5A Window

Two softball titans which battled it out in the Class 4A state semifinals last spring will compete in the 5A playoffs this season.

Andale-Garden Plain, the defending 4A champ, defeated Andover Central, 1-0, in the 4A state semifinals last May. Andale went on to win the title over Girard, 5-4, as Karley Schmelzer won her third straight game on the mound at state. Central placed third.

In the past, Arkansas City and Bishop Carroll have been the perennial favorites in Class 5A softball from this area. Ark City, a four-time state champion and a back-to-back champ in 2006 and 2007, lost to Carroll, an eight-time state champion with its last coming in 2004, in the state semis last spring before placing third. Carroll placed second at state for the second consecutive season.

This season, both Ark City and Carroll could be left out, despite once again putting together excellent seasons. Andover Central, led by one of the state's most dominant pitchers, Nikki Armagost, is grouped with Ark City and Carroll in the Bishop Carroll regional beginning May 18.

Andale softball's chances of getting to 5A state look solid. They are grouped with Great Bend, Hays, Hutch, McPherson, Newton, Salina Central and Salina South in the Salina South regional.

Andale-Garden Plain and Andover Central's promotion to Class 5A renders just as intriguing match-ups for the baseball postseason. In a season which has seen the resurgence of Winfield and Ark City baseball, the addition of Andover Central to the Carroll regional makes for something akin to competitive gluttony. Liberal is having a strong season, as is Carroll, and Kapaun is the returning state runner-up in 5A. All will play in the Carroll regional. There's no telling which team will come out of that one.