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Will Broad Run softball finish as nation's best?
Every Thursday, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and USA Today release a ranking of the Top 25 high school softball teams in the United States.
The poll's Web site states its guidelines: "Among the criteria considered are a school's strength of schedule, the quality of competition in its state or league, and the quality of its players."
Since the end of the regular season and through the poll of June 5, Broad Run has found itself each week locked into the No. 2 position. The Spartans finished No. 5 in the same poll at the end of the 2007 season.
Having defeated the best that Virginia's Group AA has to offer since the last poll, and having run their record to 28-0 and lifted another trophy to the sky, will June 12 bring yet another achievement to Ashburn?
The No. 1 spot has been held down for most of the season by the Ladycats of Aledo (Tex.) High School, owners of a 38-1-1 record and recent winners of the state title at Texas's 4A classification. The school's Web site, using Texas-size letters, is already emblazoned with congratulations for its softball squad on winning the national championship.
Perhaps it's regrettable that the Spartans and Ladycats will never settle the matter on the diamond -- there is no Bowl Championship Series for high school sports -- but there are some points to ponder and numbers to digest, providing a compelling if highly inexact basis for comparison, much like the BCS itself.
Both Broad Run (AA) and Aledo (4A) participate in their state's second tier based upon school population size.
The Ladycats took their state title -- the school's first in softball -- with a 4-0 victory in 15 innings, featuring a roster of seven seniors. The Spartans and their five seniors have garnered their second consecutive title being largely unchallenged in all eight postseason games.
Aledo did not win two of their contests, while Broad Run was only scored upon in one inning -- the first frame of an early-season 4-3 victory versus Battlefield, the eventual state runners-up in Group AAA.
"They are a very good team," remarked Mike Skinner, softball coach for Group AAA Stone Bridge, which nearly won the Liberty District but lost head-to-head versus the Spartans. "I think they would have either won AAA or it would have been a 1-0 [title] game."
The coach at Broad Run's traditional rival, Park View's Ed Abner, spoke in glowing terms of the Spartans' entire roster.
"During the spring break, I went to Alabama and watched two games between two highly ranked high schools," Abner related. "Broad Run would have beaten them easily."
Perhaps geography is held against the Spartans. Texas' climate being more hospitable to outdoor sports, a softball team can play 40 sanctioned games in a season while the Mid-Atlantic region is still feeling a chill. Of the top eight schools listed on the USA Today poll, Broad Run is the northernmost, and has played the fewest games of any of the top 18.
Regardless, five members of the Spartan roster have already agreed to Division I scholarships, including four of the five seniors, three of the four infielders. Several more Spartans will indubitably play at the next level.
Broad Run hit .404 as a team, with the lowest batting average in the starting lineup being .328. The team members reached base in more than half their plate appearances.
Caitlyn Delahaba did not give up an earned run during the season, averaging more than 15 strikeouts per game. On the one occasion Delahaba didn't start, Judy Betz tossed a one-hit shutout.
They have hung a hamperful of new banners in the school gymnasium, having since 2006 won three district, three regional and two state championships, going 83-1 over that span.
Since the start of the 2007 campaign, Broad Run has averaged more than eight runs per game, and has allowed a total of nine runs. Read that again.
Biased though his perspective may be, Spartan coach Ed Steele knows his opinion on the subject of who should be No. 1.
"I think so, sure," he said after watching his players hoist another trophy. “I don't know how you can say that we're not one of the very best teams in the country and probably the best, on the basis of the fact that we've won every game for two years.”
Steele runs through a litany of statistics such as those cited above. He doesn't mention -- he doesn't need to mention -- his dominating pitcher in Delahaba, his intelligent catcher in Haley Johnson, his well-schooled and solid defense, his aggressive speedsters on the basepaths. The lower portion of his lineup is more dangerous than many teams' middle portion.
"That's pretty dominating," the coach finally concludes.
Irrespective of whether the NFCA concurs with Steele's assessment on June 12, the impact that the Spartans' success has had on the Ashburn community and beyond has been evident.
"Little kids come to games in their Broad Run uniforms, asking our players for autographs," he recounts. "We get e-mails from parents asking how their kids can improve their skills."
Steele, who gives substantial credit to the parents and the community for creating the environment that fosters the waves of softball talent that has been supplied to him, said he believes that the program's success has mutual benefit.
"When more people are interested and aware, more people want to play, and hopefully more people want to come to Broad Run," he says.
Whether the Spartans are able to add a national title to their resume, the veteran coach already ranks the 2008 season among his most satisfying.
"Because we won everything and we haven't lost for two years, it's got to be high up on my list," Steele said. "But I enjoy every season. I enjoy working with the kids."
Steele paused, then continued with characteristic understatement:
"It's nice when you can win them all."
And it'd be nice to get just one more win.
YES...THEY DID....
Broad Run Captures State Title and Tops Final USA Today/NFCA High School Top 25 Poll
06/12/08 - NFCA Release
After an undefeated season, that featured a state title, Broad Run High School (Va.) is the No. 1 team in the nation according to the final USA Today/NFCA High School Top 25 Poll of the season.
The Spartans ended the 2008 season at 28-0 and have won 57 games in a row. During the season Broad Run had a team batting average of .400, outscored its opponents 231-3 and didn’t allow an earned run all year.
Moving up to the No. 2 spot is Butler (N.C.), followed by last week’s top team Aledo (Texas), Sheldon (Calif.), and Central Davidson (N.C.).
Pembroke Pines Charter (Fla.) is the first of four teams from Florida in the final poll at No. 6. Canyon del Oro (Ariz.) is at No. 7, with Shadle Park (Wash.), Valencia (Calif.), and Mt. Carmel (Calif.) rounding out the top 10.
New Mexico’s Cibola High School is in at No. 11, Hueytown is next with a 61-5-2 record, and Tennessee’s AAA Champion Ooltewah High School is 13th. Simi Valley (Calif.) is one of the Golden State’s six teams featured in the poll at No. 14, and Hickory (Va.), fresh off its AAA State Tournament victory, is 15th.
Naples (Fla.) is No. 16, followed by Santiago (Calif.), Smithson Valley (Texas), Kennedy (Calif.), Escondido (Calif.), Coronado (Texas), Eau Gallie (Fla.), Byrd (La.), Mandarin (Fla.), and Williamston (N.J.).
The rankings were compiled by representatives and committees from each state across the nation.
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