The softball regular season is down to its last week before the postseason.
The Florida High School Athletic Association softball regular season will wrap up on April 23, with the district tournaments quickly following on April 28.
Teams have roughly seven days to improve their stock, and get some last-minute tune ups, before playoffs begin. Brackets will likely be released when the newest rankings come out next week.
The regional playoffs begin May 7 and 8, depending on the classification, followed by the state championships from May 20-24.
Pace continues to be Northwest Florida's top-ranked team, staying put at No. 4 overall in the state with a 22.513 rating. Entering Monday, the Patriots had a 15-2 record. Not far behind is Jay, improving one spot to No. 14 with a rating of 19.163, boasting a 15-1 record entering the week.
Just four area teams rank in the top 100 this week. Outside of Pace and Jay, Northview improved 13 spots to No. 41, while Navarre jumped up 17 spots to No. 78.
Current district leaders are Pace (6A), Escambia (4A), West Florida (3A) and Jay (Rural).
Here are the fourth FHSAA softball rankings for teams from Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, plus a way-too-early playoff watch.
Class 6A
Class 5A
Class 4A
Class 3A
Class 2A
Class 1A
Rural
Way-too-early playoff watch
District tournaments aren't for another couple weeks, but it's still fun to examine what the playoff scenarios would look like if the regular season ended today as far as region tournaments.
District champions automatically advance to the region tournament after the district tourney, and there are four at-large bids per region in Classes 1A-7A. The Rural classification only brings two district champions plus two at-large bid teams. For the playoff watch, we'll presume that the top team in each district wins the district tournament and moves onto regionals – that's what we're going to share below.
Rankings are bound to change after district tournaments as well, so we'll pretend that they didn't change at all through districts to make things a little easier. Remember: anything can happen in the playoffs.
Here's what the region tournaments would look like.
Region 1-6A
Notes: Three of the four presumed district champions – Pace, Horizon and Bartram Trail – all are in the top eight teams, and all earn the right to host in the quarterfinals. District 2's Fletcher (ranked ninth) still gets an automatic bid into the tournament, which knocks out eighth-ranked South Lake from an at-large bid. Locally, Navarre and Tate also get in, and, as of now, would face each other in the quarterfinals with the Raiders hosting.
Region 1-5A
Notes: The four presumed district champions are the top four teams in the region, making it easy to determine who would host in the quarterfinals. Gulf Breeze and Milton would also get in as at-large bids, ranked inside the top eight. The sixth-ranked Panthers would stay relatively local and head to Niceville for the quarterfinals, while the No. 5 Dolphins would go to Middleburg.
Region 1-4A
Notes: All four presumed district champions are within the top eight teams. And based on how they're currently situated, all still get to host in the quarterfinals. Escambia and Clay (District 4), despite being lower-seeded teams, still host higher-ranked at-large bids in the quarterfinals. Escambia would start the region tournament with a home game against Columbia. Pine Forest, ranked ninth in the region, just misses out on a spot in the playoffs, as of now.
Region 1-3A
Notes: All four presumed district champions are within the top eight teams. However, Wolfson (District 4) is the only one that wouldn't host in the quarterfinals, having to go to a higher-seeded district champion in Wakulla out of District 2. West Florida, ranked fourth in the region, gets a home game against Suwannee in the quarterfinals to kick things off.
Region 1-2A
Notes: All four presumed district champions are ranked within the top eight teams. However, Florida High would still host even though it's going against a higher-ranked at-large bid team. No area teams are in the region tournament in Region 1-2A, with Pensacola Catholic sitting at No. 15.
Region 1-1A
Notes: Three of the four presumed district champions are in the top eight teams. District 2's Christ's Church Academy is ranked ninth in the region, but still gets an automatic bid. Christ's Church wouldn't host in the quarterfinals, going to a higher-seeded district champion in University Christian. No area teams make the region tournament in Region 1-1A, with LEAD Academy ranked No. 17.
Region 1-Rural
Notes: Remember, only four teams get into the region tournament from the Rural classification. Jay and Northview are the top two teams in Region 1, but only Jay, the presumed district champion, would host in the semifinals. Northview, an at-large bid team, would have to go to Holmes County to kick things off.