Golf season about to tee off in RI
Spring high school sports will begin on the links
The realignment marching orders are set for a group of R.I. high school sports that are chomping at the bit to get back into the swing of things.
On Monday, the RIIL’s Principals’ Committee on Athletics met and agreed to realignment proposals to the spring sports that will compete during the fourth and final season of the 2020-21 academic year.
Baseball, boys and girls lacrosse, boys and girls outdoor track, boys volleyball, and boys tennis were approved unanimously. Softball was the lone spring sport to receive a vote that opposed the practice of four divisions for the upcoming season.
The Interscholastic League is scheduled to meet with the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee on Tuesday to finalize the spring sports general safety mitigation requirements. Regarding wrestling, which was pushed off to the spring season but remains a highrisk sport per DEM, no discussions took place during Monday’s Principals’ Committee meeting.
Below is a breakdown of where things stand for the sports that are nearing the end of a two-year waiting period due to COVID-19:
Baseball
Division I will consist of four subdivisions (A,B,C,D) with five teams in each of them. Joining the D-I ranks are Tolman and Mount St. Charles, the Division II title winner from the 2019 season. The Tigers were placed in the “A” subdivision along with Bishop Hendricken, Lincoln, North Kingstown, and Pilgrim. The Mounties landed in the “B” subdivision with South Kingstown, Central, East Providence, and Chariho.
Cumberland is the fourth area Division I squad. The Clippers are in the same “C” subdivision as Coventry, Cranston East, and Smithfield. The “D” subdivision consists of La Salle, Cranston West, Portsmouth, Ponaganset, and Toll Gate.
Schedule-wise, D-I teams will play every team in their subdivision twice. All the teams in “A” play all the teams in “C.” All the teams in the “B” subdivision will match up against all the teams in “D.” That brings teams to 13 league games with a game cap of 15.
For the playoffs, teams must complete eight league games to be eligible. The top-four teams in each subdivision seeded by winning percentage will qualify.
Similar to two years ago, single-elimination will be in place for the preliminary and quarterfinal rounds. The semifinals will be stretched to a best-of-three but can be cut down to a winner-takeall game in the event of poor weather. The finals are bestof-three.
Division II is using the same regular-season breakdown (four five-team subdivisions, A crosses over with C, B with D) and playoff format as Division I.
Division II’s “A” subdivision features Woonsocket, St. Raphael, East Greenwich, Tiverton, and Middletown. The “B” subdivision comprises Prout, Barrington, Rogers, Classical, and Westerly. In the “C” subdivision, you have Narragansett, Scituate, North Providence, Mount Pleasant, and Burrillville. Finally, the D-II “D” subdivision includes North Smithfield, Mount Hope, Johnston, West Warwick, and Juanita Sanchez.
In Division III, you have 10 teams that are split evenly into two subdivisions. Newcomer Blackstone Valley Prep is part of the “A” subdivision that also features
Wheeler, Shea, Paul Cuffee, and Times2 Academy. In the “B” subdivision, you have Exeter/West Greenwich along with Central Falls, Hope, Davies Tech, and newcomer Block Island.
D-III teams will play every team in their subdivision twice and every team in the opposite subdivision once for a total of 13 games. The top-four teams in each subdivision will jump to the single-elimination, quarterfinal-round before moving on to the three-game series that will be in place for the semifinals and finals. Similar to D-I and D-II, the D-III semis could be cut down to one game if inclement weather arises.
Softball
For the first team in RIIL history, softball is a four-division sport.
In Division I, you have 11 teams based in one division. Everyone squares off once (10 games) and three additional games within a fourteam regional pod.
St. Raphael moves up to the state’s top division. The Saints will be joined by La Salle, Coventry, Moses Brown, East Providence, Chariho, Cumberland, Pilgrim, North Providence, and Cranston West.
The D-I playoff format represents a change from past practices. The double-elimination format won’t come into play until there are four teams left. The preliminaries and quarters are single-elim
ination. D-I teams must complete nine games to merit eligibility. If all 11 teams reach that threshold, they’ll qualify for the postseason.
