Now that we're well into the regular season for most of our area teams, it's time for our weekly power polls.

Who do you think should make the cut? Why?

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Softball
Large Schools
1. Colonie (No. 1 AA, 4-0, 12-0) - Along with Lansingburgh, the Garnet Raiders are the only remaining undefeated large-schools team around. Catcher Julie Maio has had a number of clutch hits and Toni Fusco has been just one of the arms keeping Colonie in the win column.
Circle Monday May 5th on your calendar - Shen travels to Colonie for a big-time Suburban showdown.

2. Lansingburgh (No. 13 A, 8-0, 10-0) - The Lady Knights have been awfully impressive so far in all aspects of the game. Erin Glikes has shut down perennial Colonial Council powers like Mechanicville and Cohoes and hitters like Meg Mulholland and Molly McDonough have powered the offense. The 'Burgh will get a test from Catholic Central in the opening round of the Uncle Sam Tournament on Saturday and could likely face a hard-hitting Troy team in the final.

3. Shenendehowa (No. 4 AA, 4-0, 8-1) - Shen fell in a non-league game over the weekend, but they look just as strong as ever even after graduating a number of seniors. Amanda Ferro's done great in her transition to pitcher. The Colonie game will be telling.

4. Columbia (3-1, 7-1) - I saw the Blue Devils only once this year, but it was a fairly telling game. Dana Rizzo no-hit a powerful Shaker team on the road as Columbia rolled to a 5-0 league victory. Rizzo is one of the big bats in that lineup, and as the team's only senior, the Devils have a bright future ahead.

5. Catholic Central (2-0, 4-1)/Troy (2-1, 4-6) - I will have to lump these two teams together for now, until I see Catholic Central in action this weekend. Troy, like Shenendehowa, lost a number of seniors from last year's team, but the brand new battery of Liz Belleville (pitcher) and Emily Jones (catcher) are staring to get familiar with each other. Emily's cousin, Shannon, is a power-hitting centerfielder who led the state in home runs last year as a sophomore.

Honorable mention: Saratoga, Guilderland, Niskayuna.

Small Schools
1 . Hoosic Valley (No. 3 B, 5-0, 6-0) - Jen Mineau's been practically unhittable all year long, which comes as no surprise to those in Schaghticoke. The Indians have two small concerns. 1) Can their offense keep it up or will Hoosic Valley continue to be no-hit and still find a way to win? In a game a few weeks ago, Hoosick Falls' Rachel Quackenbush (an eighth-grader) no-hit HV, but the Panthers still lost. 2) Can Hoosic Valley weather the bump up to class B for this year's sectionals?

2. Cohoes (No. 6 B, 4-2, 4-3) - The Tigers have had their struggles in the Colonial Council this year and the schedule doesn't get any easier. Mechanicville makes the trip down Route 4 on Wednesday for their second meeting this year. The Tigers held on for an epic victory the first time through and they'll need to win again to keep within shouting distance of Lansingburgh in the Colonial.

3. Mechanicville (No. 18 C, 4-4, 5-5) - It's been a bit of a down year for the Red Raiders, but I get the feeling sophomore pitcher Shannon McBride is just starting to warm up. Wednesday's game in Cohoes will be quite an important barometer for Mechanicville.

4. Granville (4-1, 4-1) - All the coaches and parents I spoke with before the season liked Granville and they've been right so far. Chelsea Lyons has done some damage with the bat and Ciara Groesbeck has been solid in the circle for the Golden Horde. Hoosic Valley makes the long trip up to Granville on May 19th. Upset potential?

5. Loudonville Christian (6-1, 6-1) - They've been bashing their way through the CHVL so far. See the post below for a little more on their 20-1 victory over Heatly.

