Topp's Tips

Remember the 2008 college football season?

At the end of that year, we all knew that either Oklahoma, Texas or Texas Tech deserved to play Florida in the BCS National Championship game. All of those teams had one loss entering bowl season. Determining which of those Big 12 teams was the right team, however, wasn’t easy. Using head-to-head competition didn’t provide any help. Texas beat Oklahoma 45-35 that season but lost to Texas Tech 39-33. Although Oklahoma had the loss to Texas, it murdered Texas Tech 65-21. Oklahoma earned selection to play Florida, and the Gators beat the Sooners 24-14.

That season showed us a couple things: 1. It really doesn’t matter who plays the team from the SEC in the BCS title game, because the SEC will always win. (After that 2008 game, the SEC moved to 4-0 in BCS title games, and it is now 8-1, with the only loss of course coming after this season, when two SEC teams squared off, and the conference’s unbeaten streak in BCS title games had to end.) 2. More importantly, we learned that head-to-head competition doesn’t always provide an answer.

That second point is relevant to this sixth installment of the Topp’s Tips Area Softball Power Rankings. Using head-to-head competition as the only guide, there would be no way to rank these teams. Not that I ever rely solely on head-to-head competition. I also include overall record, strength of schedule, compare results against common opponents, factor in what teams have done since the last rankings appeared and give some weight to the “eye test.”

With all that in mind, here are this week’s rankings:

1. Payson Seymour (24-6) — Last week’s ranking: No. 2

The streak is over.

Since I started doing these rankings near the beginning of the 2011 season, Quincy Notre Dame has always held the No. 1 spot. No more.

The Lady Indians gained the edge, in part, because of their 2-1 win vs. QND on May 3, in which Payson’s Lacey Hagerbaumer legged out an RBI infield single in the bottom of the 10th inning to provide a walk-off win. As previously stated, however, head-to-head competition isn’t the only guide to these rankings. Payson also has played very well lately, and its three losses since April 1 match QND for fewest of any area teams during that time frame. The Lady Indians did fall 2-0 to West Hancock on Saturday, marking their first loss in May. Yet Payson is also the only team in these rankings with a win over every other member of the top five and is 5-1 overall against top-five teams, including two wins over West Hancock earlier in the season.

You also have to like what Payson did within the West Central Conference South Division, winning the conference title with a 13-1 mark in league play.

Pitching and defense continue to fuel Payson’s success. The Lady Indians have allowed more than three runs in a game just four times this season.

Payson certainly could fall from this position, as it hosts a pretty solid Beardstown team Thursday and plays Saturday against Quincy High School, a team it defeated 5-4 earlier this season. For now, however, the Lady Indians have established themselves as the team to beat in the area.

2. Quincy Notre Dame (27-3) — Last week’s ranking: No. 1

This one will make QHS and Illini West fans cringe. After all, the Blue Devils beat QND 4-3 as part of the Lady Raiders’ three-game losing streak. Illini West started that losing streak by beating QND 5-4 on April 30.

But alas, head-to-head competition cannot serve as our only guide. Using head-to-head, Illini West should be No. 2 (it beat QHS 4-0 on April 19), QHS should be No. 3 and QND No. 4, right? Well maybe, but West Hancock beat Illini West 3-1 on April 16 and beat Payson in their most recent matchup, avenging two losses from earlier in the season, so that makes the Titans No. 2, right? Yes, but Illini West beat West Hancock 4-3 on Monday, and QND beat West Hancock 7-4 on April 25. So as I said, head-to-head play only helps us so much.

QND has a couple quality wins against non-area teams that others in these rankings can’t match. The Lady Raiders defeated Alton Marquette, then-ranked No. 2 in Class 2A by the Illinois Coaches Association, 2-0 on Saturday. It was just the second loss of the season for Marquette, a team with a future Division I pitcher in Alexis Silkwood (who has committed to Kansas) that beat Payson 1-0 earlier this season. QND also has that 5-2 win over Benet Academy on its resume. Benet Academy, now 25-4, is No. 5 in Class 4A and beat Payson 13-1 this season. QND also has an 8-4 victory over Rock Island Alleman, a team that swept QHS by a combined score of 23-4.

