Independent School League (ISL) baseball coaches voted to implement a postseason tournament before the 2024 season after years of debate among the coaches. That debate may rage on after two seasons of the new format.
The regular season was reduced to 11 games before last season to make space for the ISL Tournament, so ISL teams no longer face off with each of the 15 league foes. As a result, the process of selecting and seeding the top eight teams for the championship bracket can be left to complicated tie-breakers or -- in the case of this year's No. 8 seed -- a coin flip.
Tabor Academy coaches and players may not be pleased after finishing in a tie for third place at 8-3 with St. Sebastian's School and Lawrence Academy. Tabor dropped to the No. 5 seed -- despite beating St. Sebs in a regular-season matchup -- due to winning percentage against common opponents. Buckingham, Browne and Nichols has reason for complaint after tying St. Mark's School for eighth place with a 5-5-1 record. Because the teams tied the regular-season matchup, the eighth seed came down to a coin flip. St. Mark's earned the trip to the championship bracket, while BB&N earned the top seed in the consolation bracket.
Regardless, an ISL championship will be decided on Sunday, when there will presumably be better vibes surrounding the postseason tournament. For now, let's look at the championship bracket with projected pitching matchups.
