Softball rankings: Mountain Range, Valor Christian, Strasburg are No. 1 teams

Mountain Range is No. 1 in 5A softball. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com

Mountain Range is looking for a repeat performance of their historical softball state title run in 2015.

In the first ever appearance in the state tournament for the school, the Mustangs fought to the Class 5A state championship and, as a result, have earned some respect heading into the 2016 season.

Mountain Range was voted as the No. 1 team in 5A in the first set of CHSAANow.com softball rankings.

They start the season one spot above Chaparral, which went into last year’s state tournament with the No. 1 seed. The Mustangs beat the Wolverines 4-2 in the semifinals of the tournament.

Legend comes in at No. 3, taking a couple of first place votes along the way. Grandview  also snagged a No. 1 vote, but will start the season ranked No. 8.

State runner-up Pomona will begin the year ranked No. 7.

Coming off back-to-back state championships, Valor Christian will start the year ranked as the No. 1 team in 4A.

State semifinalists Erie and Mountain View come in at No. 2 and No. 3 respectively while state runner-up Wheat Ridge lands at No. 4, taking a first place vote in the process.

All eight teams from last year’s quarterfinal round are ranked in the preseason top with Berthoud (No. 7) and Air Academy (No. 8) completing the field.

Strasburg is No. 1 in 3A softball. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com

Strasburg enters the season as the unanimous pick as the No. 1 team in 3A. The Indians came away with their third title in four years with a 7-5 win over Eaton.

The Reds land at No. 2, hoping for another chance to make a championship run.

Rocky Ford (No. 3), La Junta (No. 4) and Sterling (No. 5) all come in with high rankings after they each advanced to to the state quarterfinals.

Sterling was the only team from that trio to advance to the semis.

Brush comes in at No. 7 after also advancing to the semifinals last fall.

The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday during the regular season.

Complete rankings for each class are below.

CHSAANow.com Softball Polls

Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.

Go to: 5A | 4A | 3A