So the Lady Raiders have plenty of nice wins on their resume, but a 1-3 mark against teams in this top five keeps them from the No. 1 spot this week.

3. Illini West (18-10) — Last week’s ranking: No. 3

The Chargers are 3-2 against other teams in this top-five, with the losses coming to Payson and West Hancock, the latter of which it defeated 4-3 on Monday. Ashley Kerfoot continues to build her case as a clutch player, as she delivered the game-winning RBI in that win against West Hancock. Kerfoot also had the winning RBI against QND.

Still, this team battles inconsistency at times, as evidenced by a 15-6 loss Saturday to Western, a sub-.500 Class 1A team. That loss is puzzling and is one factor preventing the Chargers from being higher in the poll this week. Yet any team that can beat QND, West Hancock and Quincy High School can make noise in the Class 2A postseason.

4. Quincy High School (16-12) — Last week’s ranking: No. 5

This is truly becoming a season to remember for the Blue Devils. Owsley’s three-run double to spark QHS past QND last week won’t be forgotten any time soon by any of the Blue Devil players or their families or friends. QHS won that game despite being outhit by QND 11-4, beating the Lady Raiders for the first time since 2007.

Moreover, QHS is in good position to finish with a winning record for the first time since 2007, and as the No. 2 seed in its own Class 4A regional, has a solid shot at winning a postseason game for the first time since 2007.

The Western Big Six Conference campaign didn’t go as the Blue Devils had hoped, with QHS finishing in fifth place with a 2-8 mark. But let’s be honest, it’s baby steps for a program that has just one WB6 title (1979) and only three regional titles in program history, including one regional title since the 1970s. The way it’s going, this year has to be considered as a step in the right direction.

5. West Hancock (18-7) — Last week’s ranking: No. 4

You want to talk about unfair. You could definitely make the argument that the Titans are getting a raw deal at the No. 5 spot, especially considering they beat Payson 2-0 on Saturday. However, they followed that up with 4-3 losses to West Prairie and Illini West this week.

Much like Illini West, with a little more consistency, the Titans could become really, really dangerous. They certainly are capable of upsetting QND if those teams meet in the championship of the 2A Camp Point Regional.

Last week’s rankings: No. 1 Quincy Notre Dame, No. 2 Payson Seymour, No. 3 Illini West, No. 4 West Hancock, No. 5 Quincy High School.

Quincy HIgh's Paige Owsley, left, and Mariah Hoke embrace after Owsley scored to give the Blue Devils a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning against Quincy Notre Dame Tuesday night at The Backyard. Owsley hit a three-run double earlier in the inning (H-W Photo/Phil Carlson)

Quincy Notre Dame softball coach Eric Orne had to watch the final seven outs of his team’s 4-3 loss Tuesday to Quincy High School at The Backyard from the dugout.

With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, QND’s Mary Beth Hugenberg singled to left field. Arianna Rigg moved to third base on the single, and Hugenberg advanced to second on the throw.

After the play, QHS coach Eric Hoke had a word with home-plate umpire Chris Smith, who then talked to Orne. Orne then had to move from the third-base coach’s box to the dugout for the rest of the game.

Orne and Hoke said afterward that the ruling occurred because QND had used a pinch-runner for Hugenberg in the previous inning and hadn’t re-entered Hugenberg before she came to bat in the sixth.

“It was correctly called,” Orne said.**

Orne wasn’t ejected, but rather restricted to the dugout for the remainder of the game. Assistant coach Rick Gengenbacher took over Orne’s duties as the third-base coach, and assistant coach Jessica Genenbacher moved from the dugout to the first-base coach’s box.

Orne and Hoke said that this year is the first year that failing to announce a re-entry results in the coach being restricted to the dugout. Under the old rules, the play would’ve been dead and Hugenberg would’ve been ruled out, Orne said.

**Topp note: After this blog published, it was pointed out to me that the ruling was not handled correctly. Apparently, the new rule states that the first time an unreported substitute bats, the offending team shall receive a warning only. Subsequent instances would call for the offending coach and player to be restricted to the dugout. Thus, QND should have received a warning only, and Orne should not have been restricted to the dugout.

