Regionals!
May 9, 2008 @ 9:49 a.m. by Joannaby joanna
So regional Class 6A and 5A baseball and softball pairings come out on Saturday, as will soccer regionals.
I had a conversation with North assistant Randy Griffitts — a guy I’ve known for an awful long time, who was a correspondent for us, who was one of our favorites because he’d cover anything and do it well — anyway, we chatted about the possible way the 6A regional involving North baseball could pan out.
As it sits right now — with the best info I have — Goddard is 17-3, Maize is 16-3, Northwest is 15-4 (Maize and Northwest play tonight), Campus is 15-3 (plays a doubleheader with Junction City tonight), North 16-4, Heights 13-7, Derby 7-11, Dodge City 6-11, Garden City 6-12, East 6-13, South 4-13, Southeast 2-17.
OK, Goddard finished its season with a win over Carroll on Thursday, so it’s the No. 1 seed right now. So what happens if the rain hits tonight and no more games are played (regional seedings are Saturday morning)? We would be looking at Goddard as the 1 seed, Maize 2, Campus 3, North 4 and Northwest 5 (based on winning percentage because one less game)
What could really make things interesting is if Northwest beats Maize and Campus splits with Junction City. That would mean Northwest, Maize, Campus and North are all 16-4. Hello, coin flip for seeds 2 through 5.
I’m loving this! Drama, intrigue. Anyway. It’s an interesting way to end the season and will make for two good regionals next week.
May 10th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Apparently the Wichita Eagle didn’t think it was “interesting” enough news to publish the game results in their Sport Section that Maize took care of Northwest in short order on Friday night on the big diamond. There wasn’t even a box score and apparently no reporter present, but the stands were packed. Great offense and defense on the part of the Eagles.
As far as the WICHITA EAGLE…where were you?
May 10th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Did the Maize/Northwest coach call the score in? I would say no, they did not.
As for the regionals, Goddard got the #1 seed. In baseball of softball, you might ask, BOTH.
May 12th, 2008 at 12:36 am
Yea your tellin me smaymo, Didn’t say anything about the game. But thats not the only game, I just now heard that NW took care of North Monday night, heard it was a run rule and the pitcher threw a no-hitter, Didn’t see anything about that one either.
May 12th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Home team coach is in charge of calling in the score, so NW would have been in charge of that.
A no-hitter is a big accomplishment. I don’t know why the Eagle can’t fill us in just a little when those things happen. Some of us like to keep up with what’s going on around the city and beyond. The Eagle makes it very tough.
May 12th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Good to be alive: We’d definitely like to get no-hitters in the paper. Andover Central had a no-hitter earlier this year, it was called in and we put a brief in the paper about it. Not sure why we wouldn’t have done the same here. No-hitters are definitely an accomplishment and we want to recognize them.
You say The Eagle makes it tough to know what’s going on around the City League and beyond, how would you like us to do it differently. If you want to respond, feel free to do it here, or if you like, at jchadwick@wichitaeagle.com
May 14th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Any chance that the Andale Softball Team can get a little coverage. For the second year in a row they have earned a berth to the State Tournament. Andale won the El Dorado regional out scoring their opponents 38-0. This team is 21-2. They have a pitcher who is 19-1 with 16 shutouts. They have possibly the toughest batting order 1 thru 9 in the State. Their infield is extremely athletic as is their outfield. Their catcher is one of the best in the State.
This is a very good team that is as impressive in person as they are on paper. Unfortunately, if you want to read more about them you will have to read the Hutchinson News.
May 15th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Andale is a great team and deserve coverage for their solid play and great pitching but lets not brag too much about your Regional which was loaded with the powerhouses such as Buhler (1-19), Cheney (7-3)?, Hesston (11-7), Towanda-Circle (3-17), Haven/Burrton (13-5), El Dorado (7-13) and the mighty Nickerson an always State Challenger that you beat in the Championship. I think that level of competition will hurt you in the end, like it did last year when you ran into a Eudora team that was battle tested in their Regionals. I look for Andover Central to be a team to reckon with when the obviously played in the toughest Regional in the State in Douglas. Teams that lost in that Regional(Mulvane, Rose Hill, Clearwater and Augusta) would have walked through with their “golden ticket” too if they were in that Regional. So yes, Andale is a very solid team and deserves some accolades but to brag about your Regional, is a bit bloated.
May 16th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Fair enough, I agree that the El Dorado Region was not as tough, but to say that Andale has not been tested and that two days in El Dorado will somehow damage their chances at State does not seem plausible. The only comment made about the regionals was the combined score and I agree it was not needed. The other comments addressed their regular season efforts.
Getting beat by Eudora last season had nothing to do with the schedule Andale played. In fact, due to the concentration of quality 4A schools in the AVCTL, the 4A schools in the Wichita area probably play the touchest regular season schedule in the State. So any 4A team coming from this area will have been tested. The reason that Eudora beat Andale 2 to 1 last year was because on that day in that game Eudora was the better team and that is why they play the game.
As far as this year is concerned, Andale faced Augusta, Clearwater, Mulvane, Rose Hill and Andover Central during the regular season winning 8 out of 10. 5 good teams that have helped to prepare Andale for the post season.
Is Andale going to win it all or for that matter will Andover Central? No one knows. Again that is why they play the game and that is also why sports in general are so much fun to watch.
I wish both teams luck at State. If they are both successful in the first round game, they will face each other in the semifinals and that will be an entertaining to watch.