Northville will play in its eighth consecutive pre-district on Tuesday when it faces Plymouth at Salem at 4 p.m.
Northville is one of the top teams in Division 1 at 29-4 but it will be difficult to advance past the district because of its unlucky draw.
That’s what it takes sometimes. A team needs a little bit of luck to go with some consistent pitching and timely hitting and a state championship is possible.
The winner of the Northville-Plymouth game will play Friday in a district semifinal against Salem at 10 a.m. The district semifinals and final were moved from Saturday to Friday to accommodate one of the participating school’s graduation ceremonies.
It’s likely the winning pitcher in Tuesday’s game will not be available for Friday. So the winning team will be forced to pitch its No. 2 and No. 3 pitchers while the team (Salem) that received a bye will have its top two pitchers available.
There’s no way around having a draw when there’s more than four teams in a district but the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association should propose a change. If a team plays in three consecutive pre-district games because of losing the draw then the next season it should receive an automatic bye into the district semifinals.
It’s ridiculous that Northville, or any other team, should play in eight consecutive pre-district games.
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