The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Look of postseason is changing
The Super District era has come to Northeast Ohio softball.
Because of it, advancing to the regional tournament this season is probably going to be more difficult than usual for area softball teams.
In previous years, sectional district tournament draws were a lot more geography-centric.
Starting this year, the OHSAA’s Northeast District Athletic Board has adopted a model that seeds a much larger pool of teams over a broader area and then brackets them off into districts that feed into regional brackets.
In sectional semifinal and sectional final games, the higher seed hosts. At the district level, teams will travel to designated district sites to play for the chance to advance to the regional tournament.
It’s the same model that was used this year in volleyball, soccer and boys and girls basketball.
And it’s most likely here to stay, according to Mentor athletic director Jeff Cassella, a member of the OHSAA board.
“The OHSAA is trying to get everybody to do things the same,” Cassella said.
Other regions around Ohio have already been using the super district model, while the Northeast is just getting on board with it.
Reviews — at least locally — are mixed.
“Like any change to a playoff format, I think there is a good and bad,” said Riverside coach Bill Ross. “In our traditional format, we would see teams that we had faced twice in the regular season and then usually play for a third time in the playoffs. I like that we get a chance to play different teams in the district rounds.”
In previous years, the Division I sectional-district in which Riverside played was — by and large — a Western Reserve Conference tournament that also included Mentor, Euclid and a few other Cleveland area teams.
Now the Division I district field from Mentor was split into THREE district tournaments — Austintown, Massillon and Mentor.
The same scenario has played out through all divisions, such as Division II, where the area contingent was pretty much packed into the Jefferson District.
Now that field has been expanded to 33 teams and spread out over districts in
Jefferson, Hubbard, Firestone and other areas.
“I don’t like it at all,” said Perry coach Joe Medlen, whose program has played in three regional tournaments in the past five years after advancing through the Jefferson District. “I struggle with the No. 1 seeds playing the lowest seed and then the area teams not having the opportunity to represent our area through the playoffs.
“The road to regionals will be a lot tougher even from a logistical standpoint. For example if we would win against West Geauga (in a tournament opener) we would have to travel to West Branch more then likely. A 90-plus minute drive.”
For a closer look at each division, and where local teams find themselves when postseason play begins on May 10:
Division I
As loaded as the Western Reserve Conference is this year — the top five teams in the News-Herald Top of the Crop are all from the WRC — only Riverside (third seed) earned a topfive seed in the loaded D-I East voting matrix.
The top five seeds are Austintown-Fitch, Walsh Jesuit, Riverside, Massillon Perry and North Canton Hoover.
Instead of all being in the Mentor District like in previous years, the area teams are spread out over a handful of districts.
Riverside, Madison (15th seed) and Mayfield (30th) are the only area teams at the Mentor site, where Walsh Jesuit and Riverside are the highest two seeds.
North (ninth seed) and South (13th) are the only two teams in the Massillon District bracket, where Massillon Perry is the highest seed.
Chardon (eighth seed) and Mentor (12th) will be traveling to Austintown in their quest for a regional berth. Top-seeded Fitch and fifth-seeded Hoover highlight this bracket.
Euclid (36th seed) is in the Barberton District bracket.
“There are no easy roads to the regionals for any of the 33 teams,” Ross said. “If you look at all three districts, they are all loaded with talented teams. One thing these super districts did was bring parity to the districts. I think that’s what I like most about this setup. I definitely think our road to regionals will be harder this year, but I think every team feels that way. All three brackets are loaded with talent and it’s going to be a lot of fun to see how it all plays out.”
Division II
With the exception of a few years where Coach Reid Lamport’s Poland team dominated the Jefferson District, a News-Herald area team was guaranteed a spot in the regional.
With the new model, not only are no area teams seeded in the top five — Perry is the highest seed at No. 8 — but only Kenston (21st seed), Perry, West Geauga (10) and NDCL (13) are in the Jefferson District bracket.
The top seeds in the East Super District are Marlington, Canfield, Arurora, Poland and West Branch.
Aside from four area teams in the Jefferson District bracket, there are
three in the Canton District bracket, two in the Akron District Bracket and one in the Hubbard District bracket.
In the Canton District are Hawken (22nd seed), Beachwood (26th) and Chagrin Falls (30th).
In Akron are Beaumont (11th) and Lake Catholic (20th), while Harvey (12th) is in the Hubbard District.
Division III
There are only five area schools participating in the Division III tournament and they are in four different district sites following the super district voting.
Gilmour, the area’s highest-seeded team at No. 6, is in the Leavittsburg District bracket, along with No. 18 Krtland.
Berkshire (16th) is in the Canfield District, Wickliffe (11th) is in the Wellington District and VASJ (23rd) is in the Creston District.
The top seeds in the super district are Youngstown Ursuline, South Range, Champion, Columbiana and Columbiana Crestview.
Division IV
Four area teams will take part in the Division IV tournament, and they’ll be in three different district brackets.
Andrews Osborne (sixth seed) is the top area seed in the voting. The Phoenix, as well as Cornerstone (12th) are in the Richfield District bracket.
Cardinal (18th) is in the Jackson-Milton District, while Fairport (22nd) is in the Warren District.