Baseball and softball look the same in many ways, but in even more ways are different. That gap continues to stretch, and in Ohio will widen further if baseball coaches get their wishes.

Earlier this year a proposal to delay the start of the OHSAA tournament by two weeks came about. That measure was supposed to be voted on June 1, but that vote has been postponed until more factors can be examined.

Among those factors are the inclusion of softball in the measure – which appears unlikely – and the timing of high school graduations, which could leave many teams playing most of their postseasons after players are done with high school.

The major hang-up where moving the baseball tournament, and thereby lengthening the regular season by two weeks, is what to do with softball?

“You can bet your butt if they change it for baseball, they’ll need to change it for softball,” long-time Norton softball coach Dick Castilow said.

The proposal evolved from pitch-count rules implemented this year. Those rules put strains on teams without a lot of pitchers. The currently short baseball season leaves teams without a lot of dates to schedule games.

That in turn manifested into pitching shortages when weather postponements caused teams to have jammed schedules later in the season. OHSAA rules allow teams to play 27 regular-season games over a 42-day span, which does not include state postseason dates.

But forget about all that for a minute. The end of the school year not only brings state tournaments, it also brings things like prom, graduation, senior trips and other high school career-end activities.

Postseason play started this season on May 8. By May 19, district play was complete in baseball and softball. Over the next two days, five of the 14 schools in The Post’s coverage area had their graduations, with another on May 23. So nearly half held their ceremonies before the regional tournament.

Using the two-week delay, half the schools could hold commencement before a single tournament game is played. So a team advancing to regionals would be playing three weeks after their seniors were finished with school, nearly a month for teams making the Final 4, as Strongsville did this year.

“Kids in springtime, their minds start to wander,” Norton baseball coach Rod Swartz said. “They start worrying about prom, they start worrying about graduation, and where they’re going to go to school. I think that becomes a little bit of an issue.

“Our kids graduated May 23 this year. Then there’s a graduation trip. If that (change) happens, maybe you still have two more weeks? That makes it very difficult to keep things focused.”

Keeping kids’ minds, particularly those of seniors, tuned into sports while their classmates were going to grad parties and starting summer jobs or just doing kid stuff one last time, is a task nobody at the OHSAA seems to have considered much here.

“There’s teams that aren’t in league races or in the tournament playing meaningless games and the kids have already cashed out,” Northwestern baseball coach John Curtis said. “That’s why I think baseball and softball are the hardest sports to coach, because of that. You get to the end of the season and I’ve seen kids that are just done.”

Then there’s the matter of summer athletics. Baseball and softball players have club teams that begin play about Memorial Day. Other high school teams have summer activities beginning in June and if athletes are still involved in spring sports, they won’t be available.

“You spend $1,200 to play travel ball and you may not be able to play until the middle of June,” Norton’s Castilow said. “Who’s OK with that?”

Still, Post-area baseball coaches were in favor of the change by about a 60-40 margin. Softball coaches were dead against it. Of course, they don’t have to worry about pitch counts. Some teams can get by with one pitcher for a whole season, though that’s become less common.

A memo submitted to softball coaches statewide by OHSAA commissioner Jerry Snodgrass detailed results of a survey of softball coaches as to whether they would like to see their postseason pushed back. Snodgrass said 72 percent were not in favor state-wide.

Snodgrass’s memo acknowledged that baseball and softball teams typically share transportation to games, which ultimately could be what shelves the baseball proposal. Not being able to share buses could become cost-prohibitive.

Baseball coaches have also lamented the fact that some conference’s seasons overlap with tournament play, causing teams to choose whether to try to make a tourney run or win the league.

Most area leagues now finish their league seasons the week before sectionals start. Even the Greater Cleveland Conference, which has a postseason tournament, finishes before the state tournament begins, although this year rainouts caused the two to overlap – which didn’t hamper Strongsville from making it to the state title game, Medina to a regional and three other GCC teams to district finals.

The state will take this back to the drawing board. Already not scheduled to be implemented until 2019, the measure may not even get off the ground that soon, if ever.

If it does, though, the new schedule will be met with open arms by some.

“I coach summer ball, too, so I’ve heard both sides of the argument,” Highland baseball coach Jay Grissom said. “I love high school baseball and I think it’s a game meant to be played in nicer weather. Everybody’s always concerned about having a kid that’s graduated and you still have to play. I don’t think you’ll have a problem keeping kids motivated if you’re making a run in the playoffs.

“High school tournament baseball is some of the most fun you’ll have as an athlete, and the date of it doesn’t matter.”