Kudos to Northern Nevada softball, which keeps showing it can compete at state level

Over the last decade, Northern Nevada has not had much success against Southern Nevada in large-class state championships.

Since 2010, the North has won just 18 large-class state titles in the following 16 sports — football, baseball, boys basketball, girls basketball, volleyball, girls tennis, boys tennis, boys track and field, girls track and field, boys swimming, girls swimming, boys soccer, girls soccer, girls golf, boys golf and wrestling. That's fewer than 10 percent of the total titles available.

I point this out to honor Northern Nevada softball, which recently won a state championship with Douglas' 6-3 victory over Centennial, which was the Tigers' first state title since back-to-back championships in 1991 and 1992. While Northern Nevada hasn't been able to compete with Southern Nevada in almost every sport at the state level — cross country being an exception — softball has remained strong among the marquee sports.

Since 2000, the North has won 13 of the 22 large-class state softball championships with Douglas (one), Reed (one), Spanish Springs (five), McQueen (two) and Wooster (four) all claiming crowns, proving it's not a one-school dominance and softball is strong across the region. If you go back to 1984, the North has won 28 of the 38 state titles with Reno, Carson and Galena adding their names to the Northern school state championship list.

It's true much of the North's success in softball came in the 1980s (seven of 10 titles won), the 1990s (nine of 10 titles) and the 2000s (eight of 10 titles). The titles have been more evenly split since 2010 with the North taking five of 12 championships. But that's exactly what you want when it comes to state tournaments, a near even split of titles and an even playing field.

One of the big reasons for the North's success in softball has been Bishop Gorman's relative indifference to the sport. The powerhouse Gaels have reached the state tournament only three times in softball, losing in the large-class semifinals in 1995 and winning 4A titles in 2022 and 2023. That's right, Bishop Gorman competes at the 4A level rather than the 5A in softball. If the Gaels wanted to dominate the large-class level in softball, it could probably do so. It hasn't put its resources there yet.

If it does, that even split between North and South in recent history — the regions have evenly split the last 16 championships — could evaporate. But it's refreshing to see competitive large-class state tournaments, something we've not seen in football (the North last won a state title in 2008); boys basketball (the North last won a state title in 2008); girls basketball (the North last won a state title in 2014); baseball (the North last won a state title in 2004); and volleyball (the North last won a state title in 2012).

Kudos to the North for competing at a high level in softball at the state level and to Douglas, which was the class of the state from start to finish this year, going 33-4 overall, 16-0 in league play, 6-0 in the regional and state tournaments and winning 25 straight games to end the season, the fourth-longest streak in NIAA history. The South might have state dominance across most sports, but that doesn't extend to softball, which makes it the most interesting large-class state tournament year in and year out.

Sports columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.