7-AAA District Tournament Bracket and 2013 Season Gutted

[Borobaseball]

Sadly, you are half-right in your bet...

 

 

Have you been told anything about the reasoning behind wanting to take the automatic birth away? Why was this even on the floor for a vote?

 

This bothers me way more than the 3 game series because very few districts across this state have the talent level of 7-AAA and if you win this district you should be rewarded for it.

[Indian]

Judging by the phone calls and text messages I have been getting since this came out it isn't going overboard by any means. Until you have been at Riverdale or Siegel to watch a game where first place and an automatic berth is on the line you haven't been to a real regular-season high school baseball game. The three-game series made coaches make decisions and handle a pitching staff totally different than a two-game series.

 

I know six families that are probably upset with this vote. Next year's #3 district pitchers, who instead of pitching a weekday game against Riverdale or Siegel in front of college coaches watching position players will be pitching on weekends against Community or Hume-Fogg.

 

 

Yes, overboard. "Next thing you know, everybody is all-district, they won't keep score, and every team will have a dugout mom/dad with snacks, fruited water, and moist towels and spray bottles with fans."

 

Glad to know you think so much of the #3s' families, that they're more interested in their individuals performances than the team's. I would say college coaches are more interested in what a prospect does in the summer-not always but a lot of the time, if the player is on a summer team.

 

If you have a strong 1 and 2 you have a good chance of going. If you have the best record in the regular season you have a good chance of going to the region. If you don't want to miss the region, don't get upset in the district tournament. Your number 1 spot earns you a top seed in the district tournament and a better path for getting to the region, it's not as if it's just worthless.

 

If none of that makes sense, the #3, if he and the family are that concerned about it, needs to beat out the #2.

[pstoecker]

WOW!!! District 7-AAA regular season champion should get a region birth...PERIOD. It's one of the toughest districts in the entire state, and I bet Oakland and Riverdale were the ones against this change.

I was told it was Riverdale and Siegel. It really doesn't matter because it could only be a three game series for one more year with the new High school opening next year.

[Indian]

Is the new school projected to be AAA immediately?

[StarRaider]

Is the new school projected to be AAA immediately?

 

I think so. Blackman went with a JV schedule for a couple of years. Siegel went "all in" and got clobbered for a few years, although some of the early teams were very very good in basketball and tennis.

 

I am disappointed with the vote as well. The 3 game series schedule was grueling and challenging but made things very interesting and tested the depth and mettle of these ball teams.

[davidlimbaugh]

Yes, overboard. "Next thing you know, everybody is all-district, they won't keep score, and every team will have a dugout mom/dad with snacks, fruited water, and moist towels and spray bottles with fans."

 

This is probably a reaction to the fact that the 'have-nots' pushed these rule changes to play the 'haves' less often.

 

Glad to know you think so much of the #3s' families, that they're more interested in their individuals performances than the team's. I would say college coaches are more interested in what a prospect does in the summer-not always but a lot of the time, if the player is on a summer team.

 

Again, you don't know the culture here the 3-game series has created. You coach the JV and Freshman teams in the spring and the summer teams aiming to develop three district pitchers. Rising sophomore and junior pitchers are fighting for that third spot. #3's become #1's over time. Now that slot is gone. Here at Riverdale we often have JUCO and D-1 coaches at our weekday games when they have the day off from their schedule. We occasionally have other scouts come by to watch.

 

If you have a strong 1 and 2 you have a good chance of going. If you have the best record in the regular season you have a good chance of going to the region. If you don't want to miss the region, don't get upset in the district tournament. Your number 1 spot earns you a top seed in the district tournament and a better path for getting to the region, it's not as if it's just worthless.

 

If none of that makes sense, the #3, if he and the family are that concerned about it, needs to beat out the #2.

 

Again, you have not been here since 1994 and know the culture here. Four coaches have basically made one game in the post-season mean more than a 15, now 10, season schedule. Now the top 2 seeds, throwing their #1 against a team that has already had to win a game, have to win one game to get to winner's bracket final. One of those teams is guaranteed a region berth with one win. The loser of that game, having only played two, will drop to the loser's bracket to play the loser's bracket winner, on their 3rd, 4th or even 5th game. They win that game to get to the finals they are in the region and only playing to see who buys gas and who sells cokes. The regular season game's importance has diminished greatly and in years where the automatic berth team did not make the finals and the championship game of the tournament meant everything now it doesn't mean a thing except who travels and who stays home.

