I saw in another thread that next year's state baseball finals are going to have 16 teams. Is this going to be a 2 and out, pool play or one and done? Over how many days will the finals take place? Someone in the know fill in the details and let's talk about it.

I saw in another thread that next year's state baseball finals are going to have 16 teams. Is this going to be a 2 and out, pool play or one and done? Over how many days will the finals take place? Someone in the know fill in the details and let's talk about it.

 

Time would be a huge factor and it seems like that kind of system would include a few more games to be played and baseball goes longer than other sports as it is. So this would have to be taken into account, and it'll be interesting to see how it works out.

I think the schedule is supposed to look similar to below. I'm basing the game times on the number of games scheduled. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings could potentially be used as makeup times if weather becomes an issue. I would imagine the semifinals could even be moved to Saturday morning before the final in a worst-case scenario. Also, there is supposed to be a bit of tweaking on the pitching rules so that no team has an advantage. I haven't yet heard what it will be.

 

Monday

11:00 - First Round Game

1:30 - First Round Game

6:00 - First Round Game

8:30 - First Round Game

 

Tuesday

11:00 - First Round Game

1:30 - First Round Game

6:00 - First Round Game

8:30 - First Round Game

 

Wednesday

Monday Winners

6:00 - Quarterfinal Game

8:30 - Quarterfinal Game

 

Thursday

Tuesday Winners

6:00 - Quarterfinal Game

8:30 - Quarterfinal Game

 

Friday

6:00 - Semifinal Game (Wednesday winners)

8:30 - Semifinal Game (Thursday winners)

 

Saturday

7:00 - Championship

So it looks like a one and out tournament. You are going to need at least three very good pitchers to win it, which I like. That makes it tougher on the smaller schools but it also ensures you need a total team with more than one or even two stud pitchers. The state champion should be a total well rounded team, not just a team with one or two stud pitchers.