Grizzlies squads placed on brackets
Softball team seeded No 2; baseball is No. 8
Craig Palidar and the rest of Wadsworth’s baseball and softball teams begin postseason play this week. Photo by BRUCE BILLOW
Changes continue to be implemented by the Northeast District Athletic Board where postseason seeding and bracketing are concerned. The latest move takes control out of coaches’ hands and leaves them with no choices.
The introduction of “NCAA-style” seeding this spring – to be followed during fall and winter sports through at least spring of 2019 – means teams are assigned bracket lines based on their seeds. Teams can no longer try to seek more favorable postseason paths or matchups.
The Northeast board said support for the change was “overwhelming” from area coaches. At Wadsworth, support is anything but. Baseball coach Greg Pickard is ho-hum and softball coach Mike Schmeltzer doesn’t like it at all.
“I would rather do it the old way,” Schmeltzer said. “Sometimes you have match-up problems, possibly with a lower seed, and may want to play a higher seed to stay away from that match-up. Takes away the personal side of the tourney, too.”
A lot of what Schmeltzer alluded to was removed when voting went online two years ago. Coaches no longer have to face each other when voting for seeds.
In the old format, teams could debate a bit and make cases for their teams based on schedules, injuries, things of that nature. Now, they can leave comments online, but whether anyone gives those comments much merit is open to debate, with most coaches saying the comments are for the most part ignored.
“Hopefully, there won’t be anyone that votes differently just because they aren’t sitting in the same room,” Pickard said. “I think I will have to see how it goes this year before I decide which way I prefer.”
Ironically, this year and in some recent years, neither Pickard nor Schmeltzer would have had much choice. Once voted as a No. 1 or 2 seed, the only thing left to be decided was the date the teams would play. The Nos. 1 and 2 seeds by rule had to go in opposite halves of the bracket.
This year, though, the Grizzly baseball team got a lower seed and while on an 11-team bracket would not have had a ton of control, still might have been able to work its way into a preferable early matchup.
In baseball, Wadsworth was voted the No. 8 seed and will host No. 9 Copley May 11. The winner will travel the following day to play No. 1 Brunswick in a sectional final.
The winner will advance to a May 18 district semifinals at the Barberton Sports Complex. Akron Hoban and Akron Firestone are in the other half-bracket. The district final is set for May 19 at Barberton. Highland and North Royalton are the top seeds in the lower half of the bracket. All games are scheduled to start at 4:30.
While Schmeltzer does not like the set-up, it appears to have worked out well for the Grizzlies this year. They got the No. 2 seed, which put them in the other half of the bracket from No. 1 Walsh Jesuit. Wadsworth gets a first-round bye and will play on May 10 at home against either No. 7 Stow or No 10 Cuyahoga Falls, which play May 9.
The district semifinals and final are May 16 and 17, respectively, at the Barberton Sports Complex. Wadsworth, if it advances, would likely play either No. 3 Highland or No. 6 Hudson in a semi, with Walsh, No. 4 Medina or No. 5 Brunswick as possible district final opponents. All games are set to start at 4:30.
The introduction of “NCAA-style” seeding this spring – to be followed during fall and winter sports through at least spring of 2019 – means teams are assigned bracket lines based on their seeds. Teams can no longer try to seek more favorable postseason paths or matchups.
The Northeast board said support for the change was “overwhelming” from area coaches. At Wadsworth, support is anything but. Baseball coach Greg Pickard is ho-hum and softball coach Mike Schmeltzer doesn’t like it at all.
“I would rather do it the old way,” Schmeltzer said. “Sometimes you have match-up problems, possibly with a lower seed, and may want to play a higher seed to stay away from that match-up. Takes away the personal side of the tourney, too.”
A lot of what Schmeltzer alluded to was removed when voting went online two years ago. Coaches no longer have to face each other when voting for seeds.
In the old format, teams could debate a bit and make cases for their teams based on schedules, injuries, things of that nature. Now, they can leave comments online, but whether anyone gives those comments much merit is open to debate, with most coaches saying the comments are for the most part ignored.
“Hopefully, there won’t be anyone that votes differently just because they aren’t sitting in the same room,” Pickard said. “I think I will have to see how it goes this year before I decide which way I prefer.”
Ironically, this year and in some recent years, neither Pickard nor Schmeltzer would have had much choice. Once voted as a No. 1 or 2 seed, the only thing left to be decided was the date the teams would play. The Nos. 1 and 2 seeds by rule had to go in opposite halves of the bracket.
This year, though, the Grizzly baseball team got a lower seed and while on an 11-team bracket would not have had a ton of control, still might have been able to work its way into a preferable early matchup.
In baseball, Wadsworth was voted the No. 8 seed and will host No. 9 Copley May 11. The winner will travel the following day to play No. 1 Brunswick in a sectional final.
The winner will advance to a May 18 district semifinals at the Barberton Sports Complex. Akron Hoban and Akron Firestone are in the other half-bracket. The district final is set for May 19 at Barberton. Highland and North Royalton are the top seeds in the lower half of the bracket. All games are scheduled to start at 4:30.
While Schmeltzer does not like the set-up, it appears to have worked out well for the Grizzlies this year. They got the No. 2 seed, which put them in the other half of the bracket from No. 1 Walsh Jesuit. Wadsworth gets a first-round bye and will play on May 10 at home against either No. 7 Stow or No 10 Cuyahoga Falls, which play May 9.
The district semifinals and final are May 16 and 17, respectively, at the Barberton Sports Complex. Wadsworth, if it advances, would likely play either No. 3 Highland or No. 6 Hudson in a semi, with Walsh, No. 4 Medina or No. 5 Brunswick as possible district final opponents. All games are set to start at 4:30.
