Softball bracket

[JagEaglefan96]

Here you go

1-Caravel vs 16 Mt Pleasant
8 Dover vs 9 Delmar
4 Sussex Texh vs 13 William Penn
5 Appo vs 12 Charter
2 Smyrna vs 15 Poly
7 Middletown vs 10 St George
3 DMA vs 14 Sussex Central
6 Newark Charter vs 11 Indian River

 

[youjustme]

The formula for seeding needs to be fixed! It is outrageous for an 18-0 DMA team to be seeded 3rd behind Caravel and Smyrna who they beat. Caravel has 5(!) in-state losses. DMA has NONE and Smyrna has 1 (to DMA). And teams that beat Caravel are all in bottom bracket so as not to see Caravel again until finals. DMA and Smyrna (two best teams) will meet in semis. Delaware is too small for these things to happen. Be fair to the teams and get it right.

 

[ReturnOfTheGate]

This formula rewards scheduling more than any other sport as a wise reporter pointed out to me last night when it dropped. Caravel's 5 in-state losses all were to tournament teams, so that's probably how they got the top spot, so while it sucks that DMA and Smyrna are on the same side of the bracket (and Appo as a 5 at 17-1 is WILD), it's a formula that seems to work itself out most years. 2019 just might not be one of them.

 

[JagEaglefan96]

This formula rewards scheduling more than any other sport as a wise reporter pointed out to me last night when it dropped. Caravel's 5 in-state losses all were to tournament teams, so that's probably how they got the top spot, so while it sucks that DMA and Smyrna are on the same side of the bracket (and Appo as a 5 at 17-1 is WILD), it's a formula that seems to work itself out most years. 2019 just might not be one of them.

Rewarding loses are never a good thing. Give everyone a trophy is basically what they did by giving them a 1 seed yet again. They were a 1 seed at 10-8 two years ago. They are penalizing teams that are in a conference. Make Caravel join a conference. The formula has been flawed and been a big topic of discussion the past 4-5 years. Easy to exploit that when you don’t have any Conference games to play and you can make your own schedule.

 

[Huskerman7]

Part of the issue with a “fix” is that no one has been able to devise a better one.

 

[JagEaglefan96]

Part of the issue with a “fix” is that no one has been able to devise a better one.

The first easy fix is put them in a conference. The second part is why is softball the only sport that uses this method. Why would baseball and softball not use the same system?
Other than first round games I would say most of the time top 8 teams(most of the time) are pretty closely matched. Sucks that one team could possibly make two better teams face off in semis or even quarter finals because of a flawed system.

 

[Huskerman7]

I agree with you. Not sure why softball uses different system. I’m curious how the seeding would have played out if baseball system had been used.

 

[woodgreen]

The best system in any sport..put them in a conference? Why to play bad teams?...not a caravel fan by any means...but they play a real schedule
DMA played at least 6 awful teams...look at their schedule not caravel
Again not a caravel fan at all

 

[JagEaglefan96]

The best system in any sport..put them in a conference? Why to play bad teams?...not a caravel fan by any means...but they play a real schedule
DMA played at least 6 awful teams...look at their schedule not caravel
Again not a caravel fan at all

DMA, Smyrna, Appo , Sussex Tech all HAVE to play some lesser teams because they have to play conference games since they are in a conference. Make Caravel join a conference and they will face some lesser teams. Where I agree you don’t get much out of playing those teams, penalizing them because They are in a conference and have to play those lesser teams is ridiculous. Losing to 5 instate teams should tell you something about those out of state teams CA is getting bonus points for playing.
On the flip side of that CA does schedule a strong schedule and some of those teams mentioned could attempt to schedule more challenging games outside of conference. Sometimes that is challenging because you have to predict how good a team will be.
Still don’t understand why softball is only sport to use this system. You would think systems would be uniform. The best system in any sport??

 

[woodgreen]

By far,strength of schedule,wait to you see the teams that make the baseball tournament...sad the teams they play to get in to tournament

 

[ReturnOfTheGate]

Here you go

1-Caravel vs 16 Mt Pleasant
8 Dover vs 9 Delmar
4 Sussex Texh vs 13 William Penn
5 Appo vs 12 Charter
2 Smyrna vs 15 Poly
7 Middletown vs 10 St George
3 DMA vs 14 Sussex Central
6 Newark Charter vs 11 Indian River

So far

Charter beating Appo is an upset that I did NOT see coming.
Caravel took care of Mount
Delmar beat Dover
Sussex Tech blanked Penn, as did DMA against Sussex Central
Smyrna beat Poly
St. Georges over Middletown

Newark Charter leading IR 1-0 after 3 innings.

 

[ReturnOfTheGate]

Indian River came back to beat Newark Charter, so this is what Saturday will look like:

Caravel vs. Delmar
Sussex Tech vs. Wilmington Charter
Smyrna vs. St. Georges
DMA vs. Indian River

 

[89FanGuy]

About the points system... Yes it is more favored on strength of schedule and that can hurt teams that play in a conference. If schools don't like it, then they need to get on DIAA to change it. I'd assume it's something that can be changed every year or two. I'm not a Caravel guy, but I don't fault them for playing the toughest schedule in the state. I don't see it as them taking advantage of the system, but rather wanting to play the best schedule they possibly can. Next year is going to be interesting for them. They lose everyone in the infield except their first baseman. Next year, playing the toughest schedule may catch up to them.

