Pipestone has been the dominant figure in the Big South Conference Small School Division softball standings for most of the decade of its existence. Only three teams have won the title, with the Arrows winning six of the eight.
Jackson County Central won the first title in 2015, with Pipestone winning the next five (the 2020 season was canceled). After St. James Area interrupted the Arrows’ streak in 2022 before Pipestone returned to the top last year.
JCC has its collective eyes on a bigger prize in about a month, but a conference championship along the way would be a nice achievement. The Huskies can take an important step in that direction when they are scheduled to face the Arrows in a 4 p.m. doubleheader Thursday at Paulsen Field in Pipestone.
Jackson County Central is 4-2 overall, 2-2 in the conference.
The Huskies have split two twin bills, following the same script.
On April 9, JCC lost the first game to St. James Area 2-1 in nine innings and then won the second contest 16-1 in four innings. On April 18 the Huskies dropped the opener to Luverne 7-4 before winning the nightcap 15-0 in five innings.
Class 2A eighth-ranked Pipestone is 5-2 overall, 3-1 in the conference. The Arrows started the season 1-2, splitting a doubleheader with Windom and dropping the first game of a twin bill with Marshall before taking the second game to start a four-game winning streak.
Windom leads the Small School Division record with a 5-1 record, followed by Pipestone and JCC. The Huskies and Eagles are scheduled to play two in Windom on May 10.
The Huskies are also scheduled to face a ranked opponent on Friday, hosting 2A No. 10 Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial in a nonconference game.
BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE
Softball standings
Small School Division
Windom 5-1
Pipestone 3-1
Jackson County Central 2-2
St. James Area 2-3
Luverne 1-1
Blue Earth Area 1-2
Redwood Valley 1-5
Conference games only
Large School Division
New Ulm 3-0
St. Peter 2-0
Worthington 2-2
Marshall 1-1
Fairmont 1-2
Waseca 0-4
Conference games only
Big South Conference
Year-by-year winners of BSC softball titles.
Small School Division
2015: Jackson County Central
2016: Pipestone
2017: Pipestone
2018: Pipestone
2019: Pipestone
2020: Season canceled
2021: Pipestone
2022: St. James Area
2023: Pipestone
Large School Division
2015: New Ulm
2016: St. Peter
2017: New Ulm
2018: New Ulm
2019: New Ulm
2020: Season canceled
2021: St. Peter
2022: New Ulm
2023: Fairmont
Championship games
Results of the Small School champion vs. Large School champion games.
2015: New Ulm 10, Jackson County Central 1
2016: Pipestone 5, St. Peter 2
2017: New Ulm 3, Pipestone 0
2018: Pipestone 3, New Ulm 1
2019: New Ulm 3, Pipestone 0
2020: Season canceled
2021: Pipestone 3, St. Peter 2
2022: St. James Area 3, New Ulm 0
2023: Fairmont 4, Pipestone 1