Why did you create this site?

This is a fair question. The de-facto source of truth for VHSL scores is the MaxPreps site. However, we’ve found that MaxPreps can be problematic. First, this is self-reported by the teams. This can lead to problems– in some cases, inaccurate scores. In some cases, scores are not reported until the end of the season. And in some cases, the AI technology underlying MaxPreps can get team names wrong (leading to inaccurate ranks).

VA Prep Site is centrally managed, so coaches and fans are but one source of information. The scores reflected on here, draw from Max Preps, school web sites, and especially GameChanger. And these scores are updated as frequently as possible. In many cases scores (and associated ranks) are updated the same day as the games occur.

The VA Prep Softball team is made up of softball families that are engaged in the outcomes of the games. Our goal is to make information error-free, up-to-date, and objective so you can get the most accurate understanding of where teams are ranked.

What’s new this year?

The biggest change this year is that we are including Class 5 rankings. For the last three years, this has been dedicated (initially) to Class 6 Northern Region scores, and eventually to the entirety of Class 6. We’ve extended this to Class 5 as we have a more established process, now, and we feel ready to extend the size of the site to 45+ more teams.

As mentioned in the Why did you create this site section, maintaining scores is ultimately a centralized process that can be manually intensive. However, we have several volunteers and an established score reporting system that we feel we can extend to Class 5. If this goes well, we may look to extend to other Classes.

In the 2024 season, we introduced the “Top Games Today” section and the “Head to Head” data section. If time permits, we’ll likely introduce an AI-driven analytics section to give more detailed information about teams.

How do you rank the teams?

The lowest-level of information is always the individual games. We break down games, however, into four buckets:

• District Games – These are games within a district. So this might be McLean vs. Langley, both of whom are in the Liberty District. Districts are generally local competition and are often (but not necessarily) tied to the regions. It is possible to have an in-district game with two teams that are NOT in the same region. For example, a game between Mills Godwin (Colonial – Region 5C) and Maggie Walker (Colonial – Region 3C) would be a district game, reflected in the Colonial district page. However, Maggie Walker does NOT show up in the main ranking page nor in the Region 5 pages, because Maggie Walker is in state Class 3.
• Regional Games – These are games that are within region that may be (but are not always) a superset of the District Games. Regions are tied to the state Class ranking, and designated with a class ranking number and a letter district. Battlefield is in Region 6B (Class 6, Region B). So a game against Forest Park (a Region 6B team) would be considered a Regional Game.
• VHSL Games – VHSL games count toward the overall VHSL ranking system. VHSL is a superset of the regional games (there may be an in-region game or an out-of-region game). However, all the team games in this category are a member of the VHSL class 1-6.
• Exhibition/Scrimmage Games – If a VHLS team is playing another team that is not in VHSL, then this is not considered in the VHSL standings. The individual scores will be reflected in the detailed team score sections, but the scores are not counted in the W-L of any ranking table on the VA Prep Softball site. This is because coaches and teams in general don’t treat these games as a competitive game and will often try new positions. For example, games in the month of February and early March are generally scrimmages where coaches are trying new players in varsity positions. Similarly, games over spring break may include out-of-state teams where coaches are trying new player positions.