There’s a new No. 1 team in The Trentonian’s Area Softball Top 20 Ratings and the fact there is comes as absolutely no surprise. Before the season started it was discussed how Notre Dame, Steinert and Robbinsville were not only capable of winning state championships, but also had the ability to beat each other at any time. Sure enough, in a great week of Colonial Valley Conference softball Notre Dame first beat Steinert, 1-0. Robbinsville then beat Notre Dame, 1-0, with Katie Ziliani throwing her fourth straight shutout and standout center fielder Ariana Tomlinson making a great running catch at the fence to end the game. This sets up a massive collision next Friday with Steinert headed to Robbinsville for a 6 p.m. start at Tantum Park. Expect a bit crowd for that one, especially if the weather cooperates. The new No. 1 team is, of course, Robbinsville. This was a no brainer because it beat the team (Notre Dame) that beat Steinert. Former No. 1 Notre Dame is now ranked second and Steinert is in the third spot. With five state titles and three seconds in the last 12 years the state tournament has been held, this is a familiar position for a Robbinsville program that takes a backseat to no public school team in New Jersey when it comes to winning championships in the 21st century. From an overall area standpoint, Robbinsville, New Egypt and Pennsbury have all won five state titles. Cherokee has the most with eight, Steinert has won four, Rancocas Valley has three and Notre Dame is among the locals with two. Anyway, the reason the upcoming Steinert at Robbinsville game is big is more than just about local bragging rights. It also also could play have a huge bearing on the Mercer County Tournament seeding. There’s a lot of softball to be played before the cutoff for next month’s MCT, but a Robbinsville victory over Steinert would leave the Ravens in great shape. A Steinert victory would create a triangle and the seeding committee would have to consider other results. Looking ahead, among the tough teams Robbinsville must play before the cutoff are Steinert, No. 5 Northern Burlington and Allentown. Notre Dame, meanwhile, is in next week’s Hammonton Tournament that has its usual tough field with Cinnaminson, Haddon Heights, Kingsway, Rancocas Valley, Southern and St. Joe’s of Hammonton all in the fold. Notre Dame will reportedly open against Kingsway, which is 8-0 after posting a 1-0 victory over two-time defending Group II state champion Haddon Heights on Thursday. Haddon Heights, which was to have played Northern Burlington Friday night, did not pitch Oklahoma University-bound phenom Sophia Bordi in the Kingsway game. In one of the biggest regular-season results from last year, Notre Dame beat Haddon Heights and Bordi, 2-0, on a two-run homer by Madalena Creo. No matter how the MCT seeding shakes out, it promises to be a very competitive tourney. It’s unclear if Hun will enter, but it did last year and is undefeated. Other teams destined for the upper bracket include Allentown (6-1), Hightstown (6-3) and Ewing (6-2). Notre Dame pitcher Rylee Michalak throws to the plate against Robbinsville during a CVC softball game on Thursday afternoon in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) MILESTONES There were two players in Mercer County this week who set personal milestones as Notre Dame’s Rylee Michalak reached the 600 mark for career strikeouts and Robbinsville shortstop Haley Krebs recorded her 100th career hit. Where Michalak stands on the all-time Mercer County list is unclear, but it can reported Hamilton’s Melissa Hodge owns the record with 1,084. She also struck out 30 in one game. The area leader in career strikeouts is Lisa Sweeney, who is the Princeton University coach. Sweeney finished with 1,263 Ks, including a mind-blowing 520 in her senior season at Rancocas Valley. Also in her senior year, Sweeney had six perfect games and nine no-hitters. As for hit leaders in the Colonial Valley Conference, Robbinsville’s Chelsea Manto set a record that will be extremely hard to break with 204. The top six in CVC history are as follows: 1. Robbinsville’s Chelsea Manto (204); 2. Robbinsville’s Shea Walsh (177); 3 Nottingham’s Kristin Hallam (168); 4. Allentown’s Dana Sensi (158); 5. Ewing’s Nicole Rinaldi (157); 6. Steinert’s Gaby Bennett (156). Trentonian Area Softball Ratings 1. Robbinsville (6-1) 2. Notre Dame (6-1) 3. Steinert (8-1) x-4. Council Rock South (6-0) x-5. Northern Burlington (8-2) x-6. Pennsbury (5-2) x-7. Bordentown (7-2) x-8. Cinnaminson (6-3) 9. Allentown (6-1) 10. Hun (7-0) x-11. Neshaminy (4-2) 12. Hightstown (6-3) 13. Council Rock North (4-4) 14. Conwell-Egan (5-3) 15. Ewing (6-2) 16. Lenape (4-2) 17. Cherokee (5-2-1) 18. Bristol (6-0) 19. Moorestown (4-1) 20. Burlington Township (3-3) 20. Delaware Valley (4-1) x-Friday games not included HIGHLIGHT GAMES Saturday: Hamilton/Nottingham tourney, Council Rock South at Council Rock North. Monday: Council Rock South at North Penn, Bordentown at Northern Burlington, Burlington Township at Cinnaminson. Tuesday: Cinnaminson at Bordentown. Wednesday: Notre Dame at Allentown. Thursday: Allentown at Steinert. Friday: Steinert at Robbinsville.