Both the Fort Dodge and St. Edmond softball teams find themselves in the preseason rankings to begin the year according to the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

The Dodgers, who were ousted in the regional final round last year for the first time since 2017, will look to start a new state streak as the sixth-rated team in Class 4A.

Fort Dodge finished last season with a record of 27-13. The Dodgers start the season on Tuesday at home against West Des Moines Valley in a single varsity contest at 7 p.m. Their original opener, scheduled for Monday at Sioux City North, was postponed due to inclement weather.

St. Edmond will try to return to the state tournament after reaching the 1A state semifinals a year ago and going 25-12. The Gaels are eighth in the initial 1A poll.

St. Edmond was also scheduled to play Monday at Saydel, but that tilt was postponed. The Gaels will now open the season on Tuesday at home against Eagle Grove. First varsity pitch is set for 7:30 p.m. at Rogers Park.

Area program Algona is ranked 10th in Class 3A. Newell-Fonda is seventh in 1A. North Union is 13th.

The top-rated squads in the state are Waukee Northwest (5A), Adel-ADM (4A), Williamsburg (3A), Louisa-Muscatine (2A) and Clarksville (1A).

IGHSAU PRESEASON SOFTBALL RANKINGS

Class 5A

Waukee Northwest 40-5; 2. Ankeny Centennial 34-10; 3. West Des Moines Valley 30-12; 4. Southeast Polk 31-12; 5. Pleasant Valley 31-10; 6. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 24-17; 7. Dallas Center-Grimes 33-9; 8. Linn-Mar 34-7; 9. Bettendorf 22-18; 10. Muscatine 26-11; 11. Johnston 25-16; 12. Ottumwa 22-14; 13. Cedar Falls 31-11; 14. Iowa City High 23-15; 15. Indianola 21-15.

Class 4A

ADM 29-9; 2. Carlisle 27-10; 3. North Scott 30-13; 4. Western Dubuque 31-13; 5. Clear Creek-Amana 31-9; 6. Fort Dodge 27-13; 7. Norwalk 34-8; 8. North Polk 36-6; 9. Pella 25-12; 10. Cedar Rapids Xavier 38-6; 11. Winterset 25-15; 12. Solon 17-20; 13. Waverly-Shell Rock 17-9; 14. Grinnell 29-9; 15. Gilbert 18-16.

Class 3A

Williamsburg 36-7; 2. Dubuque Wahlert 37-8; 3. Albia 30-4; 4. PCM 26-6; 5. Van Meter 34-2; 6. West Liberty 22-9; 7. Davenport Assumption 24-14; 8. West Delaware 25-12; 9. Mount Vernon 27-12; 10. Algona 20-7; 11. Center Point-Urbana 26-13; 12. Osage 28-2; 13. Atlantic 27-14; 14. Des Moines Christian 14-14; 15. Central Lee 22-9.

Class 2A

Louisa-Muscatine 31-7; 2. Durant 22-13; 3. West Lyon 30-2; 4. Wapsie Valley 29-6; 5. Jesup 25-11; 6. West Monona 29-8; 7. Riverside 26-4; 8. East Marshall 27-11; 9. Sumner-Fredericksburg 25-11; 10. West Marshall 23-11; 11. Treynor 20-5; 12. Pleasantville 18-9; 13. Lisbon 26-13; 14. Ogden 22-12; 15. Cascade 21-10.

Class 1A

Clarksville 31-4; 2. Mason City Newman 25-6; 3. Exira-EHK/Audubon 16-12; 4. Edgewood-Colesburg 32-8; 5. Highland 17-11; 6. Southeast Warren 16-6; 7. Newell-Fonda 25-12; 8. St. Edmond 25-12; 9. Wayne 27-3; 10. North Linn 21-19; 11. Collins-Maxwell 15-10; 12. Martensdale-St. Marys 17-14; 13. North Union 22-8; 14. Don Bosco 21-14; 15 Kee 27-12.