Class 3A Playoff Predictions
May 26, 2014
By Sean Duncan
Executive Director
The Class 3A playoffs began Monday with play-in games, followed by regional semifinals on Wednesday/Thursday. Regional championships are set for Saturday, and sectionals begin next Wednesday/Thursday. The Class 3A state semifinals will once again be at Silver Cross Field in Joliet on June 13-14.
Who will be the last team standing in Class 3A? Good question. When it comes to playoff baseball, few things are for certain. One item that I am certain about, however, is that the Joliet Catholic Regional is the most absurd attempt at seeding a tournament in the 10 years I’ve been doing this. This regional is everything that is wrong with the IHSA regionalized seeding system. In this regional, No. 3 Joliet Catholic, the defending 3A champ, and No. 17 Lincoln-Way West will square off on Thursday. On Wednesday, No. 6 Lemont plays the winner of No. 25 Oak Forest and Tinley Park. To put it in perspective, Oak Forest would be a favorite to advance deep into many sectionals, but instead has to compete in a play-in game. Whoever advances out of this regional will be the heavy favorite to win the 3A state championship, along with top-ranked Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin.
While the Joliet Catholic Regional should be a packed house, and have ridiculous talent level all over the field, the cramming of all these powerhouse teams into one regional ruins the integrity of the state tournament, and lessens the impact of a true state Final Four. What is even more confounding is the three other regionals that feed into the Lincoln-Way West Sectional are weak.
OK, I will disembark my soapbox now …
The Sacred Heart-Griffin Sectional is no cakewalk either. First SHG has to play perennial power and rival Glenwood in the regional final, and Glenwood has had SHG’s number in the playoffs. The Mahomet-Seymour Regional also features two Top 25 teams: No. 13 Champaign Central and No. 21 Mahomet-Seymour should face each other in next Saturday’s regional final. The winner of the Mahomet-Seymour regional will play the winner of SHG-Glenwood in the sectional semifinals, while the other sectional semifinal isn’t very strong.
Peoria Notre Dame should be the team to beat in the LaSalle-Peru Sectional. Benet and Nazareth, two East Suburban Catholic mainstays, should run into each other in the Glenbard South Sectional semifinals.
The Guru Drake Skleba and I dusted off the Ouija Board to make our Class 3A playoff predictions. We separately channeled different spirits in the room, yet we came out with eerily similar picks. Here’s a look at our sectional by sectional predictions, in bracket order.
Drake "The Guru" Skleba |
Sean Duncan |
|
ROCK ISLAND SUPER-SECTIONAL | ROCK ISLAND SUPER-SECTIONAL | |
LaSalle-Peru Sectional |
LaSalle-Peru Sectional |
|
Geneseo d. Metamora | Galesburg d. Washington | |
Peoria Notre Dame d. Morris | Peoria Notre Dame d. Morris | |
Peoria Notre Dame d. Geneseo | Peoria Notre Dame d. Galesburg | |
Rochelle Sectional |
Rochelle Sectional |
|
St. Francis d. Burlington Central | St. Francis d. Sycamore | |
Rockford Boylan d. Rock Falls | Rockford Boylan d. Rock Falls | |
Rockford Boylan d. St. Francis | St. Francis d. Rockford Boylan | |
Augustana Super |
Augustana Super |
|
Peoria Notre Dame d. Rockford Boylan | Peoria Notre Dame d. St. Francis | |
Peoria Notre Dame advances to Joliet | Peoria Notre Dame advances to Joliet | |
CRESTWOOD SUPER-SECTIONAL | CRESTWOOD SUPER-SECTIONAL | |
Brooks Sectional |
Brooks Sectional |
|
De La Salle d. Latin | De La Salle d. Jones | |
Harlan d. Brooks | Harlan d. Brooks | |
De La Salle d. Harlan | De La Salle d. Harlan | |
Lincoln-Way West Sectional |
Lincoln-Way West Sectional |
|
Joliet Catholic d. Bremen | Joliet Catholic d. Bremen | |
Manteno d. Morgan Park | Morgan Park d. Manteno | |
Joliet Catholic d. Manteno | Joliet Catholic d. Morgan Park | |
Crestwood Super |
Crestwood Super |
|
Joliet Catholic d. De La Salle | Joliet Catholic d. De La Salle | |
Joliet Catholic advances to Joliet | Joliet Catholic advances to Joliet | |
NAPERVILLE SUPER-SECTIONAL | NAPERVILLE SUPER-SECTIONAL | |
Glenbard South Sectional |
Glenbard South Sectional |
|
Benet d. Nazareth | Benet d. Nazareth | |
Montini d. Riverside-Brookfield | Montini d. Clemente | |
Benet d. Montini | Benet d. Montini | |
Woodstock Marian Sectional |
Woodstock Marian Sectional |
|
Grayslake Central d. Richmond-Burton | Grayslake Central d. Marian C. Catholic | |
Vernon Hills d. Gordon Tech | Vernon Hills d. Gordon Tech | |
Grayslake Central d. Vernon Hills | Grayslake Central d. Vernon Hills | |
Naperville Super |
Naperville Super |
|
Benet d. Grayslake Central | Benet d. Grayslake Central | |
Benet advances to Joliet | Benet advances to Joliet | |
SAUGET SUPER-SECTIONAL | SAUGET SUPER-SECTIONAL | |
Sacred Heart-Griffin Sectional |
Sacred Heart-Griffin Sectional |
|
Sacred Heart-Griffin d. Mahomet-Seymour | Sacred Heart-Griffin d. Champaign Central | |
Mount Zion d. Bloomington | Bloomington d. Rochester | |
Sacred Heart-Griffin d. Mount Zion | Sacred Heart-Griffin d. Bloomington | |
Triad Sectional |
Triad Sectional |
|
Mount Vernon d. Mattoon | Mattoon d. Mount Vernon | |
Highland d. Mascoutah | Mascoutah d. Highland | |
Highland d. Mount Vernon | Mascoutah d. Mattoon | |
Sauget Super |
Sauget Super |
|
Sacred Heart-Griffin d. Highland | Sacred Heart-Griffin d. Mascoutah | |
Sacred Heart-Griffin advances to Joliet | Sacred Heart-Griffin advances to Joliet | |
STATE SEMIFINALS |
STATE SEMIFINALS |
|
Joliet Catholic d. Peoria Notre Dame | Joliet Catholic d. Peoria Notre Dame | |
Sacred Heart-Griffin d. Benet | Sacred Heart-Griffin d. Benet | |
THIRD PLACE |
THIRD PLACE |
|
Benet d. Peoria Notre Dame | Benet d. Peoria Notre Dame | |
CHAMPIONSHIP |
CHAMPIONSHIP |
|
Joliet Catholic d. Sacred Heart-Griffin | Joliet Catholic d. Sacred Heart-Griffin |
CLICK HERE to view IHSA playoff brackets and schedules