The good, the bad and the ugly of a four-class baseball system

There are two sides to every story … even in a four-class playoff system.

In this baseball story Class 3A and Class 4A representatives sit on opposite sides of an issue filled with high heat.

On the one hand you've got 3A teams happy to be freed from a two-class system that forced them to play schools with enrollments sometimes twice their size.

On the other hand you've got 4A teams crammed into bloated postseason sectionals where simply surviving the regional has become a monumental task.

Both camps make legitimate arguments supporting and opposing the four-class system.

"I know there are traditionalists who wanted to stick with two classes," said Glenbard South coach Mike Riley, whose team will play in the Class 3A tournament. "But the four-class system is more fair to us and a lot of other 3A schools."

It's a good point, especially in a sport like baseball that requires strong numbers and depth. And, unlike softball where you can ride one pitcher throughout, success in the baseball playoffs depends upon a few good arms.

While it's a tall task to expect the IHSA to successfully customize a playoff system for each sport, baseball deserves special consideration because of the unique pitching element.

In the final years of the two-class system, thanks to help from the advisory committee and the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association, playoff games were spaced to require teams to advance with two different pitchers. From the quarterfinals on, three pitchers were likely needed.

What the four-class system has done is create a competitive monstrosity in 4A.

The big-school sectionals in DuPage County always have been tough to survive, but now it's gotten ridiculous. This season's Class 4A Neuqua Valley sectional includes the host Wildcats and Naperville Central -- the last two Class AA state champions -- as well as local powers Downers South and Benet.

Because the bulk of 4A schools are in the Chicago area, the IHSA needed to cram 130 teams into six of the sectionals. At Neuqua Valley, top seeds in the 23-team field include Lockport, Lincoln-Way East and Joliet -- teams you rarely see grouped with DuPage schools.

"It was tough before," said Neuqua Valley coach Robin Renner. "Now it's incredible."

The depth is scary. Eleventh-seeded Hinsdale South advanced to the Elite Eight of last summer's state tournament. Not only are the Hornets underrated in the field, they face the disadvantage of having to play a feed-in regional quarterfinal game.

Only the top 10 teams at Neuqua Valley received a bye into the regional semifinal, meaning the remaining 13 teams will be forced to play an extra game. If they choose not to throw a pitcher on three days rest, they'll also have to come up with a third arm should they advance to the Saturday regional final.

And reaching the final is a definite possibility for some of the lower-seeded teams. In addition to Hinsdale South, 15th-seeded Wheaton Warrenville South and its deep pitching staff is one of many programs to watch.

The top seeds get no easy ride to a regional title, and the lower seeds have to play an extra game to win it.

As the Class 3A field breathes a sigh of relief, the 4A teams hold their breath.

Welcome to four-class baseball.