“I like the new rule,” Orne said. “It’s like getting a technical in basketball. You just have to sit on the bench. I like that rule a lot better, simply because it lets the kid get credit for the hit, and the game moves on, and it’s basically a coaching error.”

Giving in to the rivalry

After QND defeated QHS 11-0 last year at The Backyard, Hoke downplayed the significance of the QHS-QND game, saying “our focus is on Western Big Six, so that’s what we’re looking forward to. We’re looking forward to playing Alleman on Thursday.”

That comment raised some eyebrows among QND and QHS circles.

Performing well in the WB6 remains Hoke’s focus, but he admitted Tuesday that the QHS-QND game carries a lot of significance to his players.

“I can play it off all I want. They still have moms and dads that are from here, and it’s bigger in those circles,” said Hoke, who is not from Quincy originally and in his second season as the Blue Devils’ head coach. “I still try to keep them focused on what we need to worry about, which is taking two from Rock Island on Saturday. That’s my focus, and I want that to be theirs, but I’m a realist. I understand that (beating QND is important) to them.”

No makeup for first QND-QHS game

It appears Tuesday’s game will be the only meeting between the Blue Devils and Lady Raiders this year on the softball diamond. The teams were scheduled to play at QHS on April 13, but the game was postponed due to rain.

Orne said he was never contacted about a make-up date for the first game.

QND has a tarp for its field, and Tuesday’s game was played despite rains Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

“They never called us (about making up the first game),” Orne said. “That’s why we worked our (butts) off to get the game in tonight. We figured if they didn’t play us tonight, they weren’t going to play us.

“They never called us. If you’re the host team, don’t you want to play it?”

Hoke said after Tuesday’s game that the Blue Devils’ schedule is pretty full before QND begins postseason play the week of May 14.

“I wouldn’t mind it (playing QND again), but here’s the deal: We’ve got a game Thursday, two Saturday, a game Monday, a game Tuesday, a game Thursday and a tournament Saturday, and then (QND starts regional) play,” Hoke said. “We don’t have a spot for it. It’s not that we don’t want to do it. It’s just that, seriously, I’ve got one pitcher (senior Mariah Hoke), and her arm is far too valuable to me.”

QHS often doesn’t reschedule games that are rained out unless they are conference games. For example, in 2011, QHS had four non-conference games rained out and made up just one, according to Herald-Whig archives. In 2010, none of QHS’s six non-conference games that were postponed were rescheduled.

Both QHS-QND games were played at The Backyard last season. The game that was slated to be played at QHS was moved to QND because of wet conditions at the QHS field, which does not have a tarp.

What a crazy turn of events we’ve witnessed in the area prep softball scene since these rankings last published on April 20.

When those rankings came out, Quincy Notre Dame seemed untouchable — at least within the area. Yet in the last week, one area team nearly upset QND, while another one did.

It’s not time to remove the Lady Raiders from their No. 1 spot, but they certainly aren’t as head and shoulders above the rest of the pack as they were a week and a half ago.

Let’s take a look at the fifth installment of the Topp’s Tips Area Softball Power Rankings:

1. Quincy Notre Dame (22-1) — Last week’s ranking: No. 1

QND trailed West Hancock after five innings last Wednesday but rallied for a 7-4 victory. Based on QND’s performance prior to that point, it seemed that surely that game was just a bump in the road for QND. Instead, it served as a sign of things to come.

QND slipped past Beardstown 4-1 the day after beating West Hancock, and the Lady Raiders survived another scare Saturday, when they needed an extra-inning home run from Kassidy Gengenbacher to beat Waterloo Gibault 4-2. QND then lost 5-4 in extra innings Monday at Illini West.

QND’s offense that was a juggernaut at the beginning of the season has slowed down the last week or two. It sets up a dangerous matchup for the Lady Raiders — ranked No. 4 in Class 2A by the Illinois Coaches Association — on Saturday, when they’ll face Alton Marquette, ranked No. 2 in 2A. Marquette features strikeout artist Alexis Silkwood, who has verbally committed to the University of Kansas, in the pitcher’s circle.

2. Payson Seymour (18-5) — Last week’s ranking: No. 2

Those who use head-to-head competition as their primary means of comparison might say the Lady Indians deserve the No. 1 slot in these rankings.