 

It is easy to say #3 should beat out #2 but if you could see the pitching depth coming up in the next few years in 7AAA you would realize why some kids and their parents wish that third spot was still there. And check out scores in spring fling over the years once a team's #1 is no longer pitching. Slow-pitch softball scores because all you have to do is win on Monday and win on Friday and you are in the state tournament.

Edited May 3, 2012 by davidlimbaugh

[davidlimbaugh]

I was told it was Riverdale and Siegel. It really doesn't matter because it could only be a three game series for one more year with the new High school opening next year.

 

In an 8-week regular season, 6 series of 3 games still work. Remember that with 7 teams one team would have each series 'off'. Play 18 district games (where every school is within 20 minutes of each other and offers a great gate), 3 tournaments and 3 non-district games and you have a great schedule travel-wise and gate-wise. One thing I think could make it better is have more weekend district games the second half of the season to help the kids not have as many games on school nights.

[davidlimbaugh]

Is the new school projected to be AAA immediately?

 

With the growth in our county, every school opens already filled. The applicants for this job will be a veritable who's who of high school baseball coaches.

[StarRaider]

In an 8-week regular season, 6 series of 3 games still work. Remember that with 7 teams one team would have each series 'off'. Play 18 district games (where every school is within 20 minutes of each other and offers a great gate), 3 tournaments and 3 non-district games and you have a great schedule travel-wise and gate-wise. One thing I think could make it better is have more weekend district games the second half of the season to help the kids not have as many games on school nights.

 

Great post.

[onlooker]

Under next year's format with this year's results:

 

1. Riverdale 9 - 1

2. Siegel 7 - 3

3. Oakland 6 - 4

4. Blackman 4 - 6

4. Smryna 4 - 6

6. Lavergne 0 - 10

 

Three teams with losing district records have an equal chance of moving on. Seems "real" fair...

[southpaw]

3 game series vs. 2 game series:

 

As a baseball purist, I liked the 3 game series. It made coaching decisions much more important, and it required a much deeper pitching staff. As a parent, though, it's tough for the student to play 3 nights a week and keep grades where they need to be. While competitive baseball has raised its standards and quality, so has academics. It's very competitive in the scholarship world, and a high GPA and test scores are important.

 

In District 7AAA, 10 district games will allow the better teams to stand out. I do concede that 15 games would make it much clearer who the top teams are. The addition of another school in the 2014 season will help.

 

If we want to keep the 3 game series, then let's play them on the weekend. A Fri/Sat/Sun series, or 1 game Friday with a DH on Saturday. But, there'd be no midweek games because everyone else is playing district in the middle of the week. That would have to be a state-wide change.

 

Region bids for Tourney 1 & 2:

 

At first glance, I disliked this, and probably still do to some extent. But, 10 district games may not be enough to declare the best team for an automatic bid. A first round bye in the tournament is a good enough reward for regular season district play, with the hopes that your #1 & #2 pitchers can carry you into the finals of the tournament. I agree that there has to be some reward for winning the regular season, but 10 games may not be a large enough sample to determine that.

 

Conclusion

 

I think many are over-reacting to this. After next year, the district would have gone back to home-away series, anyway. So, to me, that's a non-issue.

 

Regarding the region bid...until we start winning regionals again, we can't make any claims. Oakland went to the state tournament in 2008, and Blackman went in 2009. Since then, the district schools who have gone to regional semi-finals have not fared well at all.

 

I'm not sure I know anyone anyone outside of our district who "envies" 3-game district series. I've never heard anyone from Farragut, Collierville, Bartlett, Mt. Juliet, Columbia, Germantown Houston, etc. say that we're doing it right.

 

I think the argument regarding the development of a #3 pitcher is weak, too. Kids who are pitchers will be pitchers, and the coaches will develop and use the ones that give them the best chance to win.

 

A time is coming when high school baseball won't matter that much anyway. Players get their looks from college coaches during summer baseball. Sure, a few local universities will come out from time to time to watch a kid play in the spring, but, for the most part, college coaches watch and follow kids play in the summer.

 

So, let's quit stirring the pot, play some HS baseball, and move on. To use an old cliche, "It is what it is." Kids who excel at baseball will excel and move on to play at the next level, regardless of what HS team they play for, or how many district games they played in, and so on. Those who don't excel will enjoy the experience, and it won't matter one lick how many district games we played or who got the region bid.

[davidlimbaugh]

Great post.

 

Thank You. The more I think about this the sadder I get. Think of the excitement last week when Columbia and Tullahoma met if a region berth was on the line. We had had games like that for almost two decades. Now 7AAA has been turned into glorified rec-ball until the district tournament starts.