LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It’s déjà vu atop the first 2020 NFCA Fall High School Top 25 Coaches Poll, with Nebraska state champion Papillion-LaVista and Georgia’s East Coweta opening in the same spots they finished last season.

Papillion-LaVista (6-0), which has outscored opponents 60-0 so far this year, extended its win streak to 42 games with a 9-0 rout of No. 19 Skutt Catholic earlier this week. Oklahoma commit Jordyn Bahl went 3-for-3 with two homers and a double, while also striking out 10 of the 16 batters she faced and allowing just a fifth-inning single in the win.

Meanwhile, fellow perennial power East Coweta’s biggest foe this season has been the weather, with nearly as many games cancelled or postponed (four) as games that the undefeated Indians have won (five). Most recently, Jaliyah Holmes outdueled Georgia recruit Rebecca Muh, with 16 strikeouts in a 4-0 one-hit shutout over McIntosh.

Eight of the top nine teams in the ranking are unbeaten, including three from Georgia and two each from Colorado and Oklahoma. Kennedy (26-1) is the outlier at fifth, after winning 19 straight en route to its first Iowa Class 5A crown late last month. Fellow Iowa champions Albia (12th), Clarksville (14th) and Ogden (22nd) also appear in the Top 25.

Elsewhere, two 2019 Iowa titlists who lost in this year’s state finals also made the list. No. 10 North Linn (25-1) dropped its only game of the season, 6-1 to Ogden, in the 2A championship on July 31. No. 24 Collins-Maxwell (21-3) dropped a 2-0 thriller to No. 14 Clarksville (19-1) in the 1A bracket.

State rankings submitted by NFCA member coaches are used to compile the NFCA Fall High School Top 25 Coaches Poll. Teams are chosen based on performance, roster quality and strength of schedule. Five states — Colorado, Georgia, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Missouri — play a fall fastpitch schedule, while Iowa recently completed its summer season.

NFCA Fall High School Top 25 Coaches Poll – Aug. 27, 2020