(4-30-23) For the 38th year, the pairings for the IHSAA Softball State Tournament were announced this evening and 373 teams placed into sectional brackets.
Sectional action runs May 22-27 with the 64 survivors moving into a one-game regional round on Tuesday, May 30 and the four-team semi-states on Saturday, June 3. The four state championship games will be played June 9-10 at Purdue University’s Bittinger Stadium in West Lafayette.
Host schools will announce playing schedules which will then be added to the online brackets at MaxPreps.com the week before the tournament begins.
The top-ranked team in Class 1A in this week’s poll from the Softball Coaches Association of Indiana (SCAI) is Morgan Township. The Cherokees will meet DeMotte Christian in Sectional 49 played at Kouts.
In Class 2A, the top-ranked North Posey Vikings, last year’s state runner-up, drew a bye and will await the Forest Park-South Spencer winner in Sectional 48 at Forest Park.
In Class 3A, the No. 1 Western Panthers will face county rival Northwestern in Sectional 18 played at Twin Lakes.
And the Class 4A top-ranked Center Grove Trojans are set to take on Mooresville in the Sectional 13 opener played at Bloomington South.
About the Draw
To conduct the random drawing for the softball state tournament, the IHSAA places ping-pong balls representing each school in a given sectional into a lottery-style air mix machine. A motorized fan in the bottom of the machine blows the balls around the inside of the transparent container and air then forces each ball up through a tube in random order. For example, the first ball retrieved from the machine will be the visiting team in game one with the second ball representing the home team in game one. The third ball to come out is the visitor in game two and the fourth ball the home team in game two. That same method is followed through all 64 sectionals and eight semi-states.
No. of Schools Entered: 373 teams.
Breakdown by Class: 96 in 4A; 95 in 3A; 95 in 2A; 87 in 1A.
Total No. of Games: 369 games in 20 days.
Last Year’s State Champions
4A: Roncalli (vs. Indianapolis Arsenal Technical in Sectional 11 at Southport).
3A: South Bend St. Joseph (vs. Mishawaka-Plymouth winner in Class 4A Sectional 3 at Mishawaka).
2A: Eastside (host Central Noble-Prairie Heights winner in Sectional 35).
1A: Tecumseh (vs. Wood Memorial in Sectional 64 at Wood Memorial).
Schools Playing Up One Class due to Tournament Success Factor
• South Bend St. Joseph (Class 4A, Sectional 3 at Mishawaka)
• Pioneer (Class 2A, Sectional 37 at Rochester Community)
Stateline Sports Network 