The first year of the postseason rankings and the new Class 1A-3A private classification has proven to be very successful. The three major spring sports playoffs have been dominated so far by higher seeds, proving the ranking formula right. Overall, in both of the soccer playoffs and baseball playoffs, higher seeds went 37-3 in the first round. Additional teams within the top 10 only lost one game, Hebron Christian baseball’s loss to Mt. Vernon in a close three-game series.
The baseball playoffs were much more one-sided in the first round than they normally are. Of the 12 first-round series, only two went to three games. Those two series were the only upsets of the first round. Of the 28 first-round games, only three were decided by one run, while 11 were decided by 10 runs or more, and two were decided by more than 15 runs. None of the series had more than one game decided by fewer than three runs, making much of the first-round outcomes predictable.
The girls’ soccer playoffs’ first round was very similar to baseball, with very few close matches and only two upsets. The round saw a severe lack of scoring from losing teams, with the winners outscoring them 113-1. That one goal came in the only game decided by fewer than three goals, Walker’s 2-1 victory over Mt. Paran. Atlanta International’s 3-0 win over 11-seed Providence Christian was the only major upset. The only other upset was 17-seed Mt. Vernon’s 3-0 victory over 16-seed Trinity Christian.
The boys’ soccer first round was by far the most competitive but did not feature a single upset. Three of the 12 games were decided by one goal, and another by two goals. The most notable result was 22-seed Galloway pushing 8-seed Aquinas to its limits, with the Fighting Irish narrowly avoiding the upset in a 2-1 game. While the round did include some lopsided scores, only one game was decided by 10 or more goals, compared to eight in the girls’ bracket.
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