As expected, the Badin High School baseball team earned the No. 1 seed for the Division III sectional tournament.
Somewhat unexpected, however, was the fact that the Rams weren’t a unanimous pick.
Despite a state runner-up finish last year and a No. 1 state ranking this year, not to mention a record of 39-2 in the last 41 games, Badin was seeded No. 2 on one ballot at the draw meeting Sunday, May 3, at Franklin.
That ballot belonged to Dayton Christian, the No. 4 seed, which voted itself No. 1.
“I don’t care. That’s their opinion,” Rams coach Rick Kunkel said.
Should both teams win their opening games — Badin’s will be May 13 against the Preble Shawnee-East Clinton winner; Dayton Christian’s will be May 13, against the Waynesville-Clinton Massie victor — they’ll get to settle things on the field in a sectional final May 15 at Franklin.
“If we get to them, we’ll definitely mention (the seed vote) to our guys,” Kunkel said.
Carlisle (15-6), Dixie (14-6) and Dayton Christian (11-2) rounded out the top four seeds in Division III.
In Division I, the emotions will be high right off the bat when Fairfield and Hamilton square off in a first-round game at 5 p.m. at FHS on May 11. Fairfield (12-10) is seeded 11th, while Hamilton (9-11) is No. 18.
The two squads have played some memorable tournament games, but the last time they met in the postseason was in 2005, when HHS won 15-0.
All games are at 5 p.m. unless otherwise noted, and the higher seed is the home team.
