Of the four Sunflower League teams in the bracket at this weekend’s Class 6A state softball tournament at Kansas University’s Arrocha Ballpark, Olathe Northwest ranked third in the seeding.

After knocking off No. 5 Washburn Rural, 9-1, in the title game — just hours after topping No. 2 Goddard, 8-2, in the semifinals — the sixth-seeded Ravens stood tall as the top team in the state.

“This makes up for last year,” Olathe Northwest coach Mark Mahoney said of his team’s struggles at state in 2010. “(Last year), we were kind of predicted to win, and this year we were the dark horse.”

Under cloudy skies that brought a mixture of light rain and windy conditions, Northwest topped all comers to improve to 21-4.

The title game was tight in the beginning, but the Ravens blew things open in the fifth inning.

Northwest struck first with a run in the first, and Washburn Rural tied the game at 1 in the bottom of the second. The Ravens added two in the third and six in the fifth to take control.

“It was all about our offense,” Mahoney said. “We came up with big hit after big hit.”

Northwest and Rural survived one-run contests in the opening round to reach the state title game. The Ravens upended Maize, 7-6, in their opener, and the Junior Blues knocked off Olathe South, 1-0, Friday.

In the third-place game Saturday, No. 2 Goddard outlasted No. 1 Olathe East, 7-6. East, which entered the tournament unbeaten and knocked off No. 8 Lawrence High, 11-0 in five innings, in the opening round, finished the season 23-2.