Spring sports tournaments will soon begin across Ohio — and for the first time, softball squads will be putting their seasons on the line before anyone else.
Due to the Ohio High School Athletic Association extending baseball season by one week beginning this year, softball will be the first spring sport to begin postseason play.
Sectional play begins next week, district games will take place the week of May 12 and regional games will take place between May 22 and 25. The state tournament will happen May 30 through June 1 at Akron’s Firestone Stadium
Sidney (9-11) was voted the No. 14 seed in the Dayton Division I sectional and will begin tournament play at No. 10 Kettering Fairmont on Monday.
Anna (7-9) was voted the No. 10 seed in the Dayton Div. III sectional and will host No. 11 Miami East in a sectional opener on Monday. Versailles (8-8) was voted the No. 9 seed and will host No. 12 Jamestown Greeneview (6-11) on Monday.
All other area squads are in Division IV, but only two will face each other to start postseason play.
Riverside (14-5) was voted the No. 4 seed in the Sidney D-IV sectional and will host Northwest Central Conference rival Lehman Catholic (7-8) in a sectional opener on May 9. The Pirates beat Lehman 9-5 in De Graff in an NWCC game on April 8.
Russia (12-6) was voted the No. 6 seed and will play at No. 5 Triad on May 9. Houston (9-8) was voted the No. 9 seed and will play at No. 7 Ansonia on May 9.
Fairlawn (4-14) was voted the No. 13 seed and will play at No. 2 Bradford on May 7. The winner will face No. 8 Fort Loramie (10-10) on May 9.
Jackson Center (1-13) was voted the No. 15 seed and will face No. 1 Mechanicsburg on May 7. The winner will face No. 12 Botkins (4-10) on May 9.
Minster and New Bremen will start tournament play in the Wapakoneta district.
The Wildcats (20-1), which are ranked No. 1 in the Ohio Softball Coaches Association’s D-IV poll, were voted the top seed will begin tournament play against the winner of No. 10 St. Henry and No. 11 Waynesfield-Goshen on May 9 in Minster. The Cardinals (14-6) were voted the No. 2 seed and will face the winner of No. 8 Lima Perry and No. 9 Upper Scioto Valley on May 9 in New Bremen.
The highest-seeded team hosts all sectional games (first and second round), while games are played at neutral sites beginning in district semifinals (third round).
Seeds are determined by online voting of head coaches in each sectional. Coaches voted last week, and seeds were revealed during tournament draw meetings throughout the state on Sunday.
Complete tournament brackets are available at ohsaa.org.
Baseball tournament draw this Sunday
Tournament voting for Southwest district baseball coaches began earlier this week to determine seeds in each sectional, which will be revealed at draw meetings on Sunday.
Sectional tournament play will begin the week of May 12. The state tournament will take place on June 6, 7 and 8 at Canal Park in Akron.
Track and field conference meets next week
Track and field squads will begin competing in tournament meets the week of May 13, but their first priority will be conference meets next week.
The Shelby County Athletic League’s meet will take place on May 8 and May 10 at Fort Loramie. Sidney will participate in the Greater Western Ohio Conference’s meet on those same days in Troy.
Lehman Catholic and Riverside will participate in the Northwest Central Conference meet on May 9 and 11 at Waynesfield-Goshen. Minster, New Bremen and Versailles will participate in the Midwest Athletic Conference meet on May 7 and May 10 at Coldwater.
