It will be a long journey north for some of the top prep softball teams in the state.
The 5A state softball tournament will take place at Post Falls High School. 4A is split between Coeur d’Alene and Lake City High School, 3A is at Moscow High School and 2A resides at Orofino High School.
All of the state tournaments begin Thursday and conclude Saturday. The softball tournaments are double elimination with the four quarterfinal games taking place Thursday.
Full brackets for each classification can be found on the IHSAA website .
5A
Six teams from the Southern Idaho Conference qualified for the state tournament. A school outside of the Treasure Valley hasn’t won the 5A state softball tournament since 2013.
Owyhee is in pole position to repeat as state champions. They’re the top seed in 5A, facing No. 8 Coeur d’Alene. The Storm are looking to complete the perfect sweep of regular season conference champions, district champions and state champions.
No. 4 Timberline and No. 5 Rocky Mountain play each other for the second time this season. In the regular season, the Wolves defeated the Grizzlies 5-0.
Thunder Ridge is the No. 2 seed with a 24-1 record this season. They’ll get No. 7 Borah, who defeated Rigby 17-1 in a state tournament play-in game.
Capital beat Lewiston 12-1 in the other state tournament play-in game and is paired up with No. 3 Eagle in the quarterfinals. The Mustangs won both regular season meetings.
4A
Just like in 5A, the 4A state softball tournament has been dominated by Boise-area teams. The last seven titles have been won by either Skyview, Bishop Kelly or Middleton.
Bishop Kelly has only one loss to a team in Idaho this season and is the top seed in the state tournament. They’ll face No. 8 Moscow to open the tournament. The Knights won three titles in a row from 2019-2022, excluding 2020 (canceled due to COVID-19).
Defending state champions Skyview rallied from a 2-6 start to the season to reach the state tournament. They defeated Emmett in the district tournament to qualify. In the quarterfinals, their opponent is No. 3 Hillcrest.
The other matchups are No. 2 Pocatello vs. No. 7 Wood River and No. 4 Twin Falls vs. No. 5 Blackfoot.
3A
Defending state champions Kimberly return as the top seed once again, facing No. 8 Timberlake. Homedale, the No. 2 seed, will look for their second state title in three years this weekend. Their tournament run begins against No. 7 Teton.
The Trojans played Kimberly twice to open their season back in March and split those games. Three of their five losses this season have come to 5A schools.
Parma, the No. 5 seed, plays No. 4 Marsh Valley in the opening round. No. 6 Weiser will face No. 3 Gooding.
2A
Malad are in the midst of a historic run — they’ve won the last four 2A state titles. They’ve won seven state titles since 2013. The only team to break up their run of titles lately has been New Plymouth, who won state in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
The Pilgrims are in the state tournament as the No. 5 seed, facing No. 4 Declo in the quarterfinals.
Cole Valley will be looking for their first state title in softball. They’ve had a great season so far with a 20-5-1 record and 8-0 in league play. They’re the No. 2 seed and will play No. 7 Grangeville.
Malad, the top seed, faces No. 8 Salmon and No. 3 North Fremont takes on No. 6 Orofino.
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