ASHLAND — The boys baseball season has been plagued by foul weather all spring, yet the tournament has arrived without Mother Nature’s approval.
Among the Ashland County teams, Hillsdale (16-3) was the lone area squad to earn a No. 1 seed. The Falcons have a first-round bye in the Division IV Medina district and will host either No. 9 Elyria Open Door Christian or No. 11 Cuyahoga Heights at 5 p.m. May 19.
For Ontario and Shelby, the postseason may as well begin this week.
The Warriors and Whippets play a critical Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference home-and-home series this week before embarking on tournament play next week.
Both teams earned No. 3 seeds in Sunday’s Division II tournament draw, Ontario in the Bluffton district and Shelby in the Fremont district, and both took first-round byes.
The Warriors (11-3) will host either fifth-seeded Upper Sandusky or No. Lima Shawnee at 5 p.m. May 20 in the sectional finals. Upper hosts Shawnee at 5 p.m. May 18.
Also in the Bluffton district, Lexington (5-10) earned the No. 7 seed and will visit No. 4 Celina at 5 p.m. May 20 for a sectional championship. Tenth-seeded Galion (5-12) opens tournament play at No. 9 St. Marys Memorial at 5 p.m. May 18 in the sectional semifinals.
Shelby (11-6) will host either No. 6 Clear Fork or No. 11 Mansfield Senior at 5 p.m. May 20 for a sectional title. The Colts (9-9) and Tygers (1-11) play at Clear Fork at 5 p.m. May 18.
Division I
Both Madison and Ashland will open tournament play on the road.
The Rams (4-15) are the No. 16 seed in the Liberty-Benton district tournament and will play No. 14 Toledo Bowsher at 5 p.m. May 16 at a site to be determined. A win would send Madison into a sectional championship game at top-seeded Perrysburg at 5 p.m. May 18.
The Arrows (9-7) picked up the No. 11 seed in the Liberty-Benton district. Ashland opens tournament play at No. 4 Sylvania Northview at 5 p.m. May 18 in the sectional finals.
Division III
Wynford (15-3) picked up the No. 4 seed at the Norwalk district draw and will host No. 11 Elmore Woodmore at 5 p.m. May 18 in the sectional semifinals.
No. 7 Crestview (10-7) will host No. 8 Colonel Crawford (7-10) in the sectional semifinals at 5 p.m. May 18. No. 14 Bucyrus (1-15) will visit No. 3 Genoa Area at 5 p.m. May 18.
In the Northeast district, 19th-seeded Loudonville will visit No. 8 Wellington at 5 p.m. May 16 in the sectional semifinals.
Division IV
Plymouth earned the No. 2 seed in the Galion district and took a first-round bye. The Big Red (12-5) will host either No. 5 Lucas or No. 12 Crestline at 5 p.m. May 19 in the sectional finals. The Cubs (10-7) host the Bulldogs at 5 p.m. May 17.
Third-seeded Buckeye Central took a first-round bye and will host either No. 8 Ridgemont or No. 9 Carey at 5 p.m. May 19 in the sectional finals. Ridgemont and Carey will play at 5 p.m. May 17 at Ridgemont.