After all, Payson is 4-0 against teams in this top five with a cumulative margin of victory of 29-5 in those games.  The Lady Indians have only lost to one area team — a 3-2 loss to Liberty during the first week of the season. Since the start of April, Payson is 11-2 and has allowed 11 runs total in those 13 games.

Still, I’m unwilling to bump Payson up to the No. 1 spot until it proves it can beat QND, which is the only top five team it hasn’t faced. The Lady Indians will have that chance Thursday, when they host QND.

3. Illini West (16-9) — Last week’s ranking: No. 4

Ashley Kerfoot delivered the biggest hit of the season for the Chargers, when her eighth-inning single to right field Monday scored Josie Finch and gave Illini West a 5-4 win over QND in walk-off fashion.

It marked the first loss for a QND girls athletic team since Dec. 19, 2011, when QND lost 70-60 to Columbia Rock Bridge in girls basketball. The Lady Raiders’ girls basketball, softball and girls soccer teams had combined to win 60 straight games since that Rock Bridge loss. So needless to say, Kerfoot’s single helped her team do something very few teams can say they’ve done in 2011-12: beat the Lady Raiders.

Illini West is hot right now, having won five straight, and it should be able to win each of its remaining regular-season games to go into the postseason with plenty of momentum. The Chargers and Lady Raiders are in separate regionals but feed into the Class 2A Havana Sectional, so a Illini West-QND rematch isn’t out of the question.

4. West Hancock (14-5) — Last week’s ranking: No. 3

Speaking of teams that could have a rematch with QND, how about the Titans? They’re the No. 2 seed in the Central Regional at Clayton, with QND as the top seed. Beardstown, seeded third, might be the team that prevents that rematch.

West Hancock gave the Lady Raiders all they wanted the first time the teams squared off. The Titans led 2-1 after five innings before watching it slip away.

West Hancock has been awfully good against teams it was supposed to beat this season, but it’s 1-3 against teams in this top five, with the lone win coming as a 3-1 victory April 16 at Illini West. The Titans fell 1-0 Monday to Class 1A’s Biggsville West Central. The Titans could make amends for all that by winning a regional.

5. Quincy High School (12-10) — Last week’s ranking: No. 5

The Blue Devils’ hopes of becoming more of a factor in the Western Big Six Conference this spring have gone up in flames. Since the last rankings came out, QHS was swept by East Moline and Moline and is now 2-6 in the WB6, with its lone wins coming over cellar-dweller Galesburg.

QHS has one last chance to make some noise in the conference Saturday, when it hosts Rock Island.

Perhaps the goal for the Blue Devils at this point should be the finish the year with a winning record, something they haven’t done since 2007.

Last week’s rankings: 1. Quincy Notre Dame, 2. Payson Seymour, 3. West Hancock, 4. Illini West, 5. Quincy High School.

With all the buzz this week over The Firing, Part II, of Zach Keene as the Illini West girls basketball coach, it would have been easy to overlook the on-field athletic goings on of the Carthage-based school.

That included the Chargers’ 4-0 road win Thursday on the softball diamond. It was a bit of a surprising result, considering QHS was coming off a Western Big Six Conference sweep, and it’s a result that will carry some weight in how this week’s Topp’s Tips Area Softball Power Rankings unfold.

Here is the fourth installment of my weekly power poll:

1. Quincy Notre Dame (14-0) — Last week’s ranking: No. 1

The Lady Raiders whipped Athens 12-1 in their only result since last week’s rankings came out. It marked QND’s third consecutive win by 10 or more runs. At some point, QND is really going to get tested. Right? Maybe, but probably not for a while. The schedule toughens up in late April and early May, bringing a couple challenges similar to Class 4A Lisle Benet Academy, which QND beat 5-2 earlier this season.

2. Payson Seymour (16-4) — Last week’s ranking: No. 2

I sensed a little unrest from some of the Payson faithful early in the season about Unity football coach/Payson teacher Karl Asbury taking the reins of the softball program. Don’t look now, but Payson is off to what is probably its best start since 2000, when it went 28-5. Through 20 games last season, the Lady Indians were 14-6.

