln Southwest, a team that West has beaten four times.  So, how does one balance those facts and come up with a reasoned decision?  It's a close call, but we give the nod to Millard West for having superior pitching depth.  Perhaps they'll meet up in the Millard South tournament this weekend and settle it on the field. 

 

Southeast, Southwest and Bryan shuffle around a bit following a two-loss week for both Lincoln teams. 

 

At the bottom of the rankings, that leaves a maximum of two spaces for three contenders:  Millard North, Papio and Grand Island, a team that hasn't been in our rankings so far this season, but is 15-5 on the season and in sixth spot in the Class A Wild Card Point rankings.  We're not particularly impressed with the quality of teams that the Islanders have been playing, but comparing their wins and losses to those of Millard North and Papio shows that its time to welcome the Islanders to the top ten.  Eleven of Grand Island's fifteen wins have come against teams below .500.  But, it's even worse for Millard North (9 of 11 wins against sub .500 teams) and Papio (10 of 12).  Although Millard North and Papio each have one win against a 1st Division opponent, Grand Island is still looking for a quality win.  But, in the end, it's the Mustangs' three losses to Class B teams and three losses to sub .500 teams that opens the door for the Islanders.   Besides, we like Zook and Farrar.

 

CLASS A
This Week	Last Week	Team	Season Win-Loss	Wins Last Week	Losses Last Week
1	1	Westside	23-1	Burke, East, Bergan, PLV, PLVS	None
2	2	Papillion LaVista South	22-4	South, PLV, North Star, LSE, Bryan	Westside
3	3	Creighton Prep	15-4	Bryan, Mill. North, Gross, N'West	None
4	6	Millard West	19-6	Central, N'West, East, Burke, LSW	Millard South
5	4	Millard South	16-9	North, Mill. West, LHS, Burke	Elkhorn, Southwest
6	8	Omaha Bryan	16-9	Benson, Neb City, LSE, PLV	Prep
7	5	Lincoln Southeast	14-6	Columbus, Blair, LNE, Bergan	Bryan, PLVS
8	7	Lincoln Southwest	13-7	North, South	East, Millard West
9	9	Papillion LaVista	12-10	East, North Star, Bergan	PLVS, Westside
10	N/R	Grand Island	15-5	Pius, LHS (x2), Norfolk, Blair	None
Class B Notes:    OK, contenders, get out your crying towels.  Elkhorn stays at No. 1.  Why?  Because they are the best team in Class B.  End of discussion.   Nice job by Beatrice to bounce back from two losses early in the week to win the RCC.  And nice win by the Pioneers over the Antlers.  Clearly, with Ehlers on the mound, Nebraska City can beat anybody.  But what they do without him on the mound also matters -- not only in these rankings, but more importantly, at tournament time.  With two losses on the week, should Beatrice fall below Nebraska City?  But for the RCC championship, the Orangemen would have.  Redemption is worth something here.    Pius moves up with four wins on the week, including a shutout of #1 Elkhorn.  Below the 'Bolts are a pack of tightly bunched seven-loss teams - Gross, Skutt, Roncalli and Gretna -- two of whom (Beatrice and Skutt) beat #2 Beatrice this week.  Skutt and Gross drop following losses to South Sioux.  The only question is "how far?"  Both teams have health issues, while Gretna comes through with a three-win week and Roncalli wins four with a one-run loss to Beatrice.  We're boosting the Dragons and Pride upward as Gross and Skutt slide downward a few notches.  Make that four notches in the case of Skutt -- which is probably too many after beating Beatrice earlier in the week.  If that's an unjust demotion, which it may be, the SkyHawks will prove me wrong on the field.  South Sioux deserves to move upward and will do so if the Cardinals continue to play as they did in the RCC.
CLASS B
This Week	Last Week	Team	Season Win-Loss	Wins Last Week	Losses Last Week
1	1	Elkhorn	14-6	Bell. West, Millard South	Neb. City, Pius
2	2	Beatrice	12-4	Roncalli, South Sioux	Skutt, Gretna
3	3	Nebraska City	11-4	Elkhorn	Bryan
4	6	Pius	10-6	Waverly (x2), Norris, Elkhorn	Grand Island
5	8	Gretna	9-7	Seward, Beatrice, DC West	None
6	7	Omaha Roncalli	9-7	Ralston (x2), DC West, Bergan	Beatrice
7	5	Gross	11-7	Skutt, Ralston	Prep, South Sioux
8	4	Omaha Skutt	9-7	Beatrice	Gross, South Sioux
9	9	South Sioux City	9-9	Gross, Skutt	Blair, Beatrice
10	10	Blair	7-8	South Sioux, Crete	LSE, GI, Norfolk