Honorable mention: Holy Names, Schuylerville, Chatham, Waterford.
-- Will Montgomery

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Baseball
Large Schools
1. La Salle(6-0, 8-0)-The Cadets are unbeaten and look well on their way to a fifth straight Big 10 Title. They easily handled a talented CBA team with a 13-5 victory and beat both Colonie and Guilderland this past weekend at the La Salle Wood Bat Tournament at Geer Field. The Cadet line up is loaded with Kyle Charron, Brian Beaury, Lukas Bridenbeck and Amar Lewis to name a few of the La Salle sluggers. Pitcher Dave Roseboom is only a sophomore but has dominated so far.
2. Columbia (3-1, 9-4)-The Suburban Council is so deep any the teams are going to take turns beating up on each other all year so really Guilderland, Colonie, Bethlehem, Shenendehowa could all be in this list. I’ll go with the Blue Devils now though after beating Guilderland two times in one week. Patrick Puentes hit a walk off grand slam for a 11-7 win on Thursday and Bob Peluso, Tyler Rose and Puentes all drove in three runs in a 18-10 win on Sunday.
3. Bethlehem (4-1, 7-3)-Like I said the Suburban is loaded but the Eagles look legit so far. They've beaten both Columbia (4-1) and Guilderland (11-8). Will DeRuve has been smacking the ball all over the park and will try to lead the Eagles to the top of the Suburban's Gold Division.
4. Guilderland (No.10 AA,3-2, 5-5)- The Dutchman have had a rough week losing three games in four days, two to Suburban rival Columbia. That said they without a doubt have the talent to rebound and make a long run in sectionals. Any time you have Jake Colavito, Steve Anderson and Andrew Simpson in your line up you have a shot to win a lot of games. The key will be getting solid pitching after No.1 starter C.J. Sohl. I have a feeling they'll recover from last week and be just fine.
5. Colonie (No. 16 AA,2-2, 10-3)/CBA (4-1, 5-2)-The Garnet Raiders and the Brothers will split the fifth position for now. Colonie is in the toughBlue Division with Shen, Shaker and Saratoga, every game will be a battle. Early season losses to Mohonasen and Guilderland meant a slow start for Colonie but they've since recovered before dropping a non-league game to La Salle in the wood bat tournament. The Brothers loss to La Salle looks bad but if you were at the game you'd see that CBA really shot itslef in the foot early. Walks and sloppy errors led to the Cadets nine run first. The Brothers are definilty a better team than they showed in that game and I expect them to be much improved the second time these two meet.

Honorable Mention-Shenendehowa, Amsterdam, Shaker, Albany

Small Schools
1. Chatham (8-0, 10-1) The Panthers are the No.7 class B team in the state and are currently on top of the Patroon Conference. Just look at the kind of day Sean Kenny had the other day and you can see whay Chatham's so dangerous. He was 4-for-5 with four home runs and seven RBIs. And then of course ther'e Zach Kraham who's headed to UAlbany next year and is putting together a strong senior year.
2. Ichabod Crane (7-1, 1-04)-The Riders won the class A title last year and and are off to a good start at repeating that feat this year. Derrick Horn and Kevin Knack return after being selceted to the all-state teams last year.
3. Ravena (6-1, 8-2)-The Indians are on top in the competitive Colonial Council. Joe Boomhower has had a big year so far but the best may be yet to come when they take on Watervliet, Lansingburgh, Voorheesville and Cohoes later in the year.
4. Watervliet (6-2, 9-3)-The Cannoneers are more than just a one man show. Yes they have Caleb Gleason, who can dominate both on the mounbd and at the plate. He had a week where he went 11-for-11, hit two home runs and struck out 11 in a complete game win. The Cannoneers also have Tom Ebenhoch and Justin Legualt and getting contributions from the whole team will be needed to make a run at the Colonial crown.
5. Waterford (5-0, 7-0)/Maple Hill (5-3,7-3)-The Fordians are undefeated in the CHVL behind the play of junior left- hander Zach Gardner. The Wildcats have some pop in their line up. I saw Shultz and Papas go back to back earlier in the year against Rensselaer. Shultz is also tough on the mound but three early season losses mean there's not much room for error if Maple Hill wants to catch Chatham or Ichabod. They'll be dangerous come sectional time however.
--Ryan Kircher