I’m not saying Asbury has everything to do with Payson’s success. Pitcher Cheyanne Bowman mowing down everyone in her path certainly has something to do with it. After Bowman struck out 15 batters in Payson’s 12-0 win Thursday against Pleasant Hill, she now has 243 strikeouts in 129 1/3 innings pitched this season. Bowman (.400, 31 RBI) and Kristen Loos (.364, 14 RBI) continue to carry the load for what appears to be an improving offense that has scored at least five runs in eight straight games.

3. West Hancock (10-3) — Last week’s ranking: No. 5

I said last week the Titans had a chance to restore their resume a little with a win Monday at Illini West. West Hancock took care of business in that game, beating Illini West 3-1 in Carthage, and thus moves up this week’s ranking.

West Hancock, 4-3 in the West Central Conference South Division, could reinsert itself back into the conference race with a sweep of Pittsfield on Saturday. Even then, I’m not sure the Titans have much chance of catching Payson (7-1 in WCC South).

4. Illini West (10-7) — Last week’s ranking: No. 3

After debuting in the rankings last week, the Chargers were in danger of tumbling out of the top five thanks to an 11-1 loss to Payson and 3-1 loss to West Hancock after last week’s rankings came out.

But then, to borrow from the great Lloyd Christmas, the Chargers totally redeemed themselves by winning 4-0 at Quincy High School on Thursday. Maybe the next couple weeks will tell how good this team truly is. For now, it seems to vary from night to night.

5. Quincy High School (11-5) — Last week’s ranking:4

Speaking of performance varying from night to night, how about the Blue Devils? First, QHS beat Galesburg 9-3 and 10-1 on Tuesday to earn its first WB6 sweep since 2007. Then it followed that up with by having two more errors (eight) than hits (six) in the loss to Illini West.

In an eight-day span from this Saturday to the following Saturday, QHS has a home game against Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin sandwiched between road doubleheaders against WB6 powers East Moline and Moline. We’ll soon find out what this QHS team is made of. Judgment Week is upon them.

Last week’s rankings: 1. Quincy Notre Dame, 2. Payson Seymour, 3. Illini West, 4. Quincy High School, 5. West Hancock

CARTHAGE, Ill. — Zach Keene is still out as the girls basketball coach at Illini West High School. Less than a month after it decided to remove Keene from the position, the Illini West School Board upheld its decision at Wednesday night’s meeting by a 4-3 vote.

Before the vote, Randy Trout and Deanna Hartrick encouraged the school board to uphold its initial decision. Then, Randy Boston and Eric Bryan encouraged the board to reverse its decision and keep Keene. To hear complete audio from all four of those speakers, click here. (My apologies on mediocre audio quality.)

Finally, Illini West senior Lauren Gronewold, who played four seasons under Keene, spoke in support of Keene. To hear complete audio of Gronewold’s statement to the board, click here.

Ultimately, no school board member changed his/her vote from the March 28 meeting. Voting against Keene were Tracey Anders of LaHarpe, R.D. Trout from LaHarpe, Janet Vass from Dallas City and Beth Pence from Dallas City. Voting for Keene were Tom Holtsclaw, Mark Burling and John Huston, all of Carthage. None of the members changed their vote from the one they made at the March 28 meeting.

After the meeting, I asked Anders, the board president, and Vass for the reasoning behind Keene’s ouster. The following is a portion of the transcript of that interview. Questions from me are proceeded with a QHW. Responses from Anders are proceeded with a TA. Responses from Vass are proceeded with a JV.

QHW: Can you offer any reasoning for the board’s decision on Keene?

TA: “As far as what we talked about, I guess I’d just say I respect you asking me, but nope, no comment.”

QHW: You want to move into a new direction. That’s not a personnel matter. You can speak in broad terms about that direction. Do you know what direction you want to move?

TA: “I’m going to respectfully say no comment again, because I don’t want to, well, I’m just going to say no comment.”

QHW: The same four members voted no this time as last time, correct?

TA: “Correct. I can answer that.”

QHW: Three Carthage members voted yes. The non-Carthage members voted no.

JV (interjects): “Actually all Illini West members voted.”

QHW: Correct, but the three from Carthage

JV (interjects): “We don’t divide ourselves.”

