LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Gretna scored another ranked victory and won four times overall to climb into the No. 2 position behind East Coweta in this week's NFCA Summer/Fall High School Top 25 Coaches Poll.
The (36-0) Dragons stayed undefeated and scored 13 runs on defending Nebraska state champion Papillion-LaVista for the second time this season en route to a bracket final later today against Norfolk in the Class A tournament.
East Coweta (31-0), meanwhile, stayed securely in the top spot for a seventh week after blanking Newnan 10-0 last Thursday and sweeping Collins Hill 8-0 and 11-1 in Wednesday's run-shortened Georgia playoff series. The Indians hit three homers in the first game of best-of-three series and two more in the nightcap.
Pocola (34-1), which had been second in the poll the past six weeks, fell to eighth after losing 1-0 to new No. 7 Dale in the Oklahoma state 2A final for a second straight season. The (36-1) Pirates beat Pocola, who has reached the last three 2A championship games, 2-0, in last year's finale.
Buford (25-1) is the new No. 3 team following two routs of Westlake that advanced the two-time reigning state titlist Wolves farther into the Georgia 6A playoffs. They are just ahead of Van Meter (43-1), which won the Iowa 2A state crown back in July.
Colorado's Broomfield moved up one place to fifth this week. The (23-0) Eagles are the only other remaining unbeaten team in the Top 25.
Fellow Colorado school Lutheran (sixth), Georgia's Wesleyan (ninth) and Missouri's Grain Valley (10th) rounded out the top 10.
Elsewhere, Caddo (33-2) moved up to 11th after trouncing Tushka, 10-1, to win a fourth straight Oklahoma Class A championship.
State rankings submitted by the 2024 NFCA High School Steering Committee are used to compile the NFCA Summer/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.