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2023 Playoff predictions

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sporthog9er

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Jun 9, 2001
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Ok who ya got coming out of the sectionals? Not familiar with alot under 4a so here is mine:

Bloomington Sectional: Edwardsville over Minooka
Romeoville Sectional: Oswego over Oswego East
Carpentersville Sectional: Huntley over Streamwood
South Elgin Sectional: SCE over SCN
Mt. Carmel Sectional: Rita over Lyons
Lockport Sectional: LWE over Providence
Evanston Sectional: New Trier over Evanston
Mundelein Sectional: Stevenson over Mundy

Champion 4A: SCE over LWE

Let's see what everyone else thinks...feel free to inform on 1a-3a (Father McGivney...JCA...Laurence....)
@USD24 @SiuCubFan8 @rocketnation @crusader_of_90 @pjjp @Wittymoniker1 @MWittman @Kevin JCHS 81 @missingwalter
 
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I'll take a shot at 3A, although I don't know the upstate teams as well as the downstate.

Grayslake Sectional: Grayslake Central over Cary Grove
Fenwick Sectional: Notre Dame over Fenwick.
Centralia Sectional: Mascoutah over Troy
Lincoln Sectional: Mahomet over Springfield
Brooks Sectional: St Ignatius over DeLaSalle
Marist Sectional: Nazareth over St Laurence
Kaneland Sectional: Sycamore over Lemont
Metamora Sectional: Morris over Washington

Upon further review, realized I had two teams from the same sub sectional facing each other in the Centralia sectional final. I am switching to a Mascoutah/Troy Sectional final with Mascoutah winning.
 
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Father McGivney is legit and has at least two DI commits in their pitching arsenal. Their schedule wasn’t super deep, but they still picked up multiple wins against larger contenders(Edwardsville, Mt. Vernon and Christian Brothers).

For the southern teams in 4A’s Bloomington Sectional, Edwardsville enters as a favorite as the Soutwestern Conference champions and as reigning state champions. That said, #2 O’Fallon and #3 Belleville East both split their regular season games with the Tigers.
Edwardsville has the best offense, but the other two seem to have a defensive edge.

In 3A’s Centralia Sectional, I could see several teams getting out. Mascoutah/Mt. Vernon seem like the safe bets on the upper half, but I think the lower half is deeper.
Troy Triad enters as the one seed, but will probably see their rivals #4 Highland in round two. Those teams split their regular season meetings and both were decided by 1 run.
#2 Marion seems to be a true contender as well and #3 Effingham has a Mizzou arm that has thrown high 90’s. Those teams haven’t met each other in years, so that would make for an intriguing Regional final.
My best guess would be Mascoutah vs Troy for the sectional, but keep an eye on this bracket.
 
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Bit of an upset in the Rochester regional finals. Rochester (20-15-1) beat 2021 3A champion Springfield (25-10) 4-0 with Sophomore Eli Carlson throwing a 3-hitter and going the distance. Rochester plays Mahomet (30-5) in the Sectionals at Lincoln on Wednesday.

On the other side of the Lincoln bracket, Chatham edged SHG 2-1 at SHG behind Louisville commit Parker Detmers. The Titans will play Champaign Central Thursday at Lincoln.
 
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rocketnation said:
Bit of an upset in the Rochester regional finals. Rochester (20-15-1) beat 2021 3A champion Springfield (25-10) 4-0 with Sophomore Eli Carlson throwing a 3-hitter and going the distance. Rochester plays the winner of Mahomet and Lincoln in the Sectionals at Lincoln next Wednesday.

On the other side of the Lincoln bracket, Chatham edged SHG 2-1 at SHG behind Louisville commit Parker Detmers. The Titans will play Champaign Central next Thursday at Lincoln.
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I don’t see Laurence losing 3A...I’ve said that before in 3A with them but they got a great 1-2 punch at starting pitcher that should take them far in the playoffs but you never know
 
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McCaravan said:
I don’t see Laurence losing 3A...I’ve said that before in 3A with them but they got a great 1-2 punch at starting pitcher that should take them far in the playoffs but you never know
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Nazareth beat Chatham last year in the 3A championship and had a lot coming back if I remember correctly. How has their season gone?

The difference for Chatham this year has been they've struggled to score against good pitching. Detmers gives them a puncher's chance each time out, but he can't pitch every game. He no-hit Rochester earlier this year but lost 4-3 because of some control issues and two runs scoring on a dropped 3rd strike/throwing error.

Rochester is probably a year away from making a deep run. They did not start any Seniors today.
 
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rocketnation said:
Nazareth beat Chatham last year in the 3A championship and had a lot coming back if I remember correctly. How has their season gone?
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PBR's last state rankings were this past Monday, and Naz was ranked 10th with a 25-6 record. I saw them play against JCA. They are good. They are definite contenders for the 3A title. I think they are still a young team too.
 