QHW: But that’s the way you guys are elected into office. (The school board is required to have two members each from Carthage, LaHarpe and Dallas City and one at-large member.)

TA: “Correct.”

JV: “We agree with that statement.”

TA: “Correct.”

QHW: I’m pointing out that the three who are from Carthage voted yes, and the four who are not from Carthage voted no.

TA: “Correct. They (those who voted yes) are from the Carthage Elementary District.”

JV: “The feeder district.”

TA: “John happens to be, John Huston, is an at-large person technically. We have two from each elementary (district), and then one at-large.”

QHW: Right, and he (the at-large member) is from Carthage.

TA: “Right. Yes he is.”

QHW: Does that signify a problem (that the three Carthage members voted one way, and the four non-Carthage members voted the other way)?

TA: “No. I would just say four no votes happen to be not from Carthage.”

QHW: All right. I appreciate it. Thank you.

TA: “Thank you.”

Payson Seymour's senior third baseman Kristen Loos went 3 for 3 on Tuesday to help the Lady Indians win 5-4 at Quincy High School. Payson (11-4) moved up three spots to No. 2 in this week's power rankings. (H-W Photo/Michael Kipley)

Several of the area’s top softball teams squared off in the past seven days, and the results of those matchups bring a bit of a shuffling in this week’s Topp’s Tips Area Softball Power Rankings.

Here’s the top five for Week 3:

1. Quincy Notre Dame (12-0) — Last week’s ranking: No. 1

Move along. Nothing to see here. The Lady Raiders keep rolling.

Following QND’s 10-0 win Tuesday against Brown County, the Lady Raiders now have seven wins via the 10-run rule.

QND has an eight-game winning streak against crosstown rival Quincy High School. That streak will be on the line when the teams meet at 5 p.m. Friday at the QHS field.

2. Payson Seymour (11-4) — Last week’s ranking: No. 5

The Lady Indians really helped themselves since last week’s rankings, sweeping West Central Conference South Division foe West Hancock by a combined 13-0 score on Monday before topping QHS 5-4 on Tuesday. Payson pitcher Cheyanne Bowman struck out 41 batters in the three games combined.

Bowman also went toe-to-toe with Alton Marquette’s all-state pitcher Alexis Silkwood on Saturday. Marquette, ranked No. 1 in Class 2A, won 1-0 as Silkwood struck out 19 batters in a nine-inning perfect game. Bowman didn’t do too bad herself, fanning 11 and allowing four hits. Although Payson lost the game, it showed the Lady Indians can hang with the big guns.

3. Illini West (8-5) — Last week’s ranking: Unranked

Like the Lady Indians, the Chargers are hot. They’ve won five straight games, averaging 14.8 runs per game during that span.

Illini West has played a pretty tough schedule, with losses to state-ranked Williamsville and Springfield Calvary. If the Chargers can find a way to consistently limit opponents’ scoring, they’ll be dangerous, because their offense is tough to match.

4. Quincy High School (9-4) — Last week’s ranking: No. 3

The Blue Devils’ Western Big Six Conference opener didn’t go well, as the Blue Devils were swept 12-2, 11-2 by Rock Island Alleman. They followed that up with a 5-4 loss to Payson and will host undefeated QND on Friday.

QHS feasted on mediocre competition early in the season, but to take the next step, it has to have more consistent hitting and especially defense as it starts to play some better teams. Had the Blue Devils not committed six errors against Payson, they could have walked away a winner.

QHS has a key WB6 doubleheader at home against Galesburg on Saturday. If the Blue Devils have any hopes of finishing in the upper half of the WB6, they need to sweep Galesburg, because most of the Quad Cities schools appear pretty solid.

5. West Hancock (8-3) — Last week’s ranking: No. 2

The Titans’ stock took a tumble after they were swept Monday by Payson and split a doubleheader Tuesday against Central-Southeastern, a .500 team.

West Hancock had been scoring in bunches earlier in the season, but Bowman and C-SE kept the Titans’ bats under wraps.

West Hancock will play an intriguing WCC crossover game at Illini West on Monday. A win there would restore West Hancock’s resume a bit.

