*Disclaimer: Some of these conference races are going to make your head hurt*
Conference Championship Races Up For Grabs As of May 2
Massillon Jackson (18-1, 8-0) vs. Green (14-1, 6-1)
The two best teams in the Federal League have yet to play this season. Starting Tuesday, they play the first of two games in back-to-back days.
If Green defends home field to hand Jackson its first conference loss, Wednesday night at Jackson will be for all the marbles.
If Jackson wins Tuesday night’s matchup on the road, the Polar Bears clinch the Federal League.
Great Lakes Conference
**UPDATE: Elyria Catholic (15-3, 10-0) defeated Bay (9-8, 6-2) by a score of 3-2 to clinch at least a share of the GLC Title.**
*Elyria Catholic (14-3, 9-0) vs. Bay (9-7, 6-1)*
The Panthers have a chance to clinch the conference with a win on Tuesday night at Oberlin College.
After starting the season with three straight losses, Bay has put together an impressive 2017, winning nine of its last 14 games and is currently on a four-game win-streak against conference opponents.
The two teams have not met yet this season, but if Bay pulls off a victory Tuesday, the Rockets are still alive in the conference championship picture.
Elyria Catholic and Bay are scheduled to play again Friday, May 5.
If Bay is able to win Tuesday, Wednesday at Valley Forge, and Thursday at Normandy, Friday would determine the conference championship.
Elyria Catholic’s only two remaining conference games are both against Bay.
Lake Erie League
Cleveland Heights (7-3, 5-0) controls its own destiny in the conference.
Bedford (10-4, 4-2) and Lorain (6-12, 4-2) are both alive in the race.
Lorain and Cleveland Heights were scheduled to play May 1, but the game was rained out.
When that make-up game is played (TBA), Cleveland Heights can clinch the LEL Title.
Bedford still has four conference games left against Maple Heights, Shaw, Warrensville Heights and a possible conference championship game on May 16 at Cleveland Heights.
When Cleveland Heights and Bedford played earlier in the season, the Tigers defeated the Bearcats, 10-7.
If Lorain and Bedford both beat Cleveland Heights, it could result in a three-way tie.
North Coast League Blue Division
The Blue Division is a two-team race between Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin (7-4, 4-1) and Padua (12-8, 4-2).
Both originally scheduled games between the two teams were rained out, but their two head-to-head makeup games will determine the Blue Division champ.
Padua still plays Lake Catholic (May 2).
NDCL plays Walsh Jesuit (May 3).
If both teams hold serve, NDCL can possibly clinch on May 11 at Padua.
If Padua defends home field in that game, the May 18 showdown at NDCL would determine the title.
The bottom line with the NCL Blue Division is that any one of the six teams is capable of making a deep run in the OHSAA Playoffs. The six teams beat up on each other all season and are battle tested for the Playoffs.
Of course NDCL or Padua would be proud to win the Blue Division Title, but the other four teams in the conference actually have just as good a chance to contend for district titles. It’ll be fun to see how that plays out, along with some potential rematches in the postseason.
North Coast League White Division
Trinity (17-4, 4-1) controls its own destiny in the conference.
Rainouts have gotten in the way of two huge games this week against Villa Angela-St. Joseph (7-6, 3-2) and Warren JFK (8-3, 3-1).
St. Thomas Aquinas (11-7, 3-2) split its two matches with Trinity and lost to JFK.
STA can still possibly own a share of the conference title, but needs quite a bit of help and has to beat VASJ twice.
VASJ has four tough conference games ahead, as the Vikings still have to play STA twice, JFK once and Trinity once.
If VASJ wins all four games, they’re alive in the conference race.
JFK is still alive, but needs to defeat VASJ, STA, and Trinity.
As it stands, the conference championship will most likely come down to the makeup game between Trinity and JFK (TBA).
If that’s not confusing enough for you, just be sure to check out the Trinity vs. JFK game, whenever it’s re-scheduled.
Northeastern Buckeye Conference
Our friends in Stark County have an interesting race going on.
TOP 5 TEAMS IN NBC
Minerva Lions (14 5, 8-2)
Louisville Leopards (14-6, 6-3)
West Branch Warriors (14 6, 6-3)
Marlington Dukes (8-7, 6-3)
Alliance Aviators (11-8, 5-3)
Minerva controls its own destiny, but still has to face Marlington and Louisville two times each.
Marlington still has to finish a suspended 3-3 game in the bottom of the 11th against West Branch, plus play Alliance twice, plus those two games with Minerva.
There is a lot of baseball to be played in this conference and we’re not even going to go into the full breakdown of scenarios for each team, but if any of the five teams wins out the rest of their conference schedule, they can take the NBC Title home.
It’s Minerva’s race to lose, but they still have some very tough games left on the schedule.
This one is a bit easier to follow.
Amherst (19-4, 14-1) vs. Avon (16-3, 12-2)
May 3. Sprenger Stadium. Be There.
If Avon defends home field, the Eagles still need to beat Berea-Midpark and Olmsted Falls both on the road to clinch a share of the title.
If Avon wins all three games (including the Amherst game), the Eagles would need some help from either Westlake or Lakewood (Amherst’s other two remaining conference games) to win the conference outright.
Based on how the conference has gone this season, it wouldn’t be a shock if BMHS, Olmsted Falls, Westlake or Lakewood threw a wrench into the standings.
It’s a deep league and any team can beat anybody on a particular day, as has been on display all season long.
Suburban League American Division
The American Division may have saved some of the best for last (intentionally or unintentionally), but there’s a huge week ahead.
Aurora (13-2, 9-1) plays Tallmadge (15-4, 5-3) twice. May 2 and May 3.
If Tallmadge wins both games, the Blue Devils win the division.
If Aurora splits, they win the division.
Suburban League National Division
Hudson (14-4, 9-3) and Nordonia (12-6, 8-3) could be headed for a split for the National Division Championship.
The two teams split their head-to-head meetings.
Hudson plays Brecksville-Broadview Heights twice this week.
Nordonia plays Wadsworth twice and has to make a game up against Stow.
Consider all of those games “Must-Win” for Nordonia and/or Hudson to win the conference.
Much like the North Coast League Blue Division, the Suburban League (as a whole), especially the National Division is stacked with contenders for the OHSAA Playoffs.
Twinsburg is the fifth-seed in its district and nobody would be shocked if they made it through.
Stow is seventh place in the National Division and still has a good shot for a deep run in the Struthers District.
There are some great conferences/divisions in Northeast Ohio, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more balanced conference from top to bottom anywhere in the state.
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— NEO Sports Insiders (@NEOSportsInside) April 30, 2017
**This is a big week in Northeast Ohio Baseball and hopefully the weather cooperates from now on and throughout the Playoffs.**
**Coaches, let us know if there are any make-up games not addressed in this article that could have an impact on the conference races.**
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