1 day Ago By Tacoma News Tribune
With Washington state high school baseball and softball playoffs rapidly approaching, here’s a deeper look at postseason qualification, seeding protocols and the road to the state bracket. Plus: district allocations by league and tournament locations/times. How are district tournament brackets determined? Each league receives a certain number of playoff spots, or allocations, into district tournaments.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) is split into six districts, each of which represents a geographical area. Each district contains one or more member leagues. Winning your league generally means an easier path.
The winner of League A might play the last qualifying team from League B in the tournament’s opening round, for example. District 3, the West Central District, covers most of the South Sound and includes the 4A South Puget Sound League, the 3A and 4A North Puget Sound leagues, the 3A Puget Sound League, the Olympic, 2A South Puget Sound League, 1A Nisqually and North Olympic. Some districts combine for district tournaments.
District 3 combines with District 4, the Southwest District, for bi-district tournaments. The Southwest District contains schools in the greater Vancouver area and stretches up north to Thurston County, where Tumwater, Black Hills and others are members of the 2A Evergreen Conference. How are state tournament brackets decided? Each district or bi-district bracket has a certain number of state allocations.
The quickest path to a state tournament berth, of course, is by winning. In most sports, advancing to the bi-district tournament semifinals secures a state tournament berth. In some brackets, teams can get through to state even with an early tournament loss, provided they win some games in the consolation ladder.
Since 2020, seeding for WIAA state tournament brackets for all sports have been seeded by committees , which are comprised of coaches and athletic directors around the state. Football was the first sport to move to the committee seeding model. After the model proved successful, it was adopted across all WIAA sports.
After the district tournaments conclude, seeding committees consider the resumes of each team in the field and seed them accordingly. Committee members look at each team’s record, strength of schedule, the perceived strength of the league each team plays in, RPI (Ratings Percentage Index, a formula provided by the WIAA which is intended to determine a team’s overall strength), notable player injuries and other factors. Often, the eye test ends up being the key determining factor in each committee’s deliberation.
DISTRICT ALLOCATIONS, BY LEAGUE BASEBALL 4A SPSL — Eight 4A NPSL — Five 3A NPSL — Six 3A PSL — Seven 2A SPSL — Four SOFTBALL 4A SPSL — Eight 4A NPSL — Five 3A NPSL — Six 3A PSL — Seven 2A SPSL — Five DISTRICT PLAYOFF GUIDE BASEBALL District 3/4 4A Tournament May 13-17, multiple sites State allocations: Six Championship: May 17, 7 p.m. at Kent Memorial Field District 3/4 3A Tournament May 13-17, multiple sites State allocations: Seven Championship: May 17, TBD at Auburn High School District 3 2A Tournament May 12-17, multiple sites State allocations: Four Championship: May 17, 3 p.
m. at Central Kitsap High School SOFTBALL District 3/4 4A Tournament May 16-17, Kent Service Ballfields State allocations: Six Championship: May 17, TBD District 3/4 3A Tournament May 15-17, Regional Athletic Complex (Lacey) State allocations: Seven Championship: May 17, TBD District 3 2A Tournament May 16-17, Regional Athletic Complex (Lacey) State allocations: Four Championship: May 17, TBD STATE PLAYOFF GUIDE BASEBALL 4A State Tournament May 24-31, Parker-Faller Field (Yakima) Championship: May 31, 7 p.m.
3A State Tournament May 20-31, Parker-Faller Field (Yakima) Championship: May 31, 4 p.m. 2A State Tournament May 24-31, Joe Martin Stadium (Bellingham) Championship: May 31, 7 p.
m. 1A State Tournament May 24-31, Joe Martin Stadium (Bellingham) Championship: May 31, 4 p.m.
SOFTBALL 4A State Tournament May 23-24, Columbia Playfields (Richland) Championship: May 24, TBD 3A State Tournament May 22-24, Regional Athletic Complex (Lacey) Championship: May 24, TBD 2A State Tournament May 23-24, Carlon Park (Selah) Championship: May 24, TBD 1A State Tournament May 22-24, Columbia Playfields (Richland) Championship: May 24, TBD.