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Rochester upset #1 seed Mahomet 6-2. Junior Jack Swaney pitched into the 7th inning to get the win. Mahomet's ace, Blake Wolters, pitched a complete game on Saturday against Lincoln and was not available. The Rockets will play the winner of Chatham and Champaign Central this Saturday for the sectional championship. If Chatham wins today, they will likely face Parker Detmers again. He no-hit Rochester earlier in the season but lost the game 4-3.
 
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Champaign Central edged Chatham 1-0. Both number 1 seeds in the Lincoln sectional lost after having their aces throw complete games in the regional finals. Champaign (25-10) and Rochester (21-15-1) play Saturday at 10 am.
 
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Oswego is set up pretty well with their Ace Scaccia on the mound tomorrow against crosstown rival OE. OHS has yet to give up a run this post season, which scares me because things usually even out. Either way, I know most these kids on both sides and their families, it’s going to be a crazy one. Not sure the Romeoville facility will be big enough for the crowd.
 
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Champaign Central ended Rochester's Cinderella run with two runs in the top of the 7th inning, winning 4-2. The Rockets had a chance for a big 3rd inning after getting three straight hits to start it off. However, an untimely pick off at 1st base and two excellent defensive plays by Champaign infielders on line drives that could have been hits limited Rochester to only one run and a 2-1 lead.

Rochester returns 8 of the 9 players who started today and all of their best pitchers, so they should be in the top tier of the CS8 next season.
 
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I follow the softball side more with my daughter, and would be lying to say I know much about IHSA baseball, but shoutout to York for making it to state. (Threw a no-hitter in the super sectional). York isn't even listed on "teams to watch" in the 5/22 rankings.
 
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lurker74 said:
I follow the softball side more with my daughter, and would be lying to say I know much about IHSA baseball, but shoutout to York for making it to state. (Threw a no-hitter in the super sectional). York isn't even listed on "teams to watch" in the 5/22 rankings.
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On the softball side in 3A, Lemont enters the semi-finals with a 33-1 record and has outscored their opponents in the playoffs 43-0. Their top pitcher is 21-0 with 303 k's in 125 innings and has not given up a run all season. That's pretty impressive.
 
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USD24 said:
There could be three repeats this year. JC,Naz and Eville. ESCC could end up with 2 champs for second year in a row.
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That's amazing. I believe it's only happened three times prior to this year. Provi actually won three years in a row during one stretch.
 
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So far pm Saturday, Catholic schools have won Class 1A, 2A and 3A state baseball titles, and Brother Rice is playing for the 4A state title.
In softball, Peru-St. Bede won the Class 1A state title, and mighty Marist is playing for the 4A title. I call them "mighty" because in their six tourney games so far, they've outscored opponents 62-3.
 
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olderbytheminute said:
So far pm Saturday, Catholic schools have won Class 1A, 2A and 3A state baseball titles, and Brother Rice is playing for the 4A state title.
In softball, Peru-St. Bede won the Class 1A state title, and mighty Marist is playing for the 4A title. I call them "mighty" because in their six tourney games so far, they've outscored opponents 62-3.
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Marist May be “mighty,” but Lemont is the best softball team in the state hands down
 
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Now that season is done, it's time again for me to dream of IHSA changing to college world series format for state. Single elim regionals, best 2 of 3 for sectional 4 opponents, eliminate super sectional, 8 teams to state, double elim. A man can dream. Still can get it done in 3 weeks, more turf fields will ensure games get in.

As far as I know, baseball and softball are the only 2 IHSA sports where the postseason does not mimic what athletes see in college. Other states are able to do series for postseason...can be done.
 
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sporthog9er said:
Now that season is done, it's time again for me to dream of IHSA changing to college world series format for state. Single elim regionals, best 2 of 3 for sectional 4 opponents, eliminate super sectional, 8 teams to state, double elim. A man can dream. Still can get it done in 3 weeks, more turf fields will ensure games get in.

As far as I know, baseball and softball are the only 2 IHSA sports where the postseason does not mimic what athletes see in college. Other states are able to do series for postseason...can be done.
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Here’s some stats to back up the case for series in baseball:
1. Only 12 of the 32 sectional finalist in 3A/4A were seeded to be there this year.
2. Only 4 of the 16 sectional winners were #1 seeds, while 3 sectional winners were #5 seeds for 3A/4A.
 
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PBR's final rankings came out yesterday. Edwardsville deservedly #1 and Naz #2. Interesting that 3 of the top 10 teams are 2A schools. Naz in only 3A school ranked in the top 10.
 
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