Last week’s rankings: No. 1 Quincy Notre Dame, No. 2 West Hancock, No. 3 Quincy High School, No. 4 Liberty, No. 5 Payson Seymour

The early portion of the Illinois prep softball season has shown us a couple things:

1. There is one team that appears to be head and shoulders above the rest.

2. There are a handful of other teams that form a second tier that is pretty decent.

Let’s take a look at the second installment of the Topp’s Tips Area Softball Power Rankings.

1. Quincy Notre Dame (10-0) — Last week’s ranking: No. 1

The Lady Raiders were expected to be really good this year. However, last weekend proved that QND might be really, really good.

QND beat Lisle Benet Academy 5-2 on Saturday during the Payson Cluster at The Backyard. This came a day after Benet, then-ranked No. 14 in Class 4A, defeated Payson Seymour — a solid 1A area team — 13-1 in five innings.

QND senior pitcher Aubrey Wilson is throwing even better than she did last season, when she was an all-state selection. And Kassidy Gengenbacher, Tori Kuhn and Arianna Rigg are absolutely mashing the ball in the middle of QND’s lineup.

QND has a pretty tough schedule, with a home game still remaining against Alton Marquette, ranked No. 2 in 2A, and a road game against 4A Edwardsville. Both those future opponents are currently undefeated.

Still, those games are a ways down the road, and it’s a good bet that QND will remain undefeated for a while.

2. West Hancock (4-0) — Last week’s ranking: No. 5

The Titans have the chance to establish themselves as the team to beat in the West Central Conference South Division if they beat Liberty on the road Thursday. A win would give them a season sweep over the Eagles, who is also viewed as a WCC South favorite.

It’s a ways off, but if West Hancock continues this strong start, its April 25 home game against QND could make for an intriguing matchup.

3. Quincy High School (9-1) — Last week’s ranking: No. 4

The Blue Devils come into Saturday’s Western Big Six Conference-opening doubleheader against Rock Island Alleman with loads of momentum.

They are hitting the ball far better than 2011 and have taken care of business against a pretty mediocre early season schedule. Now it’s time to see if the Blue Devils can continue their strong play within the confines of the WB6.

4. Liberty (7-3) – Last week’s ranking: No. 3

The Eagles have a shot at redemption against the aforementioned West Hancock — whom they lost to 5-2 earlier this season — on Thursday. Then, the following Thursday, they’ll try to hold off Payson Seymour, which will be seeking redemption for Liberty’s 3-2 season-opening win.

The next eight days, which also features a game against Central-Southeastern, will have a lot of impact on Liberty’s WCC South hopes. It’s currently in decent shape with a 2-1 conference mark, and the Eagles could become the team to beat if they flip the script against West Hancock.

No. 5 Payson Seymour (8-3) — Last week’s ranking: No. 2

Offense continues to be an issue for the Indians, who have scored three runs or fewer five times this season.

The good news for Payson is it has surrendered more than three runs on just three occassions. If the hitting ever comes around on a consistent basis, this is going to be a dangerous team.

Last week’s rankings: No. 1 Quincy Notre Dame, No. 2 Payson Seymour, No. 3 Liberty, No. 4 Quincy High School, No. 5 West Hancock

Quincy Notre Dame junior Kassidy Gengenbacher, shown here high-fiving teammates after a home run earlier this season, has been one of the Lady Raiders' offensive sparkplugs. Gengenbacher has three home runs and three triples. (H-W Photo/Phil Carlson)

Usually the first couple weeks of softball season brings many days of frigid temperatures, plenty of rainouts and maybe even a snow out. This year, the weather has been perfect, and many area teams have already played six or more games.

Last year was a pretty solid year for the area. Three Illinois area schools claimed regional titles, and two won sectionals, but there were no state trips. There are a couple teams that might be poised to make deep runs this season.

Here is the first installment of the Topp’s Tips Area Softball Power Rankings. I’ll roll out updated rankings during the middle of each week.

1. Quincy Notre Dame (6-0) — Final 2011 ranking: No. 1

The Lady Raiders are coming off a 32-3 season in which they won a Class 2A sectional, and they held the No. 1 spot in these rankings all season.

