Pairings Revealed For 2024 IHSAA Softball State Tournament

April 28, 2024

For the 39th year, the pairings for the IHSAA Softball State Tournament were announced this evening on IHSAAtv.org with 372 teams placed into sectional brackets. Sectional action runs May 20-25 with the 64 survivors moving into a one-game regional round on Tuesday, May 28 and the four-team semi-states on Saturday, June 1. The four state championship games that make up the state finals will be played June 7-8 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.

Notables

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: 372 teams.
Breakdown by Class: 96 in 4A; 96 in 3A; 94 in 2A; 86 in 1A.
Total No. of Games: 368 games in 20 days.

Last Year’s State Champions

4A: Penn (vs. Concord in Sectional 4 at Northridge).
3A: New Prairie (vs. South Bend Riley in Sectional 19 at Mishawaka Marian).
2A: North Posey (vs. South Spencer-Perry Central winner in Sectional 48 at Forest Park).
1A: Tecumseh (vs. Wood Memorial in Sectional 64 at Northeast Dubois).

Schools Playing Up One Class due to Tournament Success Factor

South Bend Saint Joseph (Class 4A, Sectional 3 at South Bend Adams)
Pioneer (Class 2A, Sectional 37 at Rochester Community)

Last Year’s Sectional Champions

4A: Avon, Carroll (Fort Wayne), Crown Point, Evansville North, Floyd Central, Harrison (West Lafayette), Huntington North, Lake Central, Lawrence North, Mooresville, Pendleton Heights, Penn, Roncalli, Shelbyville, South Bend Saint Joseph, Westfield.

3A: Beech Grove, Connersville, East Noble, Edgewood, Gibson Southern, Hamilton Heights, Hanover Central, Jasper, Leo, New Prairie, Peru, Silver Creek, Tippecanoe Valley, Tri-West Hendricks, Western, Yorktown.

2A: Andrean, Cascade, Delphi Community, Eastern (Pekin), Eastside, Hauser, Hebron, Lapel,
Lewis Cass, Madison-Grant, North Posey, North Putnam, South Adams, Sullivan, Triton Central,
Union County.

1A: Barr-Reeve, Bethesda Christian, Caston, Clay City, Cowan, Fremont, Indianapolis Lutheran,
Kouts, Lanesville, North Decatur, Rising Sun, Riverton Parke, Rossville, Tecumseh, Tri, Westville.

Schools that Won First Sectional Championship Last Year
4A: Westfield.
3A: Beech Grove.
1A: Caston, North Decatur.

Active Sectional Championship Streaks (Three or more years)
9: Penn.
5: Harrison (West Lafayette).
4: Crown Point, Hanover Central, Union County.
3: Avon, Bethesda Christian, Clay City, Cowan, Hauser, Lake Central, Madison-Grant, Roncalli,
South Bend Saint Joseph, Tri-West Hendricks.

Most Consecutive Sectional Championships
17 by Tecumseh, 2003-19.
Top 10 All-Time Sectional Championships
24: Center Grove, Indianapolis Lutheran.
22: Boonville, Lake Central.
21: Harrison (West Lafayette), Penn, Pioneer, Tecumseh.
20: Decatur Central, Indianapolis Cathedral, Pendleton Heights.

Most State Championships
7: Center Grove.
6: New Palestine.
5: Roncalli, Tecumseh.
3: Andrean, Gibson Southern, Indianapolis Lutheran, Indianapolis Scecina, Lake Central.

Active Consecutive Tournament Win Streaks
12: Tecumseh.
7: Penn
6: New Prairie, North Posey

Most Consecutive State Tournament Wins
21: New Palestine (2017-21)
20: Roncalli (2021-23)
16: Center Grove (1995-96)
16: Lakewood Park Christian (2012-14)
16: New Palestine (2008-10)
15: Martinsville (2005-07)
15: New Albany (1987-88)
13: Avon (2016-17)
13: Center Grove (2003-04)
13: Lake Central (2002-03)
13: South Putnam (2011-12)
12: Tecumseh (2022-current)