 

[89FanGuy]

Meant to put my picks out there, but forgot.

1-Caravel vs 16 Mt Pleasant
I had Caravel in this game. Bradley's a good pitcher, so not surprised it took the full 7.

8 Dover vs 9 Delmar
Expected Delmar's offense to get the win. Dover, with a freshman pitcher, is going to be good for a few years.

4 Sussex Tech vs 13 William Penn
Wroten is the real deal and is a difference maker. Heard the strike zone was very tight in this game, and Tech was able to muster just enough offense to get the win. Penn also has a very good freshman pitcher, so expect to see them to be here for at least the next three years as well.

5 Appo vs 12 Charter
Some how Charter keeps getting it done. Took out DMA last year, and now Appo this year. Possibly some disappointment for Appo being the 5 seed, but you have to beat whoever the schedule puts in front of you.

2 Smyrna vs 15 Poly
Heard this was a very good game. Poly stuck with Smyrna for most of the game with Smyrna pulling out the W late in the game.

7 Middletown vs 10 St George
St. G's gets revenge for their regular season loss to Middletown, and needed a HR in the top of the 7th to get it done.

3 DMA vs 14 Sussex Central
10-0 in 4 1/2 innings.

6 Newark Charter vs 11 Indian River
Tight game. Good pitching and defense. IR pulled it out 3-2.


I expected the top 5 to advance, with Appo being the only one not to. The 8/9, 7/10, and 6/11 match-ups were all toss ups and the bottom seed took each. Good to see that 7 of the 8 first round games were good games.

 

[ReturnOfTheGate]

Final Four is set and it's the top 3 seeds plus a 12.

Wilmington Charter knocked off Sussex Tech, continuing their surprising run. Not sure if they can beat Caravel (who took care of Delmar after losing to them earlier in the season), but who's to say they can't?

Smyrna beat St. Georges behind a no-hitter and DMA edged Indian River. 20-0 vs. the defending state champs should be game of the year material.

 

[UD1989]

Final Four is set and it's the top 3 seeds plus a 12.

Wilmington Charter knocked off Sussex Tech, continuing their surprising run. Not sure if they can beat Caravel (who took care of Delmar after losing to them earlier in the season), but who's to say they can't?

Smyrna beat St. Georges behind a no-hitter and DMA edged Indian River. 20-0 vs. the defending state champs should be game of the year material.

Charter took Caravel to extra innings last Saturday only to lose by 1. That’s why they play the game

 

[89FanGuy]

For anyone not at that Caravel/Charter game. Taylor Gillis made one of the best catches of the year, robbing a home run and falling completely over the fence. It was very impressive. Not a lot to talk about from the Charter side other than that as Caravel came ready to play in the 8-0 win.

Laikin Zay had a walk-off triple n the bottom of the 7th knocking in Zoe Wilcox for the 2-1 win over DMA.

Caravel's offense finally looks to be in top form. Good timing for them. Should give them a chance against Smyrna in the championship game. Smyrna won the regular season match up 10-0.

 

[ReturnOfTheGate]

I was at the Smyrna/DMA game yesterday - hard luck loss for the Seahawks who played hard throughout. Frost fielded her position very well, I counted at least four ground outs to her on some hard hit balls. Smyrna had just enough offense at the end to win it and I also think that'll be the case on Saturday.

 

[KnowitallDE]

For all those who complained about the seeding... the #1 and #2 are in the championship

 

[JagEaglefan96]

For all those who complained about the seeding... the #1 and #2 are in the championship

Wow. Easy to say that now. I think you missed the whole point of why everyone was complaining. CA is playing great and no one doubted they deserved to be in the tourney. It changed how the brackets should have been set up.

Good luck to both teams today!!

 

[ReturnOfTheGate]

1 run was all it took for a Smyrna repeat. The best team won the state title IMO.

 

[APboy]

1 run was all it took for a Smyrna repeat. The best team won the state title IMO.

And for those interested, Bohemia Manor won their 3rd straight Maryland Class 1A state title today, 8-0 over Sparrows Point.

 

[ReturnOfTheGate]

I really hope they play each other next spring. A Payton Dixon/Maddie Penta duel is must-see softball.

 

[DoItWrite]

And for those interested, Bohemia Manor won their 3rd straight Maryland Class 1A state title today, 8-0 over Sparrows Point.

I think Penta struck out 19 for Bo Manor in that one.

 

[youjustme]

For all those who complained about the seeding... the #1 and #2 are in the championship

Of course #1 & #2 are in the championship. Did you miss the point of the entire thread? 90% of fans probably thought that Smyrna and DMA should have been in the finals. It doesn't matter, but a serious flaw in the system has been revealed when an undefeated team is seeded two spots below a team with five in-state losses. All three teams (DMA, Smy, Car) are good teams and may have split if it was a best 2 outta 3 series, so I'm not putting down any teams. Just saying that the process needs to be revisited.