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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The Vincent Yellow Jackets baseball team and the Thompson Warriors softball team will be heading into the playoffs as the prohibitive favorites in their respective classifications.

Vincent and Thompson were each ranked No. 1 in the final baseball and softball media rankings by the Alabama Sports Writers Association on Thursday, April 17.

In addition to those two teams, the Chelsea Hornets and Helena Huskies joined the Warriors as the three county teams to be ranked in both the baseball and softball top 10.

The Jackets improved to 23-5 on the season after finishing the regular season with a revenge win over Georgia’s Bowdon and a tight victory over St. Clair County.

Vincent remained at No. 1 as a result of those wins and will look to carry its momentum into a home first-round series against the West End Patriots on April 18 and 19.

Thompson softball maintained its No. 1 ranking after sweeping Prattville in area play and going 4-1 in the Hornet Invitational. The Warriors defeated Auburn High School, Class 4A No. 4 Alexandria and Class 6A No. 7 Helena ahead of a shutout win over the national No. 3 Orange Beach Makos.

Thompson then defeated Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 10-0 in the final game before the rankings window closed. The Warriors have since improved to 32-3 with a second win over the Patriots on Thursday, April 17 to finish area play undefeated.

Thompson will play in the Hoover Classic before hosting the Class 7A, Area 5 tournament at Thompson High School.

As for the baseball Warriors, they checked in at No. 6 in Class 7A. Thompson swept its three-game series with Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa but dropped its series opener against No. 10 Tuscaloosa County before the nominations window closed.

Since then, the Warriors lost the second half of the series to Tuscaloosa County on the road. Thompson finished the regular season with a 26-13 record and 6-2 mark in area play, setting up a first-round road trip to the Bob Jones Patriots on Friday, April 25.

This will be the third-straight year that the Warriors have trekked up to Madison during the playoffs.

Chelsea’s softball team dropped one spot to No. 3 in Class 6A. The Hornets handed Thompson just its third loss of the season before securing two more wins in Hornet Invitational pool play. Their only loss of the home tournament was to 4A No. 1 Orange Beach.

However, the Hornets lost to Helena on Tuesday, April 15, making it back-to-back area losses after losing to Spain Park on Thursday, April 10.

Chelsea will play in the Hoover Classic before heading to Helena for the Class 6A, Area 7 tournament.

The baseball Hornets are also No. 3 in Class 6A. Chelsea clinched the Class 6A, Area 7 championship with a dominant win over Pelham on the final day of the season.

The Hornets finished the regular season with a 19-9 record and will host the Brookwood Panthers in the first round on April 18 and 19 at the Chelsea Sports Complex.

Helena remained in the top 10 for Class 6A softball with a one-run win over Chelsea in the final game of area play. The Huskies also defeated Pell City the day before to improve to 22-12-2 on the year.

However, the Huskies lost a non-area game to Brookwood and struggled in the Hornet Invitational to counteract those results.

After the nominations window closed, Helena clinched the regular season area title with a win over Spain Park. The Huskies will host the Class 6A, Area 7 tournament after playing in the Hoover Classic.

Helena’s baseball team finished the regular season 18-13 and at No. 6 in the Class 6A rankings. The Huskies took care of business on the final day of the regular season and defeated Spain Park to clinch a playoff spot over the Jags.

Helena will hit the road to begin the playoffs when it faces the Northridge Jaguars on April 18 and 19.

In addition to those teams, Spain Park’s baseball and softball teams as well as Cornerstone’s softball team were nominated for their respective rankings.