Portage County baseball teams learn where their postseason journeys begin
With the release of the Ohio High School Athletic Association baseball brackets Sunday, five Portage County teams earned first-round byes and are headed directly to the sectional finals: Field, Mogadore, Rootstown, Roosevelt and Windham.
The Rovers, the seventh seed in the Division III Cene Park bracket, will face a Portage County foe May 18 with a sectional title on the line. That opponent will be either No. 18 Southeast or No. 10 Garfield, which square off in a May 16 first-round contest. The G-Men and Pirates, former Portage Trail Conference rivals, were originally slated to play a regular-season game last week that was canceled due to rain.
While former PTC rivals are set to square off in the first round, current Northeastern Athletic Conference counterparts are set to clash in the sectional finals when No. 10 Windham travels to No. 7 Bristol May 19. The longtime basketball rivals split their baseball regular-season series with the Panthers winning 7-1 and the Bombers triumphing 12-5.
The announcement that the Falcons and Rough Riders got first-round byes came the same day both picked up impressive victories at the David Starkey Memorial Tournament. In Division I, No. 10 Roosevelt, which topped Ravenna and then Lake (a six seed), will host the winner of No. 35 Kenmore-Garfield and No. 17 Kenston on May 19. In Division II, No. 6 Field, which topped Division I Stow-Munroe Falls in Kent Saturday, will host No. 13 Lakeview or No. 10 Edgewood a day earlier.
In Division IV, No. 4 Mogadore, which has had a resurgent campaign powered by stellar seniors like John Dasco and Garrett Penix along with a number of talented underclassmen, will host No. 10 Lake Ridge Academy or No. 5 Independence.
Also opening up at home, in the first round, are No. 15 Aurora (vs. No. 34 Warren G. Harding) in Division I, No. 12 Streetsboro (vs. No. 18 NDCL) in Division II and No. 15 Waterloo (vs. No. 16 Newton Falls) in Division III.
Here's a full look at where all 12 Portage County baseball teams will begin their postseasons:
May 16
Division II Louisville First Round
No. 22 Ravenna at No. 17 Canton South
No. 18 NDCL at No. 12 Streetsboro
Division III Cene Park First Round
No. 19 Crestwood at No. 12 LaBrae
No. 18 Southeast at No. 10 Garfield
No. 16 Newton Falls at No. 15 Waterloo
May 17
Division I Canton First Round
No. 34 Warren G. Harding at No. 15 Aurora
May 18
Division II Cene Park Sectional Final
No. 13 Lakeview/No. 10 Edgewood at No. 6 Field
Division III Cene Park Sectional Final
No. 18 Southeast/No. 10 Garfield at No. 7 Rootstown
May 19
Division I Euclid Sectional Final
No. 35 Kenmore-Garfield/No. 17 Kenston at No. 10 Roosevelt
Division IV Fairport Harbor Sectional Final
No. 10 Windham at No. 7 Bristol
Division IV Medina Sectional Final
No. 10 Lake Ridge Academy/No. 5 Independence at No. 4 Mogadore
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Portage County baseball teams learn where postseason journeys begin
