'Anything can happen in single-elimination baseball'

There's a feeling unique to high school baseball teams as they shift from the regular season to a first-round playoff matchup.

Kind of like that feeling of bungee jumping without the bungee.

Baseball, perhaps more than any other high school sport, has a wicked element of the unknown in the opening round of the playoffs. Upsets abound and brackets quickly become mangled.

First-round upsets are so common in high school baseball that it's almost difficult to consider them upsets anymore.

"Anything can happen in single-elimination baseball," said Naperville Central coach Bill Seiple, whose Redhawks hold the top seed in the Class 4A Plainfield South sectional. "Everybody's got (an ace pitcher). You can have one bad inning and it could cost you your season.

"I think it is unique to high school sports," he said. "There are no guarantees in baseball."

The unknown is exactly what coaches like Addison Trail's Paul Parpet love.

The Blazers have beaten higher-seeded first-round opponents in six straight years. They had no better than a No. 11 seed in any of the six seasons.

In 2008 the 22nd-seeded Blazers knocked off No. 9 Elk Grove. As a 13th seed in 2005 they beat No. 5 Downers North and as an 11th seed the year before they beat No. 6 Glenbard East. In the 2007 regional semifinals, after winning a play-in game, No. 18 Addison Trail shocked No. 2 Willowbrook.

For Addison Trail, surging toward the postseason proved that timing is everything.

"When you play 35 games you're going to have ups and downs, but no matter what happens you've got to turn the page and move on to the next game," Parpet said. "It's a season-long process and you have to be willing to take your lumps against quality competition to have it pay off in the playoffs."

Unlike any other sport, pitching is the ultimate equalizer in first-round playoff matchups.

A team might get saddled with a low seed because of an overall poor record, but they'll have one ace pitcher accounting for 8 of their 10 wins. It's a nightmare scenario for favorites that work all season to garner a decent seed, only to see things fall apart at the hands of a shut-down guy on the mound.

"It's never easy because it all depends on who's on the mound," said Naperville North coach Carl Hunckler. "You don't take anything for granted no matter what seed you might have. You see some teams trying to save a pitcher against a lower-seeded team, and they end up getting beat. It's real dangerous to take that kind of chance."

Talk to any coach out there, and they're likely to have their own personal first-round upset story.

Since 2001 five DuPage area teams have been No. 1 sectional seeds and lost in the first round. Seiple vividly recalls being a No. 2 seed in 2001 and falling to No. 15 Joliet.

High seeds simply have a history of losing in that first game: Montini (No. 1, 2001), Downers North (No. 1, 2001), Willowbrook (No. 2, 2003), Glenbard West (No. 1, 2004), Benet (No. 1 2005 and 2007), Neuqua Valley (No. 3, 2006), Downers South (No. 2, 2008).

That's just a partial list of DuPage teams. The statewide list is far more scary.

As the Class 3A and 4A regional semifinals get set to begin on Wednesday and Thursday, there will be plenty of favorites nervously awaiting that first-round underdog.

"I never talk to the kids about where we're seeded - ever," Parpet said. "As long as we have confidence going into the playoffs - no matter what our seed is - that's all that really matters."

kschmit@dailyherald.com