The Best Seat In The House

Every local coach who has a stake in the 12th Region baseball or softball tournaments says the draw will be critical because the difference between a tough draw and an easy one might make the difference between an early exit and a shot at the title.

Those coaches won’t have to wait long to learn their fate. Both tournaments are expected to begin Monday — baseball at McCreary Central, softball at Millennium Park in Danville — and both groups of coaches will meet for their respective draws this afternoon. That’s two days earlier than required, but there’s no reason to wait because most of the district tournaments finished three days ago, and the last one wrapped Thursday night.

Look for the details of those draws and the thoughts of those local coaches by late afternoon on amnews.com. Here are the fields for the two tournaments:

Baseball: District winners Danville, West Jessamine, Rockcastle County and Wayne County; district runners-up Boyle County, Mercer County, Somerset and Southwestern.

Softball: District winners Garrard County, East Jessamine, Rockcastle County and Southwestern; district runners-up Danville, West Jessamine, Pulaski County and Wayne County.

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Here’s the last word on ranked teams from the final regular-season coaches’ polls in baseball and softball:

Danville is No. 11 and Boyle County is tied for 25th in the baseball poll. Mercer County is first on the list of others receiving votes, and Rockcastle County and West Jessamine also got votes.

Garrard County was on the verge of being ranked in last week’s softball poll, but the Lady Lions slipped on the list of others receiving votes this week, effectively tying them for 27th. West Jessamine is the only other 12th Region team that got a vote, and it got only one point.