AURORA — Douglas County, Wheat Ridge and Strasburg are the top seeds in their respective classifications for the regional softball brackets released on Sunday.
Douglas County, 17-2 this season, heads the Class 5A field. Rock Canyon (No. 2), Legend (No. 3), Fossil Ridge (No. 4), Dakota Ridge (No. 5), Legacy (No. 6), Ralston Valley (No. 7) and Brighton (No. 8) will also host regionals.
In 4A, Wheat Ridge (18-1) is the top seed. Other hosts are No. 2 Erie, No. 3 Ponderosa, No. 4 Pueblo East, No. 5 Discovery Canyon, No. 6 Broomfield, No. 7 Frederick and No. 8 Berthoud.
Strasburg is the No. 1 seed in 3A. Additional regional hosts include Sterling (No. 2), Holy Family (No. 3), Lamar (No. 4), Burlington (No. 7) and Basalt (No. 8).
Here are the links to each classification’s regional brackets:
The regional brackets were all seeded by committees. The 32-team fields in 5A and 4A, and 24-team 3A field are all determined using (but not limited to) the following criteria:
- MaxPreps’ ranking system.
- Automatic qualifiers.
- Any automatic qualifiers not listed in the top 32 (or, in 3A, 24) of the MaxPreps rankings will be placed on the bracket. This may cause teams to be removed out of the top 32 or 24 teams listed in the final rankings before the regional tournament.
- Strength of schedule.
- Overall schedule.
- Head-to-head competition.
- Strength of competition.
- Geography will be a factor in considering the final pairings.
Of note when seeding the brackets and setting matchups:
- League opponents may be paired against one another.
- A school in any league may be paired above a school that finished above it during the regular season.
The committee is comprised of the following:
- One representative for each 3A District (1-6).
- One representative for each 4A/5A League plus Independent.
- One non-voting representative from the CHSAA office.