Welcome to Southside Daily’s weekly look at the top softball teams by record in Virginia Beach:
Ocean Lakes (12-3, 7-3 Coastal): It took two months for the Dolphins to lose consecutive games. Ocean Lakes has beat every Coastal team handily besides Kellam and will try to close the regular season strong before the conference tournament next week.
Kempsville (12-4): The Chiefs have won five of their last six games and continue to throttle Atlantic Conference foes with recent wins over Norview (16-0) and Princess Anne (4-1). They are the favorite for the conference’s top seed and close the season with games against Salem, Indian River and Green Run — all teams they have already beaten.
First Colonial (10-5-1, 7-3 Coastal): The Patriots have gone 9-2-1 in their last 10 games, including Thursday’s big 10-4 win against the Dolphins. First Colonial is rounding into playoff form down the stretch of conference play.
Kellam (9-7, 7-3 Coastal): Kellam has hit its stride at the right time. The Knights have won five straight; sweeping the season series against the Dolphins on Tuesday and avenging a mid-season loss to Bayside on Thursday.
Bayside (7-7, 4-5 Coastal): The Marlins can finish an inconsistent season on the upswing if they can close strong against Cox and Landstown next week to secure the Coastal Conference’s final tournament seed.