VISAA Playoffs

go to the link below to see the latest poll.  If I have it right, the top 8 teams in each division get to play in the state tournament with the top 4 hosting the first game and then they all go to a Colonial Heights for the final fours. 

http://visaa.org/dynamicPage.jsp?pageName=13663218181611&category=136631375255391

 

Last year my kid's school was borderline making the top 8 and it was sorta frustrating wondering if they would get to play or not as where they finished in their conference or whether or not they won the conf tournament did not seem to matter.  He wasn't even on the team as he was in the 7th grade but I got interested in how it all worked for future reference.  I must say it sometimes didn't seem to make sense and if the coaches are voting, I would think the top teams might vote based on who they want to play.

You got it right...top 8 teams in Divisions I, II and III seed out and play single elimination.

The top 8 are, in fact, voted into position.  It has, of course, caused some controversy over the years but it is the system employed.  The Top 4 seeds host first round quarters 1-8, 2-7, 3-6, 4-5...Then, the semis and finals are held, I believe, on a friday and saturday up at Sheppards Field in Colonial Heights region.

 

In Division I it is very close up top between #1 St. Christophers (49 points) and #2 Paul VI (46).  Then it is Benedictine (37), Bishop Ireton (31), and Flint Hill (29).  Currently, Liberty Christian and Fork Union are tied with 22 for 6th and 7th and Trinity Episcopal is at #8 with 21...Norfolk Academy is 9th at 13 but probably has no shot there.

 

In Division 2 Atlantic Shores has held serve with 49 points followed by Steward (44) and now Christ Church (40)!  This is interesting because that slides Greenbrier Christian to #4 with 37...The next four are Hampton Roads Academy (29), Hargrave (26), Nansemond-Suffolk (20) and the Miller School (14).  Only Norfolk Christian (9) has any shot and that would seem slim at this point.  The Move up by Christ Church means a possible semi-final match-up between Atlantic Shores and Greenbrier Christian in a rematch of last year's great 3-2 extra inning affair won by GCA!  The crowd was massive at GCA but, perhaps, if the game is at Sheppards the crowd might be smaller.

 

In Division 3 Isle of Wight (49) and Southampton (47) are very tight.  Isle has Atlantic Shores yet on their sked and a loss there could send them down a slot while a win would more than likely seal the deal for them as the top seed.  Tidewater is a solid #3 with 40 followed by Fuqua School and Kenston Forest with 33 and 32 points respectively so those two could possibly swap as well.  Walsingham, Brunswick and Randolph-Macon clear up the bottom 3 with 23, 19, and 16 points.

 

 

If you think Norfolk has not shot at getting in the D1  tourney you aren't paying attention.  Trinity has a brutal schedule down the stretch and could easily drop their last 4 .  FUMA schedule is rough as well, closing with 2 games against a Collegiate team scratching to get back to the tourney as well.  Gonna be a great last two weeks

Agree, Norfolk Academy (15-7) has Hampton Christian today which should net them another win.  Tomorrow they should run Bishop Sullivan Catholic (0-11) off the field unless Catholic can  transplant the squad that I saw play last week.  It's sad how far that program has fallen since the AD decided to "take the program in a different direction" in 2010.  Academy has Walsingham after Sullivan and should take that game as well.

If Norfolk Academy (or Cape Henry) is able to win the TCIS tournament the committee will find a way to get either one into the state playoffs.  Otherwise, it's probably not going to happen. 

What I said is they "probably have no shot".  They are currently standing with a solid record yet that has not gotten them the "votes".  FUMA has  quality wins which include #6 Liberty Christian and #3 Bendictine while Trinity Episcopal has wins over #3 Benedictine, STAB, FUMA, And #3 Steward from Division II.   My guess (again this is just pure guess work and really just for fun folks) is season ending wins over Walsingham and Bishop Sullivan are not going to sway voters much but I could be wrong there especially if any of the teams currently ahead them have a total crash down the stretch.  I am not saying Norfolk Academy is an unworthy team at all (their record speaks for itself)but not sure they have the quality wins to get them above the teams ahead of them at least if the present voting thought holds through.

Well I had heard this was an interesting process, but whew!

 

Anybody want to take a stab at the 8.  Maybe a week too early but accessing the worthiness of schools from different regions is tough.  Records are very deceiving.

That's a good point.  A "W" over a winless team that plays less than 15 games (BS at 0-12) doesn't get you any quality points.

Why r u so down on the BS Catholic program? It will be a tough couple years as they r starting 2 freshmen and 3 sophs....but appears coach is up to task of righting the ship.

I'm not down on the program.  The problem is there is NO program.  The current coach is one of the better baseball guys in the area. No arguing that point.  The problem is he's got nothing to work with.  No one has coached these kids for the last two years (probably a lot longer)and now there is no JV team. It's a little late to teach the "raw" fundamentals at the varsity level.  You work on fundamentals but you can't teach the 101 level in season.  You work on those over the off season and fall, but there is no out of season program as fall ball was eliminated in 2009 as a part of the school's "in season only sports program" (the intramural model)

   

Read the thread that circulated last year if you want to know how the court of public opinion feels about the program.  It has nothing to do with the coach or players; it's about the adults in charge.  Here's the link to the discussion:

 

http://community.hsbaseballweb...sullivan-catholic-hs

 

P.S.  Apologies for hijacking this thread.  Congratulations and best of luck to all the VISSA tournament teams.  We'll take this discussion back to the appropriate forum.

 

Here are the brackets for next week's VISAA state tournament.  The top seeds are St. Christopher's DI, Atlantic Shores DII and Isle of Wight DIII.

Surprised Cape Henry didn't get in after winning the TCIS.

The committee (which I'm told consists of four ADs) obviously doesn't think much of the TCIS this year.  Cape Henry earned the 1 seed and then won the tournament scoring a total of 17 runs and giving up 0 over 3 games.  They ended the season with a 14-6 record going 2-0 against Greenbrier Christian and 1-0 against Norfolk Academy.  Ultimately their 1-4 start to the season, which included two loses to Atlantic Shores (3-2,6-3), kept them out of the tournament.  Regardless, nice job by the coaches and senior leadership to guide a very young team, that improved week by week, to the conference title!

CHC certainly deserved to be in there but there are four other TCIS schools in the tournament:

 

NSA (D2)

GCA (D2)

HRA (D2)

Walsingham (D3)

 

 

Do you think a points system (similar to football) would work better to select the playoff teams or maybe a combination of poll/points? In football, you get bonus points for playing VISAA recognized schools.

I think that would be a viable way to do it.  I do believe there is a "formula" of sorts but it's not codified so that everyone understands it.  For a team to have a strong season, demonstrate increasingly better performance, win it's local conference tournamment (CHC in this case) and not go to the state tournament is unfortunate.

 

When my son was coming through the TCIS several years ago I always heard about some magical number; 20 or more games.  If you played over 20 games your chances were better (assuming you won most of them) to get a nod for the state tournament.  I think that makes some sense as long as there is some measure for strenth of schedule.

 

At any rate it will be a topic for debate and discussion with or without a formal proceess

Atlantic Shores 17 - 16 over Nansemond Suffolk Academy tonight in the DII quarter-final game.  There were two grand slams in the game.  One by each team.

umpire had a strike zone the size of a golf ball