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Some Concerns With Realignment

The realignment involving 25 schools in two Division I baseball districts has brought about discontent in some circles.

The change was brought upon when The Pipe Yard ballpark in Lorain was made unavailable for use during the Ohio High School Athletic Association 2019 tournament.

“The Pipe Yard is a city facility and the OHSAA now requires that I sign off that the facility meets certain standards,” explained Bryan Koury, athletic director of Lorain High School and the past tournament manager of the D-I tourney at the park. “I’m fine with hosting but I don’t feel comfortable signing without having control of the facility.

“As time goes by, things are more structured with what is required. It’s definitely involved with expectation levels with the degree of liability. That field could be in immaculate shape at the time of the tournament but there is no way of me knowing. I wouldn’t host any tourney anywhere in this day and age outside of Lorain City Schools.”

With no Pipe Yard, the Northeast Board of Directors were forced to find a new location for the 12-team field that had been previously playing sectionals and districts in Lorain.

“We had to try and find a turf field to get all these games in during a certain time frame,” explained Brian Banfield, the Northeast District Board of Directors baseball representative. “We had to look at the location in an effort to accomplish the needs of teams in the bracket.”

It is a district that is arguably the strongest in northeast Ohio, and on par with the rest of the state's districts. A year ago, one-third of the teams in the district were in the Prep Baseball Report state ratings including two in the year-end top 10, Amherst Steele at number four and Lakewood St. Edward number 10. Elyria and Olmsted Falls are others that were mentioned in the final 2018 rankings.

Avon, Avon Lake, Lakewood, Lorain, Midview, North Olmsted, North Ridgeville  and Westlake complete the list of teams in the district and all have had strong seasons over the past decade.

“We looked at who hosted last year in looking for a site,” explained Banfield. “In our area there are not a lot of places to host.”

In attempting to find a “comparable site” to the Pipe Yard, Baldwin-Wallace became the obvious choice of the board.

“Baldwin-Wallace was the best option,” Banfield said in reference to the all-turf Fisher Field which opened in 2016.

However, due to location and the need to have a “host” team willing to be in charge, the board opted to move the Pipe Yard District to Strongsville with the Strongsville District in turn moving to Baldwin-Wallace.

“Rory Fitzpatrick said he would take over as tournament director (at B-W),” Banfield said in reference to the St. Ignatius athletic director.

“All schools were notified in September and asked if they were willing to be a host tournament site if we lose a site or if a site becomes available. Is an AD willing to take an 11-or-12-team bracket on?”

Hence, St. Ignatius - which finished last season rated 16th in the state in D-I - would now play at B-W instead of Strongsville along with Berea Midpark, Brecksville, Garfield Heights, John Adams, John Marshall, Max Hayes, Normandy, North Royalton, Parma, Rhodes and Valley Forge. Only Brecksville and North Royalton were mentioned in the final PBR rankings a year ago.

“Baseball is unique in trying to find a location with a field turf ready and the ability to charge admission,” explained Banfield.

The issue at hand resulted from Strongsville, a traditionally strong baseball program that has won the Strongsville District each of the past two years, not moving to B-W like the rest of the teams from the district a year ago. Instead, Strongsville - which was rated 38th in the final PBR state ratings a year ago - would stay at home to host the district field that had previously been playing at the Pipe Yard.

“In the sports of softball and baseball there are more hosts than any two sports,” Banfield said. “We try not to have home teams like other sports, but due to the sites we have to choose from in the spring, we tried to put the facility first.”

It is done elsewhere, according to Banfield, with Barberton and Hudson examples of Division I schools that play on their home field in the districts.

“Sure there’s an advantage, I understand that as a former coach,” Banfield said. “But you have to look at the facility and some of the larger parks that have lights (though Strongsville and B-W do not have lights) and a turf field and can charge admission.”

But not everyone is happy with the new alignment. After all, it now puts two 2018 district champions in the same district as well as three of the four district teams. A year ago, Strongsville topped St. Ignatius 3-1 to capture the Strongsville District while Amherst Steele defeated St. Ed’s 4-0 to win the Lorain District played at The Pipe Yard. Strongsville went on to beat Amherst Steele 2-1 in the regional semifinals only to fall short against eventual state runner-up Anthony Wayne in the regional finals.

“The issues are home teams hosting and geography,” said one coach. “Basketball and football are not allowed to play on their home field at this stage of the playoffs, so why baseball? You take the whole Strongsville District to B-W except Strongsville stays. Why allow them to play on their home field?

“From a geography standpoint, the Baldwin-Wallace District is only five minutes from Strongsville. We have Lorain District teams traveling 30 miles to the new Strongsville District and that’s fine. But why keep a school as a home team when two sites that are being used are so close? The B-W District is only five minutes from Strongsville. Why didn’t the teams in each district stay the same, and just adjust the location when you have two sites so close?”

Back in 2016, Lakewood and St. Edward’s were part of the Strongsville District with each reaching the district semifinals along with St. Ignatius and Strongsville. Realignment followed in 2017 “weakening” the field at Strongsville in the eyes of many with the departure of Lakewood and St. Ed’s to Lorain.

Now Strongsville, which won the 2017 state championship and reached the 2018 regional finals, will stay on as host but with a new field of teams in the district rather than heading to B-W.

Another coach feels the new setup is unfair to those in the Strongsville District, which now consists of eight teams that had winning records a year ago, double the number of those in the B-W District.

“There is one team playing on their home field and two defending champs being in the same district,” this coach pointed out. “Competitive imbalance shows up in the former Lorain District becoming 13 teams instead of 12. With a 12-team district, four get byes. With 13 teams, only three get byes.

“So you look at the SWC being a really competitive league and then add in St. Ed’s and Strongsville. There will be teams under pressure all year to get a bye so they don’t have to play a really competitive sectional semifinal.”

Banfield admits, the setup could be better.

“In the perfect world you would not have a school hosting the sectional and district,” Banfield said. “But who’s getting the field ready when nobody is hosting? You need somebody to take care of the seating, the turf, the sound. With the amount of good fields available, that makes it tough.”