The third Iowa girl’s high school athletic union softball rankings were released this week, and there are four teams ranked in the top 15.

In class 4A Washington has remained a No. 9 after sweeping Fairfield. This week Washington split with Keokuk and 10 runned Mt. Pleasant twice, and beat West Burlington on Friday 7-6. Washington is hitting .378 as a team and has scored 64 runs this season. Pitching wise the Demons have a combined 1.29 ERA. Maddie Bohr is the close out pitcher right now with a .35 ERA, while Rausch has had some struggles early in the season with a 1.93 ERA.

Head coach Angie Shrader said Rausch just needs to believe in her self a little more than she is.

“I think it is a confidence thing with Ashley, she seems unsure on some of her pitches, and she did the same thing last year, she started off kind of slow and then came on really strong, and it is just a matter of getting Ashley to feel confident at the plate as a batter, and then that will carry over into the field. I think her defense is starting to play better behind her, so I think that she will gain more confidence with her pitches knowing that her fielders are behind her able to make the plays.”

In class 3A, Mid-Prairie sits at No. 2 after falling out of No. 1. The 5-2 Golden Hawks took a couple of loses to bigger schools, but have been perfect since. The team is hitting just .233 with 21 runs, and their pitching staff has a combined ERA of 1.84. Mid-Prairie ace Olivia Lugar has a 1.33 ERA and 27 strikeouts to just four walks.

In 2A, the Highland Huskies at No. 12 after their great 10-1 start to their season. They are hitting .354 with 102 runs scored, averaging over nine runs per game. Outside of their hitting, Katie Springer has been the player to watch for the Huskies, with an 8-1 record, 1.91 ERA, 65 K’s and has held opponents to a .179 average.

Finally in 1A Sigourney is No. 10 with a 6-0 start to their season. They have scored 50 runs this season with a .420 team batting average. Jordan Carter has pitched and started each of the games with her 6-0 record, 1.66 ERA and 39 K’s this season.

As the softball season begins to dive into the heart of the season these next couple of weeks, KCII will keep you updated to where these local teams are at in the rankings all year long.