By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

The Class 3A playoffs began Monday with play-in games, followed by regional semifinals on Wednesday/Thursday. Regional championships are set for Saturday, and sectionals begin next Wednesday/Thursday. The Class 3A state semifinals will once again be at Silver Cross Field in Joliet on June 13-14.

Who will be the last team standing in Class 3A? Good question. When it comes to playoff baseball, few things are for certain. One item that I am certain about, however, is that the Joliet Catholic Regional is the most absurd attempt at seeding a tournament in the 10 years I’ve been doing this. This regional is everything that is wrong with the IHSA regionalized seeding system. In this regional, No. 3 Joliet Catholic, the defending 3A champ, and No. 17 Lincoln-Way West will square off on Thursday. On Wednesday, No. 6 Lemont plays the winner of No. 25 Oak Forest and Tinley Park. To put it in perspective, Oak Forest would be a favorite to advance deep into many sectionals, but instead has to compete in a play-in game. Whoever advances out of this regional will be the heavy favorite to win the 3A state championship, along with top-ranked Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin.

While the Joliet Catholic Regional should be a packed house, and have ridiculous talent level all over the field, the cramming of all these powerhouse teams into one regional ruins the integrity of the state tournament, and lessens the impact of a true state Final Four. What is even more confounding is the three other regionals that feed into the Lincoln-Way West Sectional are weak.  

OK, I will disembark my soapbox now …

The Sacred Heart-Griffin Sectional is no cakewalk either. First SHG has to play perennial power and rival Glenwood in the regional final, and Glenwood has had SHG’s number in the playoffs. The Mahomet-Seymour Regional also features two Top 25 teams: No. 13 Champaign Central and No. 21 Mahomet-Seymour should face each other in next Saturday’s regional final. The winner of the Mahomet-Seymour regional will play the winner of SHG-Glenwood in the sectional semifinals, while the other sectional semifinal isn’t very strong.

Peoria Notre Dame should be the team to beat in the LaSalle-Peru Sectional. Benet and Nazareth, two East Suburban Catholic mainstays, should run into each other in the Glenbard South Sectional semifinals.

The Guru Drake Skleba and I dusted off the Ouija Board to make our Class 3A playoff predictions. We separately channeled different spirits in the room, yet we came out with eerily similar picks. Here’s a look at our sectional by sectional predictions, in bracket order. 

Drake "The Guru" Skleba		Sean Duncan
ROCK ISLAND SUPER-SECTIONAL		ROCK ISLAND SUPER-SECTIONAL
LaSalle-Peru Sectional		LaSalle-Peru Sectional
Geneseo d. Metamora		Galesburg d. Washington
Peoria Notre Dame d. Morris		Peoria Notre Dame d. Morris
Peoria Notre Dame d. Geneseo		Peoria Notre Dame d. Galesburg
Rochelle Sectional		Rochelle Sectional
St. Francis d. Burlington Central		St. Francis d. Sycamore
Rockford Boylan d. Rock Falls		Rockford Boylan d. Rock Falls
Rockford Boylan d. St. Francis		St. Francis d. Rockford Boylan
Augustana Super		Augustana Super
Peoria Notre Dame d. Rockford Boylan		Peoria Notre Dame d. St. Francis
Peoria Notre Dame advances to Joliet		Peoria Notre Dame advances to Joliet
CRESTWOOD SUPER-SECTIONAL		CRESTWOOD SUPER-SECTIONAL
Brooks Sectional		Brooks Sectional
De La Salle d. Latin		De La Salle d. Jones
Harlan d. Brooks		Harlan d. Brooks
De La Salle d. Harlan		De La Salle d. Harlan
Lincoln-Way West Sectional		Lincoln-Way West Sectional
Joliet Catholic d. Bremen		Joliet Catholic d. Bremen
Manteno d. Morgan Park		Morgan Park d. Manteno
Joliet Catholic d. Manteno		Joliet Catholic d. Morgan Park
Crestwood Super		Crestwood Super
Joliet Catholic d. De La Salle		Joliet Catholic d. De La Salle
Joliet Catholic advances to Joliet		Joliet Catholic advances to Joliet
NAPERVILLE SUPER-SECTIONAL		NAPERVILLE SUPER-SECTIONAL
Glenbard South Sectional		Glenbard South Sectional
Benet d. Nazareth		Benet d. Nazareth
Montini d. Riverside-Brookfield		Montini d. Clemente
Benet d. Montini		Benet d. Montini
Woodstock Marian Sectional		Woodstock Marian Sectional
Grayslake Central d. Richmond-Burton		Grayslake Central d. Marian C. Catholic
Vernon Hills d. Gordon Tech		Vernon Hills d. Gordon Tech
Grayslake Central d. Vernon Hills		Grayslake Central d. Vernon Hills
Naperville Super		Naperville Super
Benet d. Grayslake Central		Benet d. Grayslake Central
Benet advances to Joliet		Benet advances to Joliet
SAUGET SUPER-SECTIONAL		SAUGET SUPER-SECTIONAL
Sacred Heart-Griffin Sectional		Sacred Heart-Griffin Sectional
Sacred Heart-Griffin d. Mahomet-Seymour		Sacred Heart-Griffin d. Champaign Central
Mount Zion d. Bloomington		Bloomington d. Rochester
Sacred Heart-Griffin d. Mount Zion		Sacred Heart-Griffin d. Bloomington
Triad Sectional		Triad Sectional
Mount Vernon d. Mattoon		Mattoon d. Mount Vernon
Highland d. Mascoutah		Mascoutah d. Highland
Highland d. Mount Vernon		Mascoutah d. Mattoon
Sauget Super		Sauget Super
Sacred Heart-Griffin d. Highland		Sacred Heart-Griffin d. Mascoutah
Sacred Heart-Griffin advances to Joliet		Sacred Heart-Griffin advances to Joliet
STATE SEMIFINALS		STATE SEMIFINALS
Joliet Catholic d. Peoria Notre Dame		Joliet Catholic d. Peoria Notre Dame
Sacred Heart-Griffin d. Benet		Sacred Heart-Griffin d. Benet
THIRD PLACE		THIRD PLACE
Benet d. Peoria Notre Dame		Benet d. Peoria Notre Dame
CHAMPIONSHIP		CHAMPIONSHIP
Joliet Catholic d. Sacred Heart-Griffin		Joliet Catholic d. Sacred Heart-Griffin

CLICK HERE to view IHSA playoff brackets and schedules