LSE coach pleased by district seeding
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By RYLY JANE HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star
Lincoln Southeast is one of the six top seeds in district baseball play that begins today, and Randy Brolhorst couldn’t be happier about the timing.
“It’s a good system that they switched to this year,” he said. “It rewards the good things that this team did. Getting a top-six seed was something we wanted, and now we have our chance.
“But the teams in our district are quality teams, so we have to be on top of our game.“
CLASS A Pvs
1. Creighton Prep (24-2) 1
2. Millard North (21-4) 3
3. Omaha Westside (22-5) 5
4. Millard West (24-6) 2
5. Papillion-La Vista South (23-5) 4
6. Lincoln Southeast (16-7) 8
7. Millard South (16-10) 6
8. Lincoln North Star (17-7) 7
9. Bellevue East (17-13) 10
10. Omaha Bryan (17-13) 9
Contenders: Grand Island, Lincoln Southwest, Omaha Burke.
Comments: Creighton Prep lost again, but the Junior Jays still have the best body of work this season. Millard North has won seven straight and was 15-1 in the month of April. Omaha Westside has won 14 straight to vault to third after an 8-5 start, including a pair of wins over Millard West since the last ratings. Southeast has six straight wins. Bellevue East slips past Bryan, which fell to unranked Central.
CLASS B Pvs
1. Omaha Roncalli (15-2) 1
2. Elkhorn (15-9) 3
3. Ralston (9-5) 4
4. Lincoln Pius X (12-10) 5
5. Omaha Skutt (11-14) -
Contenders: Blair, Gretna, Omaha Gross.
Comments: Roncalli had a big week, beating Pius X, Gross and Beatrice to hold the top spot. Gross fell to Elkhorn, Pius and Roncalli, as well as Class A Bryan and drops out, making way for Omaha Skutt, which beat Pius X while losing to Ralston, and Class A Southeast and Papillion South. Pius X moved up on the strength of wins over Lincoln North Star, Gross and Papio South.
For the first time, districts were determined late in the regular season based on wild-card points. Previously, teams were assigned to districts before the season. Going into districts, top-ranked Creighton Prep has the best wild-card average. Other top-seeded teams in their districts are Millard North, Millard West, Papillion-La Vista South and Omaha Westside.
There are six single-elimination districts in Class A. The eight-team state tournament field will be completed with the two teams with the highest wild-card averages. In the first year for Class B since 1981, there are four districts, and the field will include four wild-card berths. All district tournament finals are scheduled for Monday. The state tournaments begin in Lincoln on May 10.
Southeast will take on city rival Lincoln Northeast at 1 p.m. at Sherman Field. In the second game, Lincoln North Star will face Omaha Northwest at 3:30 p.m.
“Any time you play a Lincoln school, you want to do your best. There are bragging rights,” said Brolhorst. “We have tremendous respect for Northeast and I know Jerome (Ehrlich, LNE coach) will have his kids ready. I hope mine are ready, as well.”
Lincoln Southwest will take on Omaha Burke on its home field at 2 p.m. The winner could face Creighton Prep.
“We scouted Burke and we played Creighton Prep. I don’t mean any disrespect to the other teams,” said Southwest coach Doug Kaltenberger. “If one of the lower-seeded teams beats Prep and we beat Burke, I can get reports.”
Kaltenberger said he also likes the new system for determining districts.
“It reminds me of the NCAA tournament where you have No. 1 playing No. 16 at the start. The top seeds should be spread out,” he said. “That’s the way it should be. And if we draw a district with Prep or Millard North, or someone like that, so be it.
“We have a really good matchup with Burke. They are a well-coached team, they have good pitching and they have scored some runs.“
Ryly Jane Hambleton at 473-7314 or rhambleton@journalstar.com.
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