- RPI rankings freeze on Saturday May 12th for 6A and...
- Monday, May 14th for 5A
- Play in Games have to be completed by Thursday the 17th for 6A and...
- Saturday the 19th for 5A
5A - Who is safe? Who might get knocked out?
Three teams for the 5A 'Southern Division' will get knocked out and not play a play in game. RPI's won't move much for the rest of the season, but a few percentage points can mean the difference of making the play-in games. Marshfield is currently lodged in 19th place out of 19 in the southern division, 20 percentage points behind the 18th place team. Springfield is currently on the 'safe' side of the stage at number 16, but only 10 points ahead of number 17 and elimination.
North (#6 statewide, #4 Southern Division) and Churchill (#7, #5) look like they have home games for the play in games; while Willamette (#16, , #11) and Marist (#25, #14) look to be on the road, as would #29 Springfield, if the Millers make the cut.
But before the qualifying teams are settled, we have the matter of the 5A MWL title to settle. It looks like the champ will be decided next Wednesday the 9th at Swede. Guess where I will be. North (5-1) has to stop Willamette tonight and Marist next week. Both games are away. Willamette is going to have some weary pitching arms as the Wolverines threw Waggoner for six on Monday and then traveled to Coos Bay last night. However, the Highlander bats have been quiet lately and anything can happen.
North's game at Marist on Monday will be interesting. The Spartans have a bye after North, so they have a better opportunity to plan their pitching than does North, who hopefully will save Moore for Churchill. (And hopefully, the Lancers will throw Lessel at North.)
Speaking of pitching match ups. I'm always mentioning Moore and Lessel in the 5A group as being steller. I put Waggoner and Evans behind those guys. But take a look at how many runs Willamette has been giving up (not many at the 5A level), and they might just be a surprise in the playoffs. Waggoner just lost a 1-0 match-up with Lessel and somehow didn't get a mention in the R-G. And Wolverine Tevin Glover has developed into a stopper.
6A - Who avoids the play in games?
Unlike the 5A classification, where 5 teams don't even get a chance to 'play in' to the playoffs, every 6A team has a chance. 21 teams automatically advance to a 32 team bracket, with another 22 teams facing a play-in game. 3 teams from Special District 1 get an automatic berth.
Thurston at 5-1, with one more game to play, has earned a pass into the 32 team bracket.
Sheldon (2-2) and South (3-1) have a heavy workload ahead. Sheldon and South play tonite, so one of them will be tagged with another loss. The Irish's other counting league games are against Thurston and Redmond. All three of the Irish's remaining league games are at Sheldon. Sheldon will be without the services of staff ace Brett Nielsen, who broke his thumb while batting against Churchill.
South, as mentioned, travels to Sheldon tonight. Then they travel to Redmond (1-2) and close out the season by hosting Grant (1-3). The Axemen will be able to rest their pitching staff for Redmond and Grant because the games are so far apart.
If Sheldon and South make the 32 team playoff bracket, odds are pretty good they would start with a home game. The top 16 teams based on RPI, should all have home games. South (10th) and Sheldon (11th) shouldn't fall much if any in the RPI the rest of the season. Most of Sheldon's remaining opponents have excellent records. Opponents records are huge in determining RPI. The Axemen's remaining opponents records, while not as strong as Sheldon's opponents, shouldn't hurt South. But if I'm South or Sheldon, I'm thinking about winning (not coasting) and moving up. Either team could move up to 8th or higher with a strong finish to the regular season.
But before the qualifying teams are settled, we have the matter of the 5A MWL title to settle. It looks like the champ will be decided next Wednesday the 9th at Swede. Guess where I will be. North (5-1) has to stop Willamette tonight and Marist next week. Both games are away. Willamette is going to have some weary pitching arms as the Wolverines threw Waggoner for six on Monday and then traveled to Coos Bay last night. However, the Highlander bats have been quiet lately and anything can happen.
North's game at Marist on Monday will be interesting. The Spartans have a bye after North, so they have a better opportunity to plan their pitching than does North, who hopefully will save Moore for Churchill. (And hopefully, the Lancers will throw Lessel at North.)
Speaking of pitching match ups. I'm always mentioning Moore and Lessel in the 5A group as being steller. I put Waggoner and Evans behind those guys. But take a look at how many runs Willamette has been giving up (not many at the 5A level), and they might just be a surprise in the playoffs. Waggoner just lost a 1-0 match-up with Lessel and somehow didn't get a mention in the R-G. And Wolverine Tevin Glover has developed into a stopper.
6A - Who avoids the play in games?
Unlike the 5A classification, where 5 teams don't even get a chance to 'play in' to the playoffs, every 6A team has a chance. 21 teams automatically advance to a 32 team bracket, with another 22 teams facing a play-in game. 3 teams from Special District 1 get an automatic berth.
Thurston at 5-1, with one more game to play, has earned a pass into the 32 team bracket.
Sheldon (2-2) and South (3-1) have a heavy workload ahead. Sheldon and South play tonite, so one of them will be tagged with another loss. The Irish's other counting league games are against Thurston and Redmond. All three of the Irish's remaining league games are at Sheldon. Sheldon will be without the services of staff ace Brett Nielsen, who broke his thumb while batting against Churchill.
South, as mentioned, travels to Sheldon tonight. Then they travel to Redmond (1-2) and close out the season by hosting Grant (1-3). The Axemen will be able to rest their pitching staff for Redmond and Grant because the games are so far apart.
If Sheldon and South make the 32 team playoff bracket, odds are pretty good they would start with a home game. The top 16 teams based on RPI, should all have home games. South (10th) and Sheldon (11th) shouldn't fall much if any in the RPI the rest of the season. Most of Sheldon's remaining opponents have excellent records. Opponents records are huge in determining RPI. The Axemen's remaining opponents records, while not as strong as Sheldon's opponents, shouldn't hurt South. But if I'm South or Sheldon, I'm thinking about winning (not coasting) and moving up. Either team could move up to 8th or higher with a strong finish to the regular season.
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