Pine Creek is the No. 1 seed in the 5A baseball districts. (Josh Watt/CHSAANow.com)
Back in January, the Legislative Council approved the recommendation of the CHSAA baseball committee to fast track the use of RPI as the system to determine the playoff fields.
Wednesday saw the results of that vote for the first time as district brackets for Class 3A through 5A were released. Unlike the Wild Card system used previously, the RPI format takes into account the overall strength of schedule for each team and combines it with their win/loss record to create the field of 32 teams.
Pine Creek came away with the top overall seed in 5A, and will host this weekend. Other host schools are Regis Jesuit, Lakewood, Heritage, Rock Canyon, Grandview, ThunderRidge and Mullen.
Rock Canyon, which won last year’s 5A championship, is the No. 5 overall seed and will play Bear Creek in their first game. If they advance they’ll see the winner of Dakota Ridge and Chaparral.
Three of the final four teams left in last year’s playoff field made it back to the tournament with Grandview landing at No. 6, Chatfield at No. 26. District play will begin this weekend with the state tournament starting next week.
Click here for the full 5A district brackets.
Mountain View leads the way in 4A, taking the top overall spot in the class. They’ll host their district where they will play Roosevelt. The winner of that game will meet the winner of Palisade and The Classical Academy.
The other host schools in 4A are Canon City, Valor Christian, Windsor, Pueblo West, Fort Morgan, Denver North and Delta.
Two-time defending state champion Green Mountain did not make it inside the top 32 teams and did not qualify for district play.
Last year’s runner-up, Lewis-Palmer, drew the No. 26 seed and will head to District 6 and play host Fort Morgan. The potential of a showdown with league rival Palmer Ridge is there as the Bears play Longmont in that same district. Lewis-Palmer swept the season series against the Bears this year.
Of last years final four teams in the tournament, only Lewis-Palmer and Ponderosa (No. 29) qualified for districts this year.
Click here for the full 4A district brackets.
Defending 3A champion Eaton held strong as the No. 1 team in that class all season and is the No. 1 seed coming into districts. The Reds will face Olathe in their first district game with the winner of that game playing the winner of No. 16 Lutheran and No. 17 The Academy.
University, St, Mary’s, Lamar, Faith Christian, La Junta, Valley and Kent Denver are the other host teams in 3A.
All four of last year’s final four teams in the tournament qualified for districts this year. Eaton and University are the top two teams in the brackets, Brush comes in at No. 9 and will play No. 24 Buena Vista in District 2 at Kent Denver and Sterling lands at No. 21 and will play No. 12 Colorado Academy in District 4 at Faith Christian.