Some teams you would not expect have made it

This is the end of the third school year under the PIAA’s six-classification system, and yet there are still those who don’t understand how everything changed when the state’s scholastic sports governing body went from four to six classifications in 2016.

By spreading out the schools, more opportunities were created for schools to qualify for postseason tournaments.

The days of needing to go either .500 in league games or overall to make the District 11 tournament are gone. A predetermined number of qualifiers is set in each sport based on the number of eligible teams.

So, for example, in District 11 softball this spring, the minimum fields in classes A, 3A and 4A were six teams. In 5A and 2A it was four, and in 6A it was eight. So even before a pitch was thrown in March, the district tournament was going to have at least 34 teams.

As it turned out, 11 teams qualified in 6A the old-fashioned way by going .500

Class 6A

in the league or overall. However, in some of the other classes, teams that weren’t close to .500 made it to fill out the fields.

While traditionalists may not like it, teams like Central Catholic (5-15), Pottsville (7-13), East Stroudsburg South (6-13) and Northern Lehigh (7-13) likely will embrace the opportunity to extend their seasons.

The tournament begins in 6A on Monday with three pigtail-round games. The four-team 5A and 2A field jump right into the semifinals on Thursday. The other four classes begin on Tuesday.

In all classes except 6A, only the district champs advance to the state tournament, which is set for June 3.

Last year’s district champs were: Parkland (6A), Southern Lehigh (5A), Bethlehem Catholic (4A), North Schuylkill (3A), Minersville (2A) and Williams Valley (A).

Morning Call reporter Keith Groller can be reached at 610-820-6740 or at kgroller@mcall.com.

Here’s a look at the schedule:

Class 3A