Baseball and softball state tournaments will no longer feature 16 teams
The KHSAA Board of Control approved format changes to the baseball and softball postseason Thursday during its first meeting of the 2018-19 school year.
Postseasons in both sports will now conduct a semi-state round between the regional tournament and state tournament, effective beginning in the 2019 season. Boys’ and girls’ soccer currently conduct a semi-state round in their postseasons, and baseball played a semi-state round through the 2009 season before moving to a 16-team state tournament in 2010.
The semi-state round is a single-elimination game; baseball played a best-of-three series when it previously had a semi-state round.
In soccer, four pods built around regions — 1-4, 5-8, 9-12 and 13-16 — play two games apiece during the semi-state round to advance a total of eight teams to the state tournament. Match-ups between region champs within those pods rotate annually and are known in advance of the season.
The regional-pod system likely will be the same as soccer but the KHSAA plans to determine semi-state sites for baseball and softball, with an emphasis being placed on finding third-party, non-high school fields that enhance the experience for athletes. The Board of Control will develop site criteria and provide that at a board meeting later this school year.
If that works out, Tackett said, then that method of semi-state site selection could carry over to soccer, which right now has region champs host games during the semi-state round on a rotating basis.
Softball previously used a 16-team, double-elimination format for its state tournament. The KHSAA in February approved a change to a single-elimination state tournament for that sport.
The state baseball tournament is scheduled to be held at Whitaker Bank Ballpark from June 5-8.
Dates have been determined for the state softball tournament — June 6-8 — but a site has not yet been selected. That tournament has been held at Jack C. Fisher Park in Owensboro since 2004 but is not expected to return there.
This story was originally published September 20, 2018 at 12:53 PM.