In Division II, you have 16 teams that are broken down into two subdivisions are slugged “North” and “South.” In the North, Lincoln is there along with Scituate, North Smithfield, Johnston, Smithfield, Tolman, and Mount St. Charles. In D-II South, Westerly is grouped with Prout, Barrington, Prout, Barrington, South Kingstown, Bay View, Rogers, Portsmouth, and Toll Gate.
Division II teams will play every team in their subdivision twice (14 games, no crossovers). Teams must complete nine games with postseason invitations being handed out to the top-six in each subdivision. The D-II playoff format is similar to Division I.
In Division III, you have one 12-team division that includes the following teams playing each other once: Davies Tech, Tiverton, Ponaganset, Narragansett, Burrillville, Middletown, Wheeler, Exeter/West Greenwich, Cranston East, Mount Hope, West Warwick, and East Greenwich. D-III teams will also play two additional league games against teams within your corresponding pod.
The D-III playoff equation includes the top-10 teams seeded by win percentage. Teams must complete nine games to be eligible. The postseason will follow the
same procedure as D-I and D-II.
Division IV softball is adhering to a 10-team, two-subdivision format. Division IV-A includes Block Island, Classical, Juanita Sanchez, Paul Cuffee, and Hope. Division IV-B includes Central Falls, Mount Pleasant, Central, Shea, and Times2.
The top-four teams in each D-IV subdivision qualify in the event they play nine games. The quarterfinals will be single elimination before expanding to double elimination for the final four.
Mount St. Charles is the area’s lone Division I representative in a nine-team, one division field that will play everyone once for eight league games and two randomly assigned games that increase the game cap to 10 league contests. The top-seven teams advance the playoffs.
Lincoln, North Smithfield, and Tolman are part of a Division II landscape that includes 12 teams where everyone squares off once. The top-eight teams qualify for the playoffs.
St. Raphael, the Division III champion from the 2019 season, will get the chance to defend its title. Shea, Woonsocket, and Burrillville are fellow D-III teams that will play nine league games within the 10-team format. The top-eight teams will advance to the postseason.
Boys lacrosse
Cumberland is part of the six-team Division I where everyone will reach the playoffs providing they complete seven league games. A total of 10 games comes from squaring off against each other twice.
There are no local teams in Division II. In the 10team Division III, you have Lincoln, Burrillville, and the St. Raphael/PCD Co-op team. The top-eight reach the playoffs providing they get through six of the nine league games on the schedule.
In Division IV, Mount St. Charles and North Smithfield are two of the 10 teams where the top-eight qualify for the playoffs providing they complete six games.
Girls lacrosse
Similar to the boys, Cumberland is the lone area squad in Division I. There are 12 teams where everyone plays each other once (11 games).
The top-10 teams reach the playoffs.
Lincoln is the only Division II team. In Division III, you have Burrillville, North Smithfield, Mount St. Charles and St. Raphael/PCD Co-op. In both divisions, the top eight teams qualify.
Boys tennis
Lincoln is one of 10 teams in Division I where everyone plays each other once for nine matches. The top-eight would advance to the playoffs. Cumberland and Mount St. Charles are part of the 10-team Division II format that won’t be straying from the D-I playoff format. The Shea/Tolman co-op squad and Burrillville are in the 10team Division III. Division IV is a nine-team arrangement that includes Woonsocket and St. Raphael.
Similar to Division I, the top-eight teams in the other three divisions would be playoff-bound.
Outdoor track
Teams will participate in four dual meets (May 10, May 17, May 24, June 1). Unlike the indoor season, there will be a division championship meet (June 5) and a class championship meet (June 12). The state meet is scheduled for June 26.
Golf
To get the regular season accomplished, the PCOA agreed that golf teams can begin their season on April 12. The move was done due to the availability of Cranston Country Club for the two-day state championship that traditionally takes place the Tuesday and Wednesday after Memorial Day. The RIIL doesn’t have the option of moving this particular championship to late June.