Baseball draw: Rochester receives bye, gets Eastern in competitive Sectional 38

Valley to meet Columbia City; Caston to face S. Newton; Pioneer to meet W. Central; Argos to face No. 2 Triton; Culver gets S. Central; Winamac to meet Jimtown after bye; NM draws defending sectional champs

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Playing in a sectional with three ranked teams, the Rochester baseball team drew one of them in their postseason opener but not before receiving a bye, according to the IHSAA draw released Sunday.

Meanwhile, Class 1A, No. 6 Caston, the only ranked team in the RTC area, will begin sectional play against South Newton.

This is the 59th annual IHSAA baseball tournament.

Sectionals will begin May 27 and run through June 1, regionals are June 6, semistates are June 13, and the IHSAA state finals will be held at Victory Field in Indianapolis June 19-20.

Sectional tickets are $8 per session or $20 for an all-session ticket. Regional tickets are $10, semistate tickets are $12, and state finals tickets are $15 per person per day.

Teams will be assigned to regional sites June 3 and to semistate sites June 7.

Here is a closer look at the draw:

Rochester

The Zebras won the regional as recently as 2024 but might appear to be an underdog in Class 2A, Sectional 38, which features No. 5 Wabash, No. 8 Oak Hill and No. 11 Eastern (Greentown).

Receiving a bye might make the task easier, but they will face Eastern in the semifinals on Eastern’s home field May 30.

In the other half of the draw, the Manchester-Oak Hill winner will face the Wabash-Lewis Cass winner. Oak Hill already has wins over Manchester, Wabash, Lewis Cass and Rochester, and they are the defending sectional champion, but they have also lost to Eastern.

Tippecanoe Valley

Looking to break a 14-year sectional drought, Valley will take on Columbia City in a Class 3A, Sectional 20 quarterfinal at Fairfield. The winner will take on the NorthWood-West Noble winner in the semifinals.

Columbia City, in search of their first sectional title since 2007, is 9-5. NorthWood, the defending regional champion, beat West Noble 14-4 in their regular season meeting April 13.

In the other half of the draw, Wawasee and Fairfield received byes and will meet each other in the semifinals.

Caston, Pioneer

Caston trounced South Newton 22-2 in five innings in last year’s semifinals. The rematch will be at Tri-County – the sectional venue is Remington Community Park – in a Class 1A, Sectional 50 quarterfinal.

The winner will face off with the North Newton-Tri-County winner in the semifinals. North Newton is 1-13, but their lone win was against Tri-County (4-5).

In the other half of the draw, the West Central-Pioneer winner will meet North White in the semifinals. The Panthers and Trojans do not meet during the regular season. West Central is currently ranked No. 12.

North White is 1-7.

Argos, Culver

Its team back in tact after taking nearly a three-week break when it ran low on numbers, Argos will face second-ranked and defending sectional champion Triton in a Class 1A, Sectional 51 quarterfinal at South Central (Union Mills).

The winner will meet North Judson, who received a bye, in the semifinals May 30.

The bracket’s opposite half features Elkhart Christian meeting Oregon-Davis and Culver squaring off against South Central. Culver is looking for its first sectional title since 2013.

Winamac

Winamac received a bye and will take on Jimtown in a Class 2A, Sectional 34 semifinal at Jimtown May 30.

Jimtown won last year’s sectional but lost to eventual state champion Boone Grove in the regional.

Winamac is 7-5 with one of its wins – a 10-0 triumph over Knox on April 9 – coming against a sectional opponent.

In the other half of the bracket, South Bend Career Academy will meet Knox with the winner to face the LaVille-Bremen winner.

North Miami

North Miami drew defending champion Northfield in a Class 1A, Sectional 55 quarterfinal at Daleville.

The game will be a meeting of the last two sectional champions and could feature a pitching matchup of senior stalwarts Braylon McIntire of North Miami and Caleb DuBois of Northfield.

The winner will face the Southern Wells-Southwood winner in the semifinals.

In the other half of the bracket, the Cowan-Wes-Del winner will meet the Daleville-Tri-Central winner in the semifinals.