Who is the best softball team this year in southwestern Illinois? Vote here to decide

Vote for the Belleville News-Democrat’s High School Softball Team of the Year. The poll closes at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, June 16. To vote again, hit refresh.

The BND Softball Team of the Year poll highlights high school varsity softball teams who enjoyed outstanding seasons.

To be clear, this poll is not scientific. In fact, we invite you to vote as many times as you want. It’s all for fun, BND readers. We are planning to post the results later this week after the poll closes.

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Here are the team of the year nominees:

• Belleville East High School: The Lancers went 28-9 this spring while winning a regional crown and advancing to sectional competition where they lost 1-0 to Edwardsville. Belleville East also tied with the Tigers atop the Southwestern Conference standings with an 11-1 mark.
• Belleville West High School: The Maroons went 21-12 this spring while reaching the regional championship where they lost to Belleville East. Belleville West went 8-4 in the Southwestern Conference, good for third place.
• Edwardsville High School: The Tigers went 33-4 this season and captured a regional championship, a sectional championship, won the super-sectional game and ultimately placed third at state. Edwardsville also shared the Southwestern Conference title with Belleville East with an 11-1 mark.
• Freeburg High School: The Midgets finished 33-2 this season which included a 32-game winning streak. Along the way, Freeburg captured the Cahokia Conference Mississippi Division with a 10-0 mark, won a regional, won a sectional, won the super-sectional game and advanced and won the state semifinal game before losing 5-4 in 11 innings in the state finals.
• Highland High School: The Lady Bulldogs finished 22-10 this spring, won a regional championship and a sectional championship before losing in the super-sectional round to Mahomet-Seymour. Highland also captured the Mississippi Valley Conference championship with a 9-1 mark.
• Marissa High School: The Meteors finished 18-4 this spring and won a regional championship before losing in the sectional title game where they lost to Hardin Calhoun. Marissa also captured the Cahokia Conference Kaskaskia Division championship with a 9-0 mark.
• Mater Dei Catholic High School: The Knights finished this season 20-5-1 and captured a regional championship before losing in the sectional semifinals to Gillespie.
• Triad High School: The Knights went 20-11 this spring and reached the regional championship game where they lost to Marion. Triad went 6-4 in the Mississippi Valley Conference, good for third place.

This story was originally published June 14, 2022 at 5:00 AM.