Despite graduating its lead-off hitter and No. 3 hitter from the 2011 squad, QND returned its seven other starters and hasn’t missed a beat early on this season. The Lady Raiders, ranked No. 14 in Class 2A, are averaging 9.8 runs per game. They’ll face a challenge at 2 p.m. Saturday at The Backyard , where they’ll play Lisle Benet Academy, ranked No. 14 in Class 4A. Benet defeated QND 8-2 last season and finished third in 4A.

2. Payson Seymour (5-1) — Final 2011 ranking: No. 3

Like QND, Payson brings back a lot talent off a successful 2011 team. The Lady Indians went 24-9 a year ago and won a Class 1A regional. With eight starters back, they’re seeking their first sectional title in program history.

Payson certainly has the right pitcher to accomplish such a task. Senior Cheyanne Bowman will toss most of the innings for the Lady Indians. The top strikeout pitcher in the area a year ago, Bowman is on pace to repeat that again this season. Finding enough offense will be the key to keeping Payson in this No. 2 spot.

Payson does have a loss to an area team, falling 3-2 at Liberty. Neither team scored in that game until extra innings, when each team started its half of every inning with no outs and a runner on second.

The Lady Indians also will play Benet Academy this weekend, facing them at 5 p.m. Friday in Payson.

3. Liberty (3-1) — Final 2011 ranking: No. 4

The Lady Eagles went 17-14 in 2011, but they finished the season strong, winning 14 of their final 20 games. They’ve kept that momentum going with a quality start to this season.

Liberty hasn’t overpowered too many opponents so far, sneaking past Payson 3-2 in 10 innings and beating Illini West 4-3. But maybe that’s a good sign, a sign that Liberty won’t crumble in tight situations.

The Lady Eagles have an advantage most teams don’t have in that they have two pitchers —Mackenzie Buyck and Brooke Wellman — of about equal skill who are capable of sharing the workload in the pitcher’s circle. Liberty faces a tall task at 6 p.m. Thursday when it plays QND at The Backyard.

4. Quincy High School (5-1) — Final 2011 ranking: Unranked

The Blue Devils teased fans last year by starting the season 6-3 before winding up 9-18. However, every starter returns from that 2011 squad, so maybe this fast start by QHS won’t flame out.

The Blue Devils have goals of contending for a Western Big Six Conference title, so keep your eye on a doubleheader against Rock Island Alleman on April 7. It’s QHS’s WB6 opener. A sweep there would show QHS might be for real this year. In the meantime, the Blue Devils have a couple more very winnable games.

5. West Hancock (2-0) — Final 2011 ranking: Unranked

There’s been a common theme for the teams in these rankings: returning talent. That holds true for the final team in the top five.

West Hancock brought back eight starters off of last year’s team that finished 12-11, and the Lady Titans have rolled in their first two games, beating South Fulton 13-1 and then hammering BPCA 22-6. Sophomore Shelby Koehler, a first-team all-area selection last year, should be a force in the pitcher’s circle and from the No. 3 slot in the batting order.

Final 2011 rankings: No. 1 Quincy Notre Dame, No. 2 Griggsville-Perry, No. 3 Payson Seymour, No. 4 Liberty, No. 5 Illini West.

On Tuesday evenings during the prep sports season, ESPN 1440 airs a local sports show featuring WGEM Sports Director Ben Marth, Herald-Whig Sports Editor Don O’Brien and Herald-Whig Sports Writers Matt Schuckman and Blake Toppmeyer. This week’s show was the final show of the year.

During the 30-minute show, the sports guys talk area high school and college sports and regional pro sports. This week, they offer their thoughts on the University if Illinois’ men’s basketball coaching search. They also recap the fall and winter sports seasons and look ahead to next year.

In case you missed the show Tuesday, here it is online in three parts.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

The Herald-Whig released its girls basketball all-area teams in Saturday’s edition. To view the list of selections, click here. To read about Quincy Notre Dame’s Jordan Frericks, the 2012 Player of the Year, click here. To read about QND’s Eric Orne, the 2012 Coach of the Year, click here. Click here for a video compilation of Frericks, with audio from teammates and Orne about her play. Click here to see a discussion from The Herald-Whig sports staff on why it selected Frericks and Orne as its award winners.