To say that it is a flawed system appears to be somewhat of an understatement.
Nevertheless, the state’s Wild Card point system is what local baseball teams have to deal with. And like it or not, the district tournament pairings released Wednesday by the Colorado High School Activities Association are set in stone … even if the weather may have something yet to say about the actual schedule.
In a move that forced head-scratching across the state, the Class 5A Front Range League champion Fairview Knights, who were ranked in the top half of both state polls for the entire season, were relegated to the No. 10 overall seed and a road trip to Mountain Vista. The Knights begin postseason play with a 10 a.m. match against Montbello.
Despite finishing fourth in the FRL, the Logan Soole-led Monarch Coyotes earned the fourth-best total in the 5A Wild Card points. That means a home date Saturday against Northglenn at 10 a.m., with the winner set to face either Ralston Valley or Horizon at about 3 p.m.
In 4A, it was perhaps equally perplexing to see the Longmont Trojans get rewarded for their Northern League championship with the 26th overall seed. In addition to going 14-5 overall, Longmont notched wins against a Windsor team that received the No. 16 seed; Elizabeth, which received the No. 21 seed; and Northglenn, the 28th seed in the 5A bracket.
At least the Trojans will not have to travel far, as they visit Tri-Valley League champion Erie at 10 a.m. Saturday. The winner will face either Discovery Canyon or Palisade.
“We’ve been hearing about this for three years since they started this wild card system,” Longmont coach Tom Fobes said. “The discussion right away among coaches I know was that you have to try and play this team or play that team to gain more wild card points.
“In the Northern League, everyone plays each other twice and we always beat each other up. Sometimes our record may not be as good as others and we can’t play as many non-conference. It’s not the best of systems. So we did our best scheduling those teams, like Windsor and Elizabeth and Northglenn. It just didn’t help us as much.”
While Fairview coach Rick Harig preferred to take the “we’re keeping our mouths shut and letting our play do the talking,” approach to the perceived snub, the former baseball committee member admitted the howls of dissatisfaction echoing across the state merits a closer look at how the district tournaments are seeded.
“I think based on the level of unhappiness from so many people, it needs to be re-looked at,” Harig said. “There’s been some discussion about what’s better between the MaxPreps wild card and what CHSAA uses. Ultimately, there were enough strange outliers this year that the (CHSAA) formula doesn’t work. That’s a statement no one can disagree with.”
In 3A the streaking Peak to Peak Pumas, winners of six of eight over the final two weeks of the regular season, drew the No. 12 overall seed and will face Alamosa Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Manitou Springs.
Both Lyons and Dawson School earned bids to the 2A postseason, and both were assigned to the District 4 tournament hosted by Valley High School at Bigfoot Turf Farms in La Salle. The Lions will face top-seeded Resurrection Christian at 10 a.m. while Dawson follows with a match against Dayspring Christian. The winners will square off at approximately 2 p.m.
While Saturday is tentatively set to be a baseball extravaganza, the weather forecast indicates the chances are high for postponements. A statement released by CHSAA on Wednesday said all district games can be made up between Sunday and Wednesday (through Tuesday for 2A), though most forecasts show the conditions likely will still be sketchy on Sunday.
Stay tuned to BoCoPreps.com in the coming days for continued weather updates.
CLASS 5A
All games Saturday
District 3 (at Monarch)
(29) Northglenn (9-10) at (4) Monarch (14-3-1), 10 a.m.
(20) Ralston Valley (13-6) vs. (13) Horizon (12-6-1), 12:30 p.m.
Winners play at 3 p.m.
District 6 (at Mountain Vista)
(26) Brighton (11-7-1) at (7) Mountain Vista (14-5), 10 a.m.
(23) Montbello (13-6) vs. (10) Fairview (16-3), 12:30 p.m.
Winners play at 3 p.m.
CLASS 4A
All games Saturday
District 6 (at Erie)
(26) Longmont (14-5) at (7) Erie (16-3), 10 a.m.
(23) Discovery Canyon (10-9) vs. (10) Palisade (16-3), 12:30 p.m.
Winners play at 3 p.m.
District 7 (at Wheat Ridge)
(30) Kennedy (9-10) at (3) Wheat Ridge (16-3), 10 a.m.
(19) Holy Family (12-6) vs. (14) Pueblo East (13-6), 12:30 p.m.
Winners play at 3 p.m.
CLASS 3A
All games Saturday
District 4 (at Manitou Springs)
(26) Basalt (8-11) at (5) Manitou Springs (15-3), 10 a.m.
(21) Alamosa (9-9) vs. (12) Peak to Peak (13-6), 12:30 p.m.
Winners play at 3 p.m.
CLASS 2A
All game Saturday
District 4 (at Bigfoot Turf Farms)
(4) Lyons (10-8) vs. (1) Resurrection Christian (14-3), 10 a.m.
(3) Dawson School (11-7) vs. (2) Dayspring Christian (15-2), Noon.
Winners play at 2 p.m.
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/BoCoPreps
