Format For State Baseball Tournament Has Been Determined
April 7, 2025
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Format For State Baseball Tournament Has Been Determined
Note: This story will be updated with more specifics including comments and game times.
COLUMBUS - The new format for the Ohio State Baseball Tournament is now in place after the change to seven divisions was established beginning with the 2024-25 school year.
The year’s event will be played over four days using two venues - Canal Park and Thurman Munson Stadium.
The tournament will kick off on Thursday, June 12 with two Division VII semifinal games played in the afternoon at Canal Park. Division III and V semifinal contests will be held on Friday at Canal Park, with Division II and IV also holding two semifinal games each at Thurman Munson.
Divisions VII, III, V and II will hold the finals on Saturday at Canal Park, with Division VI and I semifinals the same day at Thurman Munson.
The finals for Divisions IV, VI and I will take place on Sunday at Canal Park to wrap up the state tournament.
“There were some main factors that went into this,” explained Tim Stried, Director of Media Relations with the Ohio High School Athletic Association. “In talking to the Baseball Coaches Association, they felt strongly they wanted to have all games in the Akron area so everyone could come to the main site.
“Another factor was, can we play all the state games in one venue (and complete the tournament in four days)? In softball the answer is yes and we’re doing that at Firestone, but in baseball the answer is no. You can’t play all the games at Canal Park.”
Thus the decision to use both Canal Park and Thurman Munson.
Stried also related that lessons were learned at tournaments in volleyball and basketball earlier this school year, with those sports, like baseball, expanding from four to seven divisions.
“Girls volleyball had three other sites and we learned the more sites used, the more challenges you have,” Stried said. “With baseball not able to hold all the games at Canal Park, we had to determine how many additional sites we needed to be able to hold the state in four days and we settled on needing just one other site.”
The OHSAA found both pros and cons on ways to make it all work.
“Some folks and coaches want that Final 4 trip where everyone can come to the same area,” Stried pointed out. “There’s a lot of excitement with that. That’s the tradition. But you have to do it in more days. That’s more expensive for the OHSAA and for the fans.”
That was not how sports did it in the winter.
“In basketball the semifinals were played around the state the week before, like with football,” Stried explained. “We found at the basketball tournaments, where we played the semifinals on the weekend before, we were able to do that closer to participating schools. What that meant is attendance was up.
“We also found with just the finals at Dayton, fans were more willing to make a one-day trip, unlike in the past with multiple days where they weren’t as willing to come from far away. As it turned out, attendance this year was up 2,000 fans per game for boys and girls.”
Stried is pleased that baseball has expanded to seven divisions and that the sport has the opportunity to use a pair of stadiums that have been renovated in recent years.
“Personally, I think the quality of baseball in Ohio is such that having seven state championships is a great thing,” Stried said. “We have three more champions and three more runners-up. That is valid and needed. We felt the need to expand, it was just when to do it and how many. Our board really studied it and feel it’s good for the sport, especially for the small Division I schools that really didn’t have much of a chance to move on. Now they have a lot better shot. An example was in basketball where Louisville was D-I and this year won state in D-III.
“I think seven divisions is good for Ohio baseball,” Stried reiterated. “It’s a lot more work for us, we just have to spend more time preparing for more games and for more needed sites.”
There is a sense of relief that the schedule has been determined.
“Bringing all of the state tournament to the Akron/Canton area is exciting,” Stried concluded. “Our challenge now is coordinating the logistics for all 28 teams. In my case, it’s figuring out the dates for programs, broadcasts and media.”
2025 State Tournament Schedule
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