There’s snow on the ground and the Central College softball team has yet to venture outside the walls of H.S. Kuyper Fieldhouse, but the Dutch climbed four spots in this week’s NFCA Division III Top 25 poll. Central improved from No. 22 to No. 18 as several other teams around the nation saw action. Defending champion Virginia Wesleyan is 2-0 and remains a unanimous choice at No. 1 ahead of Illinois Wesleyan University and Ithaca College (N.Y.). American Rivers rival Luther College slipped six spots to No. 16 after going 1-1 in a pair of indoor games during a snowstorm in Rochester, Minnesota last weekend while Coe College climbed two positions to No. 17. Central opens the season Monday, March 11 with games against Saint Mary’s College (Ind.) and No. 7-ranked Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) in Tucson, Arizona, part of a 16-game, 10-day spring break competition in the Tucson Invitational Games. While in Arizona, the Dutch will also tackle No. 25-rated George Fox University (Ore.) March 16. Saint Mary’s received votes in the NFCA preseason poll but was not mentioned this week.