The Catholic High School Athletic Association baseball playoffs begin Wednesday with seeding games involving three Westchester County teams, each with a good shot at contending for the city championship. Of course, getting there will be a long and challenging road, and below is an overview of what it takes to get there.
The CHSAA will first host seeding round matches - some to determine an archdiocesan champion, plus five best-of-three series as tournament qualifiers - and then play an intersectional double-elimination tournament to crown a city champion.
Nine of the 12 teams in the city championship tournament will be from the Archdiocese, with the other three from the Diocese of Brooklyn-Queens, which will have a separate bracket to determine these seeds.
Last year: Kennedy falls in CHSAA championship game against St. Joe’s
Section 1 Baseball: A full schedule and results of the 2022 playoffs
St. Joseph by-the-Sea of Staten Island is the city’s defending champion. Kennedy finished last season as runner-up.
Iona Prep clinched first place and best home field in the Archdiocese tournament after winning 4-0 in pool play last week, including victories over Kennedy and Stepinac.
Here’s more about the CHSAA postseason:
Table of Contents
Tournament of the Archdiocese
Wednesday May 18th
semifinals
#3 Stepinac at #2 Kennedy Catholic, 4 p.m
Thursday May 19th
semifinals
No. 4 St. Joseph by-the-Sea at No. 1 Iona Prep, 4:30 p.m
Saturday May 21st
final
Semi-final winner at higher seed, time TBD
consolation
Loser in semifinals at higher seed, time TBD
Note: Stepinac or Kennedy will host their game at 1 p.m.; Iona Prep will host at 4pm
Qualification for the city tournament
Wednesday May 18th to Sunday May 22nd
Best-of-Three series
No. 5 Monsignor Farrell vs. No. 14 Cardinal Spellman
#6 Regis vs #13 Mount St Michael
No. 7 Fordham Prep vs. No. 12 Cardinal Hayes
#8 All Hallows vs #11 Xavier
No. 9 St. Peter vs. No. 10 St. Raymond
Note: Winners will be numbered 7-10, #12 in the championship tournament and seeded based on current seeds. For example, Monsignor Farrell would be seeded at #7 if he advances, Regis at #8, etc…Losers of these series are eliminated.
CHSAA Varsity AA Championship Tournament
Thursday, May 26th
First round:
Game 1: #9 seeds at #8 seeds
Game 2: No. 12 seeded to No. 5 seeded (Archdiocese fourth place)
Game 3: Seeded No. 11 (Brooklyn/Queens Third) seeded at No. 6 (Xaverian or McClancy, Diocese of Brooklyn/Queens runner-up)
Game 4: #10 seeds at #7 seeds
Saturday May 28th
Winner class quarterfinals:
Game 5: #8/9 winner at #1 (Xaverian or McClancy, Diocese of Brooklyn/Queens winner)
Game 6: #5/12 Winner at #4 (Archdiocese Third Place)
Game 7: Winner #6/11 ranked 3rd (Archdiocese runner-up)
Game 8: #7/10 Winner at #2 (Archdiocese Winner)
Monday, May 30th
First round losers bracket, all higher seed games:
Game 9: Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 6
Game 10: Loser of Game 4 vs. Loser of Game 5
Game 11: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 8
Game 12: Loser of Game 2 vs. Loser of Game 7
Wednesday June 1st
Winners Division Semifinals at Neutral Venues:
Game 13: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner
Game 14: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner
Losing group second round, at neutral locations:
Game 15: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner
Game 16: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner
Friday June 3rd
Losers’ Quarterfinals at Neutral Venues:
Game 17: Loser of Game 14 vs. Winner of Game 15
Game 18: Loser of Game 13 vs. Winner of Game 16
Winners’ Class Finals, Neutral Venue:
Game 19: Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner
Saturday June 4th
Losers’ Group Semifinals at Neutral Venues:
Game 20: Game 17 winner vs. Game 18 winner
Monday, 6.6
Losers’ group final, on neutral side:
Game 21: Loser of Game 19 vs. Winner of Game 20
Wednesday June 8th
Championship, in a neutral place:
Game 22: Game 19 Winner vs. Game 21 Winner
Friday June 10th
Championship, in a neutral place:
Game 23: Game 19 Winner vs. Game 21 Winner (if required)
Josh Thomson is Sports Editor for The Journal News and Poughkeepsie Journal. He can be reached via email at [email protected], on Twitter at @lohudinsiderand on Instagram at